Humane is a film with so much potential in its first act that I was surprised how it slid downwards in such fits and starts. Its initial twist and switch to dark comedy was off-putting but I slowly adjusted to its new twang… and then it just kept slipping.

It’s about a near future where the environment has collapsed so the governments of the world have established a percentage of the population each nation must cull in order to feed the survivors. We are introduced to a well-off family whose patriarch has opted into the culling… but when something goes wrong, his four adult children are forced to figure out which of them will die instead.

The opening act does a very effective job of setting up this world, it’s politics, its arguments, its social strata, and its characters. Yes, maybe some of its a little on the nose and/or you might not want a lecture, but it’s setting up its blocks in order to start knocking them down. I liked it.

When the film introduces its joyful and unhinged social worker, an off-kilter comedic tone suddenly comes into play. And since only he (the very welcome character actor Enrico Colantoni) has this dark ‘n perky tone, it feels like the whole movie has made a random tonal left turn. But his introduction sets off a cavalcade of crazy that, among other things, justifies why they cast Jay Baruschel in the film. The whole movie slips into dark comedy and satire.

It plays in the same social class sandbox of a Ready or Not and I eventually adjusted to the sudden shift. But sometimes some of the acting and writing goes too broad compared to other characters and subplots… and sometimes it hums smoothly. It’s just so uneven, going in fits and starts from serious to satirical that it started to lose me. I wanted to like the nasty and fun twists, but the writing was fighting me.

I think the end is a complete mess… both tonally and in its social caste satire. I have no idea what I’m supposed to think in the end scenes and the wobbly themes and messaging feel more underwritten than cleverly twisted which I think is what they were going for.

This is the first feature film from Caitlin Cronenberg, David’s daughter and Brandon’s sister. She’s got a lighter, more satirical touch than her more demented family and perhaps with a tighter script, she’ll have a real winner on her hands next time. But I also wonder which Cronenberg is going to break first and make a silly romantic comedy… and what in the Battle Royale would a feuding family documentary about that look like?

Anyhoo… Humane is a cool attempt at a social satire black comedy that needed a few more passes during the screenwriting process. Or maybe the actors needed to be better directed. It’s hard to say who’s most at fault for this uneven film. But I liked enough of it and appreciate what she was going for to give it a solid rating. If only it had not been at 4 stars in the first act.

Score: 78