Posted: 1/30/20 at 12:10pm
Anyone heard any news on when this is coming out? It doesn't look like it premiered at Sundance. There's Cannes in May, but I don't know if it's high-profile enough to get in. There's Toronto and Vancouver's film festivals in September, but that'd be almost a year after they wrapped principal photography.
Posted: 1/30/20 at 12:21pm
Alex Kulak2 said: "Anyone heard any news on when this is coming out? It doesn't look like it premiered at Sundance. There's Cannes in May, but I don't know if it's high-profile enough to get in. There's Toronto and Vancouver's film festivals in September, but that'd be almost a year after they wrapped principal photography."
The Father premiered at Sundance x
Posted: 1/30/20 at 12:41pm
If it has Oscar hopes and a Fall release, we should expect to see it in late August at the Telluride, Venice, and/or Toronto Film Festivals. (Those 3 festivals are the unofficial start of Oscar season, and many a small film has started its awards journey at one or all.) Maybe it would also play a "bonus" festival like New York.
It's not unusual for a film to be released a year after production wraps. Post-production can take a while, and A24/Rudin will want to release it at a time when it can gross the most money and have the best awards chances.
Semi-related, but Anthony Hopkins has basically been crowned the 2021 Oscar frontrunner for his role in The Father. It'll be fun to see these two 2015 Broadway plays duke it out. George Wolfe's screen adaptation of August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (starring Viola Davis) should also be coming out in 2020 on Netflix.
Updated On: 1/30/20 at 12:41 PM
Posted: 1/30/20 at 1:50pm
There are often lots of films that are done and ready to be distributed for over a year and do the festival circuit. Premiere this in Toronto wouldn't be unheard of.
If they want buzz, and standalone buzz, SXSW is the festival to premiere this at. I think It'd be smart to wide release this earlier in the year, people still crave dramas even if its not "Oscar season".
I did see something that A24 is WIDE releasing films on May 29, July 3, and July 31. Would not shock me at all if this is released in one of those. Typically, actually always, A24 releases in NYC and LA first, expands to big cities for the next week or 2, then goes wide, if that. These 3 I mentioned on those dates are expected to go wide immediately. Makes sense, A24 has been around long enough they can likely support these wide released. Really hoping one of these dates if for The Humans.
Posted: 1/30/20 at 2:46pm
Posted: 9/13/21 at 12:33am
The Humans premiered at TIFF today to some very positive reviews:
https://www.indiewire.com/2021/09/the-humans-review-movie-1234663715/
https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/the-humans-review-1235062195/
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-humans-toronto-2021-1235010730/
From these reviews, it sounds like the film really leans into the horror-aspects of the play, which is interesting. I can't wait to see it this fall.
Posted: 9/13/21 at 12:43am
Weirdly, A24 has not dated most of its Fall 2021 releases including this, Joel Coen's Macbeth, Mike Mills' C'Mon C'mon, and Sean Baker's Red Rocket. The 3 of those that have screened got solid reviews. Could be that they're trying to sell some off to a streaming service or holding certain titles until 2022.
Posted: 9/13/21 at 2:37am
Posted: 9/13/21 at 3:03pm
bump
Posted: 9/13/21 at 3:04pm
I was lucky to catch this at TIFF yesterday and actually think the film adaptation works even better than the play. The film really gets to lean into the claustrophobia and decay of the setting - big shout-out to Stephen Karam for adapting AND directing this film - and the horror elements land more effectively in a film medium; the ending genuinely terrified me in a way that it didn't onstage.
Oh, and the ensemble is terrific; especially Richard Jenkins, Jayne Houdyshell, and Amy Schumer.
Posted: 9/14/21 at 5:28am
Posted: 9/14/21 at 10:27am
Here's a really lovely review from Vanity Fair's Richard Lawson (one of the critics who had the benefit of seeing it both on stage and screen) ––
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/09/review-with-the-humans-a-brilliant-play-becomes-a-frighteningly-resonant-film
Posted: 9/17/21 at 11:11am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp3Whb77eXc
The trailer just dropped! Looks like Showtime is co-producing, so we might see this go straight-to-streaming.
I'm really digging this trailer. I like how many of the shots are framed by doorways, like we're eavesdropping in on this deeply personal family moment. It looks like the performances are going for understated, almost Chekhovian, but I can already see some great work from the ensemble in the trailer.
Posted: 9/17/21 at 11:17am
Can't wait. Thrilled Houdyshell is reprising her performance.
Posted: 9/17/21 at 12:45pm
A24 said it will play both in theaters (which probably means select theatres) and on Showtime, where they have an output deal starting Thanksgiving. Which means it will be eligible for the Oscars and other film awards (not TV awards) this season.
Trailer looks great!
Updated On: 9/17/21 at 12:45 PM
Posted: 9/17/21 at 1:12pm
ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "A24 said it will play both in theaters (which probably means select theatres) and on Showtime, where they have an output deal starting Thanksgiving. Which means it will be eligible for the Oscars and other film awards (not TV awards) this season.
Wouldn't EVERY theatrical release play in "select theatres"? Has any film ever played in ALL of the theatres?
Posted: 9/17/21 at 1:25pm
"Select theaters" is movie biz language for "not the multiplexes" (AMC, Regal, etc)...
Posted: 11/28/25 at 6:03am
A NYT article today on five free movies to stream right now mentioned The Humans is free on Tubi.
"In Stephen Karam’s dynamic adaptation of his Tony Award-winning play, the Blake family gathers in their daughter’s dingy Chinatown apartment in New York for Thanksgiving, but amid the family jokes and toasts, their conversations pulsate with mounting unease. As the parents, racked by money troubles, push off revealing some recent troubling news, the camera observes walls distended with leakage, lightbulbs fizzling out and mottled surfaces and reflections that fracture the faces of the Blakes into alien forms.
"Karam uses an occasionally heavy hand to render this middle-class horror show of spoken and unspoken frictions, but “The Humans” succeeds via a strong cast, with Richard Jenkins, Jayne Houdyshell, Amy Schumer, Beanie Feldstein and Steven Yeun. Prudently, Karam’s sketch of this family is one that isn’t particularly dysfunctional; their conflicts and anxieties are perfectly quotidian, their love very real."
