It’s the Cronenberg family’s disturbing world; we just live in it. And we’re lucky to live while they’re making movies, honestly. Caitlin Cronenberg is the latest child-of-David to take a seat in the director’s chair; her brother Brandon made Infinity Pool. And while there’s a certain amount of oh-we’re-really-going-there family resemblance to the tone of her debut, Humane, there’s also a fun little kick in the seat: The story is about a wealthy family whose patriarch sacrifices himself for the good of the planet. But there’s a catch: One of the kids might have to die, too.
The summary for Humane simply says, “A global environmental collapse forces world leaders to take extreme measures to reduce earth’s population.” That doesn’t even begin to cover it. “Extreme measures,” here, means that 20 percent of the world population has to die. Peter Gallagher plays Charles York, who gathers his rather large family together in order to announce that he and his wife are going to “enlist,” which is a biting little euphemism. But his wife isn’t having it, and takes off. And when the authorities arrive, they need to collect two bodies.
Bloody hijinks, naturally, ensue.
There’s so much to like in this trailer, which goes all in on the bleak-as-hell comedy of its premise (the screenplay is by Michael Sparaga). But Enrico Colantoni (best known as Veronica Mars’ dad, or a certain alien in Galaxy Quest) is an utter delight as Bob, who seems way too invested in his job as corpse collector. The scrabbling, possibly murderous family members include Jay Baruchel (This is the End) and Emily Hampshire (Schitt’s Creek).
Humane is in theaters on April 26th.
