Virtue Signaling Turns to Violence in Caitlin Cronenberg’s ‘Humane’
Set during the aftermath of a global ecological collapse, Caitlin Cronenberg’s feature debut Humane (2024) takes a satirical look at the premise ‘what if a high-powered political family who propagandizes others to kill themselves for “the good of the planet” were forced to choose amongst themselves?’ This is akin to the old observation ‘why don’t the politicians who call for war ever volunteer themselves or their families first?’
The father of a powerful political family signs up his family, in the interest of virtue signaling to demonstrate his willingness to sacrifice his own, to meet the global quota of reducing climate change via euthanasia. He signs up his Chinese wife who immediately flees before her assisted suicide. Father dies in a thoughtful and pretentious grandness that is supposed to be some moral act but it is simply fulfilling some pernicious global depopulation agenda. This leaves one body still required from the “York” family to meet the quota. (I love Caitlin’s continuation of her father’s willingness to flavor his stories with Ontario, Canada specific references like “York” Family — points for keeping it real!)
Happy to fulfill this quota is a dutiful contractor named Bob, backed by armed guards. His job is to collect the bodies of the “enlisted.” The enlisted is a euphemism for euthanasia volunteers. Bob looks like one of the sinister members of Central Services from Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (1985).
Bob tells them we need “a name for the list.” The York family is committed to 2 bodies. Who will be number two?
The choice of sacrificial amongst the family. The Yorks themselves are a typical rich family. The addict, the actress, the right-wing political pundit, the psychopathic eldest sister, and the youngest from another mother is a half Asian girl (daughter of that 2nd wife that skipped out when the going got tough). Luckily, she is spared because they “don’t pay for child bodies” (how nice of this fiction to be less grim than reality).
The Yorks, meanwhile, get real dark very quickly, and start to snipe each other and cast doubt on the value of each other. Everyone gangs up on the addict first. We all know he’ll relapse no matter how ‘good he is doing lately.’ KILL HIM! Next the collective demon eye turns towards the actress. She’s a sucky actress anyways! KILL HER! Then the right-wing pundit, played by Jay Baruchel (Tropic Thunder, This is the End) is accused of not caring enough about his family. This is all met with immediate terrifying action from the family against each other. After stabbing and choking and mutilating and conspiring to kill each other for several hours. For example, cauterizing the wound with a spoon to the actress.
It comes to the psychopath to lead the way (as usual) as the eldest daughter posits “We’ve always had another choice. Let’s kill Bob.”
Healing together as a family, they start to make a plan to work together.
Ashley (the bad actress), plays dead as a ruse to get Bob and his squad in close before the whole family attacks them. However, she dies anyways from her prior wounds.
Bob tells them after getting captured by the York family that the government automatically takes children as wards whose families attack them. “Kids at the cages on the border? It’s far worse.” Contemporary dialogue. Lol.
Bob’s final deal is he’ll take Ashley’s body and call it even. That’s the dead actress.
Bob’s final plea: “There’s a worldwide crisis going on and I’m doing important work. You, you, you’re just pieces of human excrement polluting the planet with your every breath!“
They are just about to push the drugs in ol’ Bob to put him out of his misery… cut to black.
The addict has a piano concert on a Steinway and Sons.
We end with a Robocop-style cynical advertisement from D.O.C.S. with Bob lauding the successful campaign of killing the DOCS agent the York family killed and the addict’s black girlfriend who showed up only to be murdered for trying to warn the York family’s connections outside the communication scramble zone around the York house earlier. Bob shivers, while claiming they volunteered successfully.
I’m not sure what motivation Bob had once he reached his government HQ not to kill the whole family other than taking his dubious “word for it“?!
Short and sweet. But that’s the way I like it sometimes!
Humane Uppers:
My understanding is Caitlin directed this movie at the request of a friend. Caitlin herself is a prolific photographer of celebrity portraits. As a first-time feature direction job, it is excellent. I hope she continues the path her father, David Cronenberg (Videodrome, The Fly, Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, Crimes of the Future, Scanners, Rabid, and much, much more) trailblazed for Canadian filmmakers and keeps making films.
I loved the stylish directing. It’s elegant, sophisticated, and yet low budget but you’d hardly notice based on the professional look of this film. Humane was really moving inside that house, while they all attempted murder on each other, trying to out influence each other in a firing circle of hatred.
I especially liked the fevered paranoia of the family chasing each other around, at each other tooth and nail, attempting to murder each other for the middle half of this movie. There were lots of reversals, and double crosses I didn’t explain in full detail, to leave some worthwhile surprises, but they were entertaining and very well acted and well shot.
Humane Downers:
There were some logical flaws with the screenplay/story, like why would Bob, being such a sociopath who kills ‘just doing his job’ suddenly not just kill them with all the full weight of the government in the end? The story seemed to be afraid to suggest the rich family was capable of killing Bob (but only each other for most of the movie?), while also afraid to suggest they’d just pay Bob off (more realistic) or that Bob wouldn’t just kill them outright after he was free to wield his power. There was something missing in terms of a sophisticated resolution. Perhaps they should have hinted at Bob’s weakness somewhere that could have been exploited. Perhaps he could have confided in the half Asian daughter, and she could have told her family somehow? I don’t know. But that ending was clunky and needed more thought put into it.
Overall, this was a short, sweet, surprisingly ‘based’, very modern, speculative horror/satire, with some DNA from the 1962 surrealist black comedy The Exterminating Angel directed by Luis Bunuel (another recommended film, like this one). We’ll be keeping our eye out for any future horror efforts (satirical, body, or otherwise) that Caitlin Cronenberg may endeavor into the future. This is a stepping stone film, and she made that first step without a slip.
Directed by: Caitlin Cronenberg
Written by: Michael Sparaga
Produced by: Michael Sparaga
Cinematography by: Douglas Koch
Edited by: Orlee Buium
Music by: Todor Kobakov
Special Effects by: Robyn Buffett, Mel Ramsay, Drew Turner
Cast: Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire, Peter Gallagher
Year: 2024
Country: Canada
Language: English
Colour: Colour
Runtime: 1h 33min
Studio: Victory Man Productions, Elevation Pictures, XYZ Films
Distribution: IFC Films, Paramount Pictures, Shudder
