The Humans Explained- The Faceless Evil Of Death, Time, And Loneliness

A24 is known for a particular type of horror. It can be very divisive and has a singular feel. Many have labeled it elevated or thoughtful horror, whatever that means. Films like Saint Maud, The Witch, Ari Aster’s Midsommar and Hereditary, and The Lighthouse are good examples. Often the horror stems from the evil in man as much as any external supernatural forces. The Humans, currently streaming on Showtime, is just such a film. It is quietly intense and haunting in a sneaky way that grabs hold when you least expect it.

The Humans, written and directed by Stephen Karam, was first created as a play, and when translated to the screen, that same sense of intimacy comes across. It delivers a powerful gut punch by a stellar cast of heavy hitters and unexpected talents. Meticulously shot and scored with an anxiety-inducing amount of clever bumps, clangs, and discordant grinding noise, it is a slow burn showcasing our inner demons.

The Blakes have gathered in Brigid and Richard’s new apartment for Thanksgiving. The prewar building is light on furniture and heavy on moody atmosphere. Brigid’s sister Aimee, an impressive Amy Schumer playing way off type, has come despite feeling ill and suffering from heartache. Additionally, their parents Richard Jenkins Erik who is rigid, judgemental, and harsh, ailing grandmother Momo(June Squibb), and Deidre(Jayne Houdyshell), are in attendance. Unfortunately, what should be a chance for the family to come together and give thanks turns into something much darker as ghosts real and imagined press in on the group.

Billed as a horror film, The Humans may frustrate some. Most of the run time is dedicated to the horrors of humanity—the inevitability of time, regret, and death. The few traditional horror elements there are stem from well-timed jump scares and jolting bursts of sound. However, Karam’s film is about much more than what might be lurking in the walls of the Manhattan building. It is about the things that truly scare us when we are all alone. Those things that reduce us to tears and terrify us into inactivity. Here is everything you need to know about The Humans and the ending explained.

What is The Humans about?

Karam’s film is about the dissolution of the American way of life. It is a mirror for all the things that can destroy a typical middle-class family. Thanksgiving should be about coming together and enjoying the company of those we love. Instead, the holiday often becomes a battleground for arguments about religion, money, politics, fidelity, and disenfranchisement. For those of us old enough to have seen more than a few holidays, it also is about time. Regardless of how enjoyable, each moment reminds us that joy and health are fleeting. In a blink of an eye, we age from child to adult and to elderly dependent.

Each of the Blakes circles the subject. They are drawn to death like a moth to a flame. Erik and Aimee repeatedly talk about their traumatic experience on 9/11 as if they need to convince themselves they are still alive. Health issues bother many of the family members too. Aimee needs intestinal surgery and spends a good portion of her time coming and going to the restroom. Momo is barely coherent until a chilling final act scene that reveals she may be more in tune with the emotions and pain all around her than anyone realized. Deidre has eaten her grief resulting in body image issues and weight-related trouble.

Richard talks about waiting to live until he gets his trust fund, meaning he is in a limbo of sorts with Brigid, who feels time crushing her as her career remains stagnant. Patriarch Erik quietly condemns everyone for their life choices between unexplained bouts of distractedness. He becomes obsessed with staring out of windows and up at ceilings as if waiting for something to get him. His transition is where the true horror stems. It is his final moments that we are left with.

Is the apartment haunted?

Two things are haunting the apartment Brigid and Richard have just moved into. One of those is paranormal, and the other is mundane but even scarier. Several times during the film, strange things happen that can’t be explained. Coats fall to the floor after hanging in mid-air, lights flicker and go out, yellow balls roll across the floor having manifested from thin air, and noises that aren’t all neighborly all happen.

Whether this ghost means them any harm is unclear. The building is old and questionably maintained, but the timing of many of these strange occurrences is suspect. Likely whatever haunts the faded and warped halls of the space is drawn to pain and suffering. There is no shortage of that. Although the ghost doesn’t do anything overly predatory to the Blakes, it does seem to guide them to revelations they probably would rather have kept hidden.

The apartment becomes a visual representation of the real horror in The Humans. It’s about neglect and decay. The windows are caked in filth that feels as hopeless to remove as the stained walls feel ominous. Brigid and Richard’s home is a stand-in for deterioration and abandonment. Unfortunately, the Blakes fit right into their setting, as we soon learn.

The second thing plaguing the Blakes is their regret and dread. Each of them is unhappy. Aimee’s long-time girlfriend has moved on, Richard is biding his time waiting for his trust fund to kick in at 40, Brigid is struggling with self-doubt and defensiveness because her music career hasn’t taken off as she hoped. Momo is elderly and in the final stage of dementia, which burdens Deidre and Erik, who are in a loveless and unsatisfying marriage.

We learn just how unhappy they are in the final act, where it is revealed Richard had an affair at the school where he has taught nearly his entire life. The affair cost him his job and pension, leaving him with nothing but regret and anger.

Like many women of that era, Deidre’s whole life was devoted to her children and her husband. Now that they have lives of their own, she has little to keep her fulfilled. She admits that although she was devastated by what Erik did, they probably haven’t been happy for a very long time. In a powerful moment of revealing clarity, Aimee even says marriage is about choosing to be unhappy with someone. It’s a bleak declarative statement that clarifies what she sensed as a child. Deidre and Erik are very much alone together.

What happens at the end of The Humans?

After Erik and Deidre tell everyone about Erik’s affair and the subsequent loss of his job and pension, the family fractures, Aimee was already on edge after melting down in the hall following a challenging conversation with her ex-girlfriend. Brigid was bruised by a confrontation with Deidre, and Richard was resigned to getting through the evening. They called a rideshare when Erik drank too much to bring them home. This left Erik alone in the dark apartment, forced to confront the faceless woman who symbolizes his anxiety and regret. This spirit doesn’t come for Erik in the darkened void because it has been with him all along. It is his decisions and trauma. It is faceless because he can’t face the fact that it is him he has been running from.

As unpleasant as some parts of the day are, the Blakes don’t want it to end. In a dizzying rush of events, each member leaves the others either in an emotional outburst or mysteriously. Finally, the finality of the evening hits them. Erik, most of all who is fond of saying that family is all we’ve got, which is ironic considering his actions undercut that institution more than any other. Finally, only Erik is left alone, in the crushing dark with only his nightmares. A cacophony of noise presses in on him while specters real and imagined bear down.

After the camera pulls back, we realize it is all in his head. There is no monster rushing to hurt him. It is only his perception of things around him. Any ghosts in Brigid’s home force Erik to confront the darkest truths about himself. Perhaps if he hadn’t destroyed his own life, things wouldn’t be so scary in the void. Family, although messy, can provide that light in the darkness. The warmth in the cold and the companionship in the loneliness. Hold on while you can because death comes, and all we can hope for is not to be left alone.