When it comes to dystopian science fiction, simplicity can be an asset. Films like Children of Men or even Gattaca can be summarized in an elevator pitch, which gives the creators ample room to explore their themes or characters. Humane, the new dystopian film from Caitlin Cronenberg (daughter of David) goes in the opposite direction. Its premise starts out simple, only to become more convoluted as the story continues, just so the screenplay can contort to its true interest: a riff on Succession with significantly more gore. But the screenwriter for Humane is no Jesse Armstrong, and his thin characters only grow more irritating and implausible as the film descends into chaos. By the time the story shoehorns some ill-timed moralizing, none of it registers well-earned or righteous.
At first, there is plausibility to the premise. In the near-future, climate change has gotten so bad that all developed nations agree to close their borders and force draconian population control. At least twenty percent of citizens must be eliminated, and it is up to the nations to decide how best to proceed. The government of Canada, where Humane takes place, encourages mass euthanasia, giving $250,000 tax-free to the families of anyone who decides to partake. This program is a boon for struggling many struggling Canadians, but for Charles York (Peter Gallagher), the patriarch of a media dynasty, his decision to end his life confuses his children. He announces his plans over dinner: he and new wife (Uni Park) will die after a long dinner, although the night does not go as planned.
It is at this point where the film grinds to a halt. Cronenberg and her screenwriter Michael Sparaga introduce the York family to Bob (Enrico Colantoni), a cheery open-faced government representative who is on hand to facilitate the death of Charles. There is a bureaucratic wrinkle, however, that Charles does not expect. Bob reminds the Yorks he requires two bodies, not one. And since the wife left before Bob could kill her, he requires that one of the four children must die, just so he can meet his quota. The rest of Humane are the kids battling it out, to the point where they grab kitchen knives and fire pokers.
As a government program, it is a bit tortured to get from “encouraged euthanasia” to “all-out war between siblings.” Any real bureaucracy would have better plans for such contingencies. Yes, this is a dystopian film that exaggerates for effect, and yet Humane’s tortured middle section barely justifies its final hour. Maybe it would be easier to forgive the tortured, knotty plot developments, except the subsequent battle between siblings does not justify it. Reliable actors like Colantoni, along with Jay Baruchel and Emily Hampshire who play two of the siblings, are given nasty, swear-laden dialogue that does not respect the nature of the characters. There is a kernel of truth to their halfhearted murder attempts, and yet the circuitous indecision of selecting a sibling means Humane drags, rather than ratcheting its tension.
It is often unclear whether Cronenberg, let alone the actors, fully understand what motivates the characters. Sebastian Chacon plays Noah, another sibling and recovering addict, and he attempts to act like the voice of reason even while he attacks his brothers and sisters. Reversals, betrayals, and alliances pepper this showdown so that no one, not even the kids, can keep everything straight. The only tense scenes happen outside of the house, where Bob chats with Mia (Sirena Gulamgaus), the only child in the York family. Bland and dispassionate, Bob sees himself as an extension of the State and never questions the morality of what he is doing, so Mia’s needling of him is where Humane finds some pointed critique. Tellingly, the Mia/Bob scenes are the best scenes and the only ones that unfold without bloodshed. Maybe because of it.
Humane ends with even more violence, a genre requirement, and yet it strains for catharsis. Bob gets his comeuppance, something that Cronenberg relishes, and the sequence lacks the bloodlust or satisfaction. In The Running Man, a dystopian film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, there is a cathartic sequence where the hero gets revenge on the game show host (Richard Dawson) who put him through hell and back. Audiences cheered when Dawson met his unceremonious end. Humane clearly strives for the same thing, and yet its final moments are hollow, even bland. It is a bad sign for this film when it is more fun to imagine its director in the same scenario, given her famous parents and her brother is also a film director. The Cronenbergs discussing Humane over dinner? Now that is something I would pay to see.
Photo courtesy of IFC Films
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