Humane 2024 Mixes Nepotism And Life-Affirming Violence

The anticipated Humane 2024 was released to cinemas in the USA on April 26th, starting with a very serious explanation of how governments across the world prefer to deal with the issue of overpopulation. Two men dressed in white overalls carry a body bag from the house of a woman who comes to the door as they pack up to leave. They hand her a white envelope and she smiles and walks back inside. Upbeat music plays and a song about sunny days is playing giving the impression that all is right with the world.

But all is not right with the world. A voiceover explains that the population of most countries has blown out of control. The solution to this global problem is simple. One person from every household can volunteer to be enlisted. Humane 2024 uses the word enlisted however, in the context of the film, this requires a person to then have a member of an elite team of people who come to your house, inject you with lethal drugs, and take your body away.

Meet your population reduction goals.

Quote from the movie, Humane

A well-known family with a recognizable news anchor father, Charles York (Peter Gallagher), is introduced as the sacrificial lamb. Charles wants to take one for the team and invites his children and grandchildren to dinner to announce his grand plan. Amidst cries of anguish and a massive spray of curse words from one of his daughters, Rachel (Emily Hampshire), Charles tells his children that all will be well. He wants to go out a hero, take the cash payment offered for the sacrifice, and then divvy the estate up equally among whoever is left.

Humane Movie Review

Humane takes the definition seriously, and everyone seemingly has nothing but compassion for the process. But as the characters are all explained, each is proactive for the cause. As long as it doesn’t apply to them. Enlisting to be “put down” is usually sought after by the less fortunate. It’s them, after all, who have the opportunity to set their remaining family up for life.

Jared, Rachel, Noah, and Ashley all lead productive if not flawed lives. Jared is in political public relations, Ashley is an actress, Rachel leads a big Pharma company, and Noah, who after falling on troubling times has turned his life around. So when Bob knocks on the door to collect his two bodies and finds one of them absent, he is left to inform the children they will need to decide who will be the replacement.

Inside the thick and grimy nature of the underlying premise, the title lowers its raised fist and backs away from the themes that it subtly offers up. Rather than be unpredictable, Humane lets the audience know each of these people has a background heralding a multitude of sins.

Bob

The rules are the same for everyone.

Quote from Humane 2024

Bob has files on them all and the gravity of the situation turns tighter when everyone realizes that Bob is not only there to take what’s owed, but that the fine print outlines a very big penalty for trying to change your mind afterward.

The cast uses what they have to elevate the title far past where it might have landed otherwise. Having Cronenberg in your family name blatantly gives you an advantage, I would imagine when starting as a filmmaker. And the irony of the subject at hand does not go unnoticed. “Humane” touches on themes of nepotism, greed, racism, and overpopulation. It mumbles an example about Charle’s wife Dawn being unable to leave the house since volunteer euthanasia was introduced. As an Asian woman, her country is deemed to have been the main instigator of the issue they are facing now.

The premise and idea are great. However, almost as soon as Humane sets the ground rules, it loses its composure and pees all over the floor. Bob gives the family 2 hours to decide, takes Rachel’s daughter to the truck outside, and leaves so they can fight it out amongst themselves. And that’s where the good times end.

Humane 2024 Themes

Humane hits the tension points with ease, with most of the title’s more poignant scenes giving me my money’s worth when it came to white-knuckled stress points. However, the lack of fleshed-out characters made the very long drawn-out scenes of the children trying to kill each other feel way longer than they needed to be. I had no empathy for most of them. I did feel like this was done on purpose, however, to shine a brighter light on the life-affirming nature of the narrative’s overarching sentiment. Is your life worth less because of what you have done?

The children all took accountability for having violated their own lives. They had no issue throwing each other under the bus when deciding who should be offered up to the death lottery if that’s what was to be.

It’s in Noah’s character arc that we are allowed to see the most value. It doesn’t matter when you choose to turn your life around, it’s just important that you reach that point in the first place.

Humane is rated

3.5 forks to the face out of 5

For another dark horror movie, read about The Unheard 2023.

Humane Trailer

Humane hits theatres on April 26th in the USA. The title will be streamed on the Shudder platform from July 26th, 2024.

For some information on what the film contains for parents, check out the Parent Previews website for a thorough run down on exactly how many swear words are in Humane 2024.

• Written by Michael Sparaga
• Directed by Caitlin Cronenberg

“Humane” cast includes:

• Jay Baruchel
• Emily Hampshire
• Peter Gallagher
• Enrico Colantoni
• Sebastian Chacon
• Alanna Bale
• Sirena Gulamgaus
• Uni Par

Mild Spoilers for Humane

Unfortunately for Humane, leaving the kids to fight it out among themselves allowed a couple of plot holes to arise. The group gangs up on Noah who is the only one of them that can fight. As knives, furniture, and anything within reach became a weapon I found it difficult to reason with the dialogue as they banded together to hunt him down. In one scene after stabbing him and tying him up, they call out to him and seem surprised he doesn’t materialise.