Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Humans Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 21, 2022

For anyone who has ever "survived" attending some kind of family get together over a holiday "celebration", it's perhaps not that misleading that The Humans has been kinda sorta marketed as a horror film, and in fact writer-director Stephen Karam becomes quite overt about the horror genesis of the project in his commentary included on this disc as a supplement. Even the back cover of this release features the line, "As darkness falls outside and eerie things start to go bump in the night, the group's deepest fears are laid bare". Now, it's probably not that much of a spoiler to disclose that there really isn't a bogey man (and/or woman) wreaking havoc in a somewhat dilapidated apartment in Manhattan's Lower East Side, but as those with subwoofers in their home theater setups who watch this film will be able to concur, there most definitely are things going bump (and then some), with this kind of roiling family drama involving all sorts of dysfunctions occasionally interrupted by rather abrupt startle effects. It's an odd and off kilter approach, but it adds to the emotional uncertainty that begins accruing almost as soon as several generations of the Blake family congregate to supposedly chow down on a Thanksgiving repast.

The Humans began life as a stage piece, one which Karam helped to shepherd through both Off Broadway and Broadway productions, winning a Tony Award and getting nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in the process. I actually tried to track down authoritative data as to whether this is the only time a one act has won the Best Play award, but I haven't had time to completely look through all of the trophy winners to determine that. One way or the other, this is an ensemble piece whose original Broadway cast included Reed Birney and Jayne Houdyshell, both of whom also brought home Tony Awards for their efforts, which may beg the question as to why Karam chose to only cast Houdyshell again for the film version (none of the other stage actors made it to this film version, despite the fact that one of the other accolades the play received was Best Ensemble from the Drama Desk Awards, which also handed it their Best Play designation). Replacing Reed Birney is Richard Jenkins as paterfamilias Erik Blake, whose forty year marriage to Deirdre (Jayne Houdyshell) has had its fair share of ups and downs. The Blakes have gathered at the "new" (actually old and pretty shoddy) apartment of daughter Brigid (Beanie Feldstein), where other family members include Brigid's fiance Richard (Steven Yeun), her sister Aimee (Amy Schumer), and Erik's mother "Momo" (June Squibb), who is suffering rather badly from dementia.

Not much "happens" in The Humans, though in another way a lot occurs, albeit in brief and at times revelatory interchanges. The entire narrative builds toward a supposedly shocking confession made by Erik almost as the story seems to be drawing to a close, and then in a bizarre, almost dissociative, way that keeps Erik mostly out of the frame for that sequence. And in fact it's Karam's almost deliberately obfuscatory mise-en-scène that may attract as much notice as any of the on screen (or off, as the case may be) dramatics. Yes, we have typical sibling rivalry between Aimee and Brigid, and there are other showdowns between the daughters individually and their parents, with Aimee's recent breakup with a girlfriend providing some outbursts. And there is obviously tons of subtext between Erik and Deirdre which builds to an admittedly devastating but still almost tamped down conclusion.

But it's the way Karam keeps staging things that continually caught my personal attention. As he gets into in his commentary, the apartment building was a set, but it was meticulously designed to mimic the rundown, claustrophobic confines of so many older Manhattan domiciles. But even given that conceit, Karam almost never offers clear views of anything. Framings are frequently through arched doorways or windows with beveled glass, with the results being masked or distorted, in what would seem to be a visual analog of some of the fractured emotions the characters are going through.

The somewhat bizarre sound design does give the proceedings an edge, but Karam perhaps deflates his emphasis on enclosed, cloistered spaces (both figurative and literal) with a couple of late interstitials that plop the camera outside for a moment or two. That said, it's the interior spaces (in more ways than one) that define The Humans, and, like the very badly damaged walls of Brigid's apartment, there are some pretty deep scars on display.

The Humans Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Humans is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The IMDb lists the Arri Alexa XT and a 2K DI as relevant data points. I've long been on record that for whatever reason I'm not a huge fan of Alexa captures in middling light, and that opinion continues to hold sway with this presentation. As can perhaps be gleaned by many of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, there's a kind of yellowish murk that pervades many scenes in the film, with an almost scrim like haze overlaying the imagery on occasion. That said, detail levels can be quite good, especially when Karam and cinematographer Lol Crawley opt for extreme close-ups, which they do at several junctures. As Karam gets into, some of the almost Impressionistic imagery seen through various mottled glass windows was all done in camera, and a lack of detail was obviously intentional in those instances. Contrast struck me as just a tad anemic, perhaps exacerbated by the hazy yellow quality that is so prevalent. I noticed no major compression issues.

The Humans Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Humans features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that is almost unnecessary, given the close quarters that almost all of the film plays out in, and with an almost complete lack of underscore, as Karam also gets into in his commentary track. That means that "surround" activity tends to be somewhat limited a lot of the time, given over to discrete channelization of some of the "spooky" sound effects emanating from various nooks and crannies of the building, as well as those aforementioned sudden bursts of LFE, which are quite powerful and anxiety provoking. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

The Humans Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Writer / Director Stephen Karam


• Our Ruffled Spirits: Making The Humans (HD; 21:01) is a decent EPK with quite a few interviews and snippets from the film, but with virtually no behind the scenes content.


• Outtakes (HD; 6:19)

Additionally a digital copy is included and packaging features a slipcover.

The Humans Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While the original stage actors who participated in The Humans may be feeling like they've been snubbed, Karam at least may get a little marketing push out of the combined presence of Amy Schumer, who is both controversial but also perhaps being reassessed by some after her ability to artfully navigate this year's Oscar broadcast after a certain "incident", and Beanie Feldstein, who finds herself at the center of a publicity cyclone she probably should have expected when she had the temerity to revisit a role made famous by Barbra Streisand (and if you need to ask, don't). All of this said, the cast in the movie all do creditable work, but it's really Houdyshell who ends up making the most profound impact, which may argue that porting over more of the Broadway cast may have been a better decision. Technical merits are solid, and while the film won't be everyone's cup of tea, for those who like intimate family dramas with a few startle effects thrown in for good measure, The Humans comes Recommended.