The Humans is directed by Stephen Karam which the film is an adaption of his one act play of the same name that came out in 2014. The Humans is the definition of a film that hits you like a truck when you least expect it, what starts out as a film about just a family coming over Thanksgiving quickly turns into a very psychological nightmare that’s filled with sadness, eeriness and so much more. The characters are what make the film experience, not only is each character given a very realistic personality but they are given their own identity and truly feel like some family members you may have. Plus with the cast’s fantastic performances (some of the best of the year) you truly get something special. Richard Jenkins for example shows his character is going through a ton of emotions and he makes sure to let it be known. Sadness, paranoia and detachment there’s a scene in particular during the last 15 minutes or so that truly highlight this in quite frankly a horrifying way (more on that in a bit.) Beanie Feldstein plays a sweet and endearing yet weary and sometimes annoyed daughter, she does such a great job here and truly hits out of the park. Amy Schumer gives perhaps her best performance of her career, I’ve said in the past that I’m not a fan of Schumer at all. But here she gives a very honest and raw performance. Steven Yuen while having the least to do out of the cast still manages to feel like he has a lot to do. He prevents tensions from being high with jokes that feel like something anyone who’s watching this film would actually to say. The filming combined with the one location setting is another key factor to The Humans due to it’s small space you constantly see several characters on screen together at all times, what’s very interesting is each and every scene a character is given something to do. Even if a certain character isn’t the main focus of the scene they will still be interacting with the characters just from a distance or close enough angle. This has been done before in other films but I can’t help but feel that The Humans does this in the best way possible and really fits the story that’s being told. Finally there’s the writing which gives this film it’s own identity, as the film goes on it gets more and more relatable, then comes the final 15-20 minutes. A true gut punch that sums this whole film up, the film itself was already nightmarish enough but adding in the last scene gave the film that much more power. Overall The Humans is truly an incredible film that is a huge standout of the year, it’s another one of those films where after you finish watching you say “you can’t convince me that this is not a horror film!” Be sure to check this one out!
The Humans is available on ShowTime
10/10 A+
Jerome Reviews... 