By Robert Scucci
| Published
You might think that the most terrifying aspect of living in a dystopian future is when the powers that be have the legal authority to euthanize you or your family members through a combination of forced and voluntary enlisting, but I’m here to talk to you about something even more frightening: government bureaucracy! The idea of following through with mandated tasks “by the book” is explored to its fullest, sickest, and most hilarious extent in 2024’s Humane, which will make you want to take a second look at your last will and testament if you’re ever put in the same situation as the York family finds themselves in because you’ll be amazed at how quickly a distant yet cordial family dynamic can turn into a bloodbath if the opportunity presents itself.
The government policies and family breakdown in Humane are disturbing enough on their own, but when you add a government worker who likes his job just a little too much to the equation, you get what may be one of the funniest horror thrillers to come out in recent years that you don’t want to miss out on.
The Family Dynamic
Humane first introduces every member of the exceedingly wealthy York family, which consists of its patriarch, former influential newscaster Charles (Peter Gallagher), and his second wife, former Iron Chef and restaurateur Dawn (Uni Park), who are hosting a secret dinner for their four adult children.
Charles’ three biological children, Jared (Jay Baruchel), Rachel (Emily Hampshire), and Ashley (Alanna Bale), are all reluctant to show up to the affair because they all lead complicated lives.
Jared, a quasi-celebrity anthropologist who supports the Department of Citizen Strategy’s (D.O.C.S.) euthanasia efforts, recently had a fallout with his own family after suggesting on television that he’d consider his own child for the procedure if push came to shove. Rachel works in pharmaceuticals, and Ashley is an aspiring but failing actress who fears she’ll never catch her big break.
The black sheep of the family, Noah (Sebastian Chacon), is the adopted fourth sibling who’s newly sober. However, his past years of troublesome behavior have already taken an emotional and financial toll on the York family prior to the events that take place in Humane.
The York Estate And Legacy
During the already tense family dinner, Charles reveals to his children that he and Dawn have enlisted in the euthanasia program, as his sacrifice has the potential to have a positive influence on those who are on the fence about enlisting themselves for such a controversial cause, which is a government initiative to control the population as resources have become scarce.
Humane introduces its primary antagonist when Bob (Enrico Colantoni), who works for D.O.C.S., shows up at the York residence to carry out the procedure. Matters get complicated when Dawn flees the scene, leaving Bob, who’s a stickler for the rules, with one body to report euthanized when the government form he’s supposed to carry out requires two.
Bob tells the four York siblings that they have two hours to decide which one of them will be taking Dawn’s place as if he’s talking to patrons in line at the DMV, and not people who have to choose with member of their family will have to get euthanized against their will because he needs to hit a certain quota before the day’s out.
As you would expect, the family falls apart quicker than a Thanksgiving dinner when opposing political viewpoints are discussed over how dry the turkey is, and it doesn’t take long for everybody in Humane to turn on each other using whatever found weapons they can find in the house to defend themselves against each other.
A Twisted, Hilarious Take On Government And Family
Boasting not a single likeable character, Humane is an effective dark comedy thriller because of how callously these estranged siblings act toward one another when a government bureaucrat enters their residence with a clipboard and a desired body count. It goes without question that siblings are apt to squabble, no matter what family they’re from, but add a ticking clock, a government quota, a vast family estate, and a healthy amount of buried feelings of animosity, and you get an airing of grievances that’s made all the more hilarious by the mental gymnastics that each family member has to commit to in order to make it out alive with a somewhat clean conscience.
Humane isn’t for the faint of heart, and if your relationship with your own siblings is on the rocks, I strongly recommend that you don’t watch this one with them because it may just be a little too close to home. Or, if you want to have a lively yet twisted discussion over who from your family you’ll be willing to sacrifice should the government ever implement such a program, you can stream Humane on Hulu as of this writing.
