6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Set inside a pre-war duplex in downtown Manhattan, The Humans follows the course of an evening in which the Blake family gathers to celebrate Thanksgiving. As darkness falls outside the crumbling building, mysterious things start to go bump in the night and family tensions reach a boiling point.
Starring: Beanie Feldstein, Steven Yeun, Amy Schumer, Richard Jenkins, June SquibbDrama | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
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 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 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.
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.
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