The word on everyone’s lips in the entertainment industry these days is “nepotism,” and in turn, the term “nepo baby,” used to describe those with immense parental connections within the industry which give them a springboard into their own careers, has become somewhat of a scarlet letter in young Hollywood for those unable to properly handle it. On one hand, you can take the ever so simple route that people such as Allison Williams (daughter of newscaster Brian Williams) has taken, actively acknowledging the privilege she’s been granted because of her father’s position and hoping that her work as an actress stands firmly on its own without needing the association of her father to justify her place in the industry. One would think it’s that simple, but for every Allison Williams, there are just as many completely unwilling to admit that they’ve received any sort of special treatment, believing themselves to be “self-made,” amongst their private school educations and summers with the Baldwins.
Clockwise L-R: Alanna Bale as Ashley York, Sebastian Chacon as Noah York, Sirena Gulamgaus as Mia York, Peter Gallagher as Charles York, Uni Park as Dawn Kim, Emily Hampshire as Rachel York, and Jay Baruchel as Jared York in Caitlin Cronenberg’s HUMANE. Photo Credit: Steve Wilkie. An IFC Films & Shudder Release.
The thing about industry nepotism is that it’s inherently not a dirty word, and it in no way determines the level of talent that is output from those blessed with those connections. Take for instance the Cronenberg Clan, headed by patriarch David, the undisputed master of body horror, with such titles as Scanners (1981), The Fly (1986), and Videodrome (1983), to name a few, that have disturbed and allured horror fans for decades. The world was introduced to, on a larger scale, the work of his son, Brandon, through his second and third features, 2020’s film Possessor and 2023’s Infinity Pool. Brandon’s films display a similar penchant for body horror as his father, but with a considerably different, far more surreal and aggressive approach. Would Brandon have been able to make Possessor and Infinity Pool without the influence of his father? Who’s to say? But it doesn’t change the fact that Brandon is an exceedingly talented, singular filmmaker who has crafted some truly unforgettable dives into the deepest depths that semi-mainstream horror can take you, regardless of who his father is. Now, with the same financial backing from Canadian studio Elevation Pictures, a second Cronenberg child, photographer and esteemed Canada’s Drag Race guest judge Caitlin, has entered the ring, albeit with a particularly different approach to the horror genre than her male family elders, with Humane.
To learn more about Humane from the filmmaker and cast, check out the interview between Caitlin Cronenberg, Jay Baruchel, and Emily Hampshire with EoM Contributor Joel Winstead.
In the near future, the climate crisis has reached unsustainable levels across the entire world. Governments are collapsing, direct sunlight is so strong it could kill you, and as borders close, nations across the world instill population control guidelines needed to save the planet from destruction. To combat overpopulation by reducing the population by 20%, the United States (or maybe it’s Canada? The film never specifies.) has instituted a euthanasia enlistment program where volunteers are allowed a quick, humane death in exchange for $250,000 in untaxed cash given to their families. Disillusioned by the world, famed newscaster Charles York (Peter Gallagher) and his wife, Dawn (Uni Park), have elected to enlist in the program, not for financial sake, but in hopes that a high profile enlistment would encourage others to do so, and therefore save the planet. As Charles hosts a dinner for his children, anthropologist and controversial TV personality Jared (Jay Baruchel), infamous pharmaceutical tycoon Rachel (Emily Hampshire) with her daughter Mia (Sirena Gulamgaus), aspiring actress Ashley (Alanna Bale), and adopted son and recovering addict Noah (Sebastian Chacon), to inform them of their decision, he wants to spend one final evening together with his dysfunctional family before he and his wife are euthanized that very evening. Once the euthanasia team arrives, headed by the charismatic Bob (Enrico Colantoni), Dawn gets cold feet and flees the house, while Charles is euthanized. Requiring two bodies to report as promised to them by Charles, Bob informs the remaining children that they must choose one of them to take Dawn’s place in death. As they are kept prisoner in their father’s home under a two hour time limit, the already strained relationships of these highly spoiled, estranged siblings is put to the ultimate test.
L-R: Jay Baruchel as Jared York, Peter Gallagher as Charles York, Alanna Bale as Ashley York, and Enrico Colantoni as Bob in Caitlin Cronenberg’s HUMANE. Courtesy of Steve Wilkie. An IFC Films & Shudder Release.
There is a lot of exposition needed to explain Humane’s logline, but once the film kicks into high gear (and it doesn’t take long to do so), what we’re left with is far more simple than my lengthy explanation would lead you to believe. In essence, Humane is an eco-thriller crossed with Knives Out (2019), where the worst people you’ve ever met get to fight about which one of them is the most abhorrent and worthy of death. While this presents an initial hurdle to get over as we struggle to really identify with any of these truly awful spawns (aside from Noah), it becomes a raucously good time to watch them tear each other, as well as Bob, who is taking a sadistic glee from the entire situation, apart. It’s a smart twist on the battle royale genre, instituting a reverse whodunnit at the center of an uncomfortably real-feeling fictional future.
L-R: Sirena Gulamgaus as Mia York, Emily Hampshire as Rachel York, and Enrico Colantoni as Bob in Caitlin Cronenberg’s HUMANE. Courtesy of Robin Cymbaly. An IFC Films & Shudder Release.
Unlike her brother’s output, which while different in overall vibes, retains much of his father’s love of intense body horror, I’m pleased to see Caitlin approach her debut feature with more of her own style than one might expect to be carried with a Cronenberg name. Humane eschews surreal gore for a far more winking, sometimes broad, but never dull love of dark satire. Sure, “rich kids are terrible” isn’t exactly a novel concept in film, particularly in the last few years, but presenting them with an unwinnable scenario that they can’t buy their way out of, particularly as it pertains to sacrificing one’s self for the greater good, and not just their own interests, gives the audience much more to chew on than a simple caricature à la Don’t Look Up (2021). This is all punctuated very effectively by a cast which, would I know any better, I would assume that they all actually hate each other in real life. Each one fills in their subset of “little shit” so wonderfully and repulsively that one really can believe that they are all cut from the same tacky Versace cloth (again, except for Noah, who is my baby). In particular, the absolutely horrendous vibes emanating from Baruchel (BlackBerry) and Hampshire (mother!) when paired together is something that should be studied in a lab, it’s so uncomfortably palpable.
Enrico Colantoni as Bob in Caitlin Cronenberg’s HUMANE. Courtesy of Steve Wilkie. An IFC Films & Shudder Release.
When it comes to Cronenberg children debuts, while I don’t believe Caitlin Cronenberg’s Humane has reached the heights that Brandon Cronenberg’s later films, Possessor and Infinity Pool, have in terms of sheer memorability, it sails clear past his 2012 debut Antiviral, a half-baked horror film that, while I have indeed watched before, there is nary a thing I can recall from it that was memorable. It’s another example within the family of nepotism going very well, in that we get a new filmmaker with a specific, unique style that is entirely separate from the style of her already established family members, and appears to be doing this not out of some desperate climb into pseudo-stardom, but out of a legitimate love for the artform and genre as a whole. While Caitlin’s style doesn’t move me in the same way that her brother Brandon’s does, I believe there to be a much more marketable, much more crowd-pleasing element to Caitlin’s approach to the genre. It’s lighter and airier, which gives the (albeit few) moments of depravity the film offers much more punch to them than something that abuses you from start to finish. There’s a cheekiness to Caitlin, one that, when used properly, could do great things for a filmmaker.
In select theaters April 26th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official IFC Films Humane webpage.
Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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