A brilliant, underrated new thriller movie is now available to stream at home

Published 00:01 29 Jan 2025 GMT

Updated 17:08 16 Apr 2025 BST

Stephen Porzio

A brilliant, underrated new thriller movie is now available to stream at home

Home entertainment

This had been on our watchlist for a while and it more than delivered.

Humane, an excellent new sci-fi horror thriller from debut director Caitlin Cronenberg, is streaming on Paramount+ right now.

The film is set in the near future where a global ecological collapse has forced world leaders to take extreme measures to reduce the earth's population, including encouraging members of the public to volunteer to die by offering large financial rewards to their families.

Amidst this, a dysfunctional family's wealthy patriarch (Peter Gallagher) invites his estranged children (including Emily Hampshire, Jay Baruchel and Sebastian Chacon) to dinner in his mansion.

This is to announce his intentions to enlist in this euthanasia program, along with his wife (Uni Park) - who is also the stepmother to several of the children.

However, when the wife gets cold feet and flees the house, the Government's assigned euthanisers (led by Enrico Colontoni) demand a second body.

Over one stressful evening, the siblings must decide who among them will die.

Helmed by the daughter of legendary filmmaker David Cronenberg, Humane deftly blends black comedy and tense thrills.

This is as its satirical exploration of contemporary social issues (climate change, financial privilege, growing class disparity) gives way to a cat-and-mouse thriller as the siblings' in-fighting over the central dilemma turns violent.

Helping Humane toe the line between humour and horror is Colontoni's scene-stealing performance as the overly cheery but clearly sinister Government-sanctioned killer.

The film holds a 71% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes but a 38% audience score. We'd argue both scores are too low.

You can read a sample of some positive reviews for Humane right here:

Austin Chronicle: "An eco-drama about how the rich have become convinced that even the end of the world won’t affect them."

Chicago Sun-Times: "There are some delightfully squeamish scenes — but this is primarily a psychological thriller, an update/variation on The Fall of the House of Usher."

Deep Focus Review: "A well-crafted discussion prompt that, for all its momentary shocks and pitch-black humour, leaves one with fascinating questions—not only about what you would do in this family and in this society, but how the film reflects and comments on our world."

Fresh Fiction: "Humane is thought-provoking, intense as hell, and it features one of the most sinister performances in some time from Enrico Colantoni."

Nightmare on Film Street: "Humane is a tight debut from Caitlin Cronenberg, and a delicate balancing act of humour and horrifying ideas. A modern science-fiction thriller that you can't help but get sucked into immediately."

Punch Drunk Critics: "Through Colantoni’s volatile performance and Cronenberg’s confident direction, Humane has a twisted sense of humour and unpredictability."