Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Humans: 1.0 Blu-ray Movie Review

Sympathy for the Double

Reviewed by Michael Reuben March 27, 2016

Humans is a joint U.K./U.S. television series that uses the familiar device of artificial intelligence to explore what it means to be human. It joins a venerable line of science fiction drama including Blade Runner, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Ex Machina, The Machine and the Data storylines on Star Trek: The Next Generation . What's distinctive about Humans, though, is that the series devotes as much screentime to the challenges of everyday relationships among people as it does to exploring imaginary relationships with artificial life created through technology. The show's writers plant their story in familiar territory by centering on a London middle class family struggling with issues that are instantly familiar—but they also have to deal with robots.

The first eight episodes of Humans were broadcast in the summer of 2015 on the AMC Channel and on Britain's Channel 4, and they were popular enough for the producers to greenlight a second series, which will appear later this year in the U.K. and in 2017 in the U.S. Acorn Media's Blu-ray release is a plus for U.S. viewers, because it features each episode in its original length of about 48 minutes, whereas AMC typically trims its broadcasts by about five minutes to fit a one-hour time slot (with commercials).

Based on a Swedish TV show entitled Real Humans (Äkta människor), Humans is set in an alternative present where a scientist named David Elster (Stephen Boxer in flashbacks) has perfected an android known as a synthetic (or "synth") that perfectly mimics human behavior but has neither consciousness nor free will. Mass-produced and marketed by a company called Persona Synthetics, synths have transformed the workplace, replacing humans in numerous jobs. A domestic synth is considered the latest "must have" appliance for the family home. Despite the intricacy of their human-like behavior, synths can be instantly spotted by their glowing eyes and a stillness caused by the efficiency of their movements.

Synths are considered objects, not people, and this distinction is essential to their widespread acceptance. They have no rights. They can be bought and sold, then "recycled" when they are damaged or worn out. They can be used for dangerous work and repetitive tasks that humans find dull. They have effectively legalized prostitution, because the units programmed to simulate whatever sexual behavior the customer desires cannot be "exploited". Both the legal and ethical framework governing synths and the PR image that allows Persona Synthetics to flourish rely on the company's assurance that these machines cannot think for themselves. The company also guarantees that all of its products have been strictly programmed according to the Azimov Rules, so that they are incapable of injuring a human being.

These cozy business and social arrangements are threatened by the anomalous appearance of four synths who possess consciousness and free will. Their origin is one of the series' core mysteries, as is their relationship with a human named Leo (Colin Morgan, Merlin), who is alternately their leader, caregiver and something else that's hard to pin down.

As the series opens, these four unique synths have been split up by circumstances. Fred (Sope Dirisu) has been captured by a sinister scientist named Hobb (Danny Webb), whose web of affiliations appears to encompass both government and private enterprise and whose larger agenda is unknown. Niska (Emily Berrington, 24: Live Another Day) is hiding in plain sight in a synth brothel, where she can easily blend in with the other prostitution units, except that she "feels" the experience in a way they do not. The angelic Mia (Gemma Chan), has been snatched by black marketeers for reprogramming and resale. Max (Ivanno Jeremiah), whose easy smile has a special warmth, remains with Leo to search for Fred and Mia. Once they reunite the group, they want to find somewhere to live without fear of detection. But where?

It is Mia who provides Humans with its entree into everyday life. After her memory has been wiped by the proprietor of a synth "chop shop", she re-emerges as "Anita", a purportedly new product being offered for sale by a Persona Synthetics franchise. There she is acquired by Joe Hawkins (Tom Goodman-Hill) as a domestic for his wife and three children. With her original identity buried deep in her circuitry (and re-emerging periodically in unpredictable glitches), "Anita" must now attempt to serve a troubled household. Tom's wife, Laura (Katherine Parkinson), not only objects to synths on principle, but also views the arrival of "Anita" as a comment on her shortcomings as a working mother. Laura's insecurities are heightened by conflicts with her teenage daughter, Matty (Lucy Carless), and also by tensions in her marriage resulting from long-buried family secrets. Lucy's younger brother, Toby (Theo Stevenson), finds his raging adolescent hormones stirred by the gorgeous "Anita", and he is not the only member of the Hawkins family who is intrigued by the new product's "adult" mode. Tom's growing distance from his wife causes him to look longingly at the sealed pouch supplied by Persona Synthetics that contains the code words to unlock Anita's sexual functions.



Only the baby of the family, Sophie (Pixie Davies), reacts to "Anita" with unconflicted joy. To Sophie, the perpetually cheerful "Anita" is a delightful friend, and her mother's resistance to the new arrival makes no sense to the eight-year-old.

But while the Hawkins family adjusts to life with a synth, sinister forces are gathering. A special police unit created to deal with synth issues finds itself called to situations more troubling than their usual reports of lost or stolen machines. DS Pete Drummond (Neil Maskell) is not a fan of the artificial creatures. His hostility is accentuated by the forced presence in his home of a therapy model provided by health insurance to aid his wife, Jill (Jill Halfpenny), in recovering from car accident injuries. When Drummond and his partner, DI Karen Voss (Ruth Bradley), discover signs that there may be a variety of synth that poses a threat to humans, a superior orders them to suppress the evidence, lest it spark a panic. But the coverup may be too late, as a growing anti-technology movement called "We Are Humans" protests the very existence of synths. The same suspicion and hostility are indulged at illegal "smash clubs", where people bash defenseless synths into piles of tangled limbs before a cheering crowd.

One of Humans' most overtly emotional relationships between human and synth involves a retired American engineer, Dr. George Millican (William Hurt), who worked on the early phase of synth development. Still grieving for his wife, Dr. Millican clings to an outdated and malfunctioning model named Odi (Will Tudor), who reminds the elderly scientist of happier times. Millican's efforts to keep Odi running become increasingly desperate after a public malfunction attracts the attention of DS Drummond's synth squad, which orders him to be recycled. Meanwhile, the National Health Service sends Millican a replacement, a synth nurse called Vera (Rebecca Front), whom Millican regards as a jailer (and she acts like one).

Humans is intricately plotted with a number of clever "reveals", but at the core it's a drama about family relationships. Synths may be stronger, smarter and more easily repaired, but their connections with the beings to whom they are "related" turn out to be just as fragile, complex and unpredictable as those in any human household.

Humans: 1.0 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Humans was shot on Alexa by a team of cinematographers with extensive credits in British TV. Post-processing fine-tuned the colors and supplied the fluorescent eye tint, sometimes blue and sometimes green, that is a synth's distinguishing feature. The smooth texture of the digital photography allies with the antiseptic production design to create a world that is brighter and shinier than our own, because there's an army of synth workers keeping it clean. Even the abandoned dwellings where Leo and Max take refuge and the graffiti-strewn alleys and underpasses where clandestine meetings occur look neater and less scruffy than in our world. Most of the actors playing synths have been selected for their good looks, which have been accentuated by synth makeup. (If you're creating artificial people, you might as well make them attractive.)

Acorn Media has divided the eight episodes of Humans evenly between two 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-rays, and the image consistently reflects the superior clarity and detail that is typical of digital capture. Humans tends to be brightly lit, even in dark scenes, and its colors are rich without oversaturation. Banding, compression artifacts and other visual anomalies are non-existent. The average bitrate varies somewhat from episode to episode, but the average of 23.47 Mbps is appropriate for the material. I cannot imagine Humans looking better.

Humans: 1.0 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Humans features a 5.1 soundtrack encoded in lossless DTS-HD MA, but there's little in the way of rear-channel activity beyond environmental ambiance. Despite the science fiction subject matter, the series is grounded in realistic sound effects and dialogue, which is always clear. The sound team seems to have gone out of their way to omit the typical electronic sounds that one expects from a story about robots or androids, with just an occasional audio reminder, such as Odi's faltering speech, that these are creatures of technology not flesh. The understated score is by Cristobal Tapia de Veer (Utopia).

Humans: 1.0 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The extras are primarily short featurettes with excerpts from interviews with the cast and crew.

• The Making of Humans (disc 1) (1080p; 1.78:1; 6:48): Executive producers Jane Featherstone and Derek Wax discuss the origin and development of the series, with comments from members of the cast and crew.



• Series Overview (disc 1) (1080p; 1.78:1; 4:20): A continuation of "The Making of Humans".



• Being a Synth (disc 1) (1080p; 1.78:1; 3:48): Conceptual design of the synths' appearance and behavior, including specific movements designed by choreographer Dan O'Neill.



• Character Profiles (disc 1) (1080p; 1.78:1; 10:20): Actors Gemma Chan, Tom Goodman-Hill, Katherine Parkinson, Colin Morgan, Emily Berrington and Neil Maskell discuss their characters.



• Cast and Crew on Humans (disc 1) (1080p; 1.78:1; 16:02): Further interviews.



• Photo Gallery (disc 1) (1080p; 1.78:1; 1:28).



• Family Matters (disc 2) (1080p; 1.78:1; 4:03): An overview of the series' portrayal of the Hawkins family, featuring interviews with Tom Goodman-Hill and the actors who play the three Hawkins children.



• Cast Interviews (disc 2) (1080p; 1.78:1; ): Actors Gemma Chan, Ivano Jeremiah, Danny Webb and Colin Morgan answer synth-related questions.



• Behind the Scenes (disc 2) (1080p; 1.78:1; 29:58): On-set footage from various shooting days.



• Last Day on Set (disc 2) (1080p; 1.78:1; 1:22): Farewells.



• Bonus Trailers: At startup, disc 1 plays trailers for Acorn TV, The Slap and The Code .

Humans: 1.0 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Digital Spy selected Humans as its top show of 2015, and the U.K. broadcasts provided Channel 4 with its biggest numbers for a drama in almost twenty years. The series was less noticed in the U.S., but Acorn's Blu-ray release provides American viewers with a first-rate chance to catch up before the new season appears on AMC next year. Highly recommended.