Written and directed by Stephen Karam, based on his play
Starring Richard Jenkins, Jane Houdyshell, Amy Schumer, Beanie Feldstein, Steven Yeun, June Squibb
Rated R
Runtime: 1 hour 48 minutes
In theaters and on Showtime November 24

by Audrey Callerstrom, Associate Editor

Where other stage-to-screen adaptations might opt to move scenes to random locations (usually a grocery store), Stephen Karam’s adaptation of his play The Humans stays in the Manhattan apartment of couple Brigid (Beanie Feldstein) and Richard (Steven Yeun). They just moved in, so while their furniture is sparce and the walls are bare, they’re still hosting Thanksgiving for Brigid’s family, including parents Erik and Deirdre (Richard Jenkins and Jane Houdyshell), sister Aimee (Amy Schumer), and grandma Momo (June Squibb).

Distributed by A24, The Humans can be funny at times, but it’s a questionable decision why the build and the mood of this film feels like it has the potential for horror. The dramatic stakes are rather low. There is a normal level of dysfunction in this family. Any time someone is sincere, they’re usually mocked. Siblings Aimee and Brigid laugh about how their mom e-mailed them an article about how we’re all made of electrons. Deirdre overhears this and her feeling are hurt. Meanwhile, Richard tries to navigate the politics of Brigid’s family, and Momo, who has dementia, is either sleeping, muttering to herself, or wandering off. It’s disappointing to see a scene stealer like Squibb in a role that’s practically mute. 

Jenkins, as always, gives a personal performance. He’s an actor who is not drive by the need to be front and center. There’s something about his general warmth and cadence that puts me into a stupor where I feel like he might, in fact, be my dad, and I need to ask him if he could come look at my lawnmower. Playing opposite Jenkins is another character actor, Jayne Houdyshell (who won a Tony for the same role), the only sincere member of the family. Meanwhile, Aimee is still reeling from a recent breakup and a medical leave for colitis that negatively impacted her job, and Brigid continues to face failure as she pursues a music career.

But the drama here doesn’t feel like anything outside of an average family Thanksgiving. It’s good, and welcomed, that this isn’t another drama full of shouting matches. Maybe that’s the appeal of the play, but it doesn’t play out well on screen. Another noteworthy actor in this film is comedian Amy Schumer as the vulnerable Aimee, who uses the excuse of needing to use the bathroom often as a way to sit and scroll her phone to see what her ex is up to. No one in this film is in the best place, except maybe Richard, who is studying social work even though a trust fund awaits him when he turns 40. Brigid bartends, Aimee didn’t make partner at her law firm, Erik and Deirdre are not satisfied with their jobs. You really feel the generational conflict between Brigid, Aimee, and their parents. For Erik and Deirdre, their world is  getting smaller as they prepare for retirement. But some of these moments feel false. The tired boomer ideology of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps doesn’t really make sense coming from the working class Erik, a building manager who doesn’t have a college degree.

A confrontation between Brigid and Erik doesn’t feel like an interaction between father and daughter. Feinstein and Jenkins don’t act like they’re familiar with each other. But for the most part, these actors play well off each other, like Feinstein and Schumer, or when Erik confronts a crying in the hallway. Schumer looks and carries herself like someone going through a dark period, like she wants to disappear into the walls. Which brings up the most curious part about The Humans, about how Erik is preoccupied with the deterioration and state of the apartment itself. There’s water damage, loose light fixtures, exposed pipes, bubbled plaster that’s painted over. Yellowy water slides down the walls. It’s all very haunting and creepy, like the family is going to somehow be stuck in the decaying duplex as some sort of apocalypse happens outside, but it doesn’t.

The film uses very minimal music until the tension escalates near the final act, at which time the predictable solo piano notes are heard on the soundtrack. The conflict, such as that it is, that Brigid and Aimee don’t attend church feels forced. It’s simply not believable to see such layered actors as Jenkins and Houdyshell, who seem to be handling problems themselves that the church can’t address, play such archetypes. The story does have some funny dialogue, like when a weeping Aimee tells her dad to stop trying to console her, only to backtrack: “Don’t actually stop. Keep saying things to me.” Erik and Deirdre use the sayings of people in their ‘60s. Erik describes someone as a “real piece of work.” Deirdre informs the dinner table, “I’m back on Weight Watchers.” I expect that the distant camera work was a COVID-related protocol, as many scenes of the dinner guests are filmed from a nearby entryway, or a corner of the room. It doesn’t impact the film’s efficacy, but it is consistent throughout the film, and noticeable. We’re never very close to any of the characters, spatially or otherwise. The performances are strong, and the characters feel human, but by the end, The Humans strives to find purpose.