Human Factors seems largely uninterested in its creative premise, resulting in a poor attempt to emulate Force Majeure’s success. Human Factors is showing at Sundance London on the 1st of August. Book tickets here.
Picture this: a middle-class family escape to their holiday home for some rest and relaxation, only for a break-in to interrupt their idyllic retreat. However, only the mother sees this break-in, and it’s down to the family to compare their perspectives, each contradicting the other: was there really a break-in? If that sounds riveting, perhaps similar to Michael Haneke’s Cache, then you clearly felt as I did about Human Factors’ prospects; therefore, imagine the disappointment when Ronny Trocker’s film turned into a disappointingly generic family drama.
Jan (Mark Waschke) and his wife, Nina (Sabine Timoteo), have a rocky relationship, partly due to Jan’s emotional cowardice and Nina’s implied boredom. Then there are the children, Emma (Jule Hermann) and Max (Wanja Valentin Kube). Emma is a cookie-cutter, angsty teen, stealing cigarettes and staying out way too late, while Max’s singular defining trait is his ownership of a pet rat. Aside from that, he’s essentially a cardboard cutout of a child they wheel out for dramatic purposes when necessary.
Human Factors seems largely uninterested in its creative premise, resulting in a poor attempt to emulate Force Majeure’s success. If the aim was to expose this family’s weak core, Human Factors splinters the story into strands with little connection to one another. Sadly, the film lacks impact; its potential slowly withered.
Perhaps Trocker was attempting to explore the inherent subjectiveness of perspective. For example, Max sees Jan’s actions, as opposed to Jan seeing his own. But if that were the case, it wouldn’t be given enough weight to make a compelling argument in defence of the film. Or maybe a case of mismarketing has upended Human Factors’ chances at a fair critical assessment, as it promised a premise that it seemingly has no interest in delivering. There is always a margin for error with perspectives – it seems Trocker’s is far greater than I expected.
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