Set in what appears to be purgatory, Paul Hough writes and directs ‘The Human Race’, a tale of 80 random people who have been inexplicably abducted and forced into a race of life and death.
“The school, the house, and the prison are safe. Follow the arrows, or you will die. Stay on the path, or you will die. If you are lapped twice, you will die. Do not touch the grass, or you will die. Race… or die.”
Lead actors Paul McCarthy-Boyington and Eddie McGee put in the best performances, as Justin and Eddie, in a film where the acting is woeful. We are introduced to them briefly in Afghanistan, then quickly to their current lives supporting disabled children before they find themselves, without explanation, racing to save their lives.
Trista Robinson and T. Arthur Cottam, who play a deaf couple, also rise above the supporting cast, but only just. We are introduced to them even more briefly than Justin and Eddie and don’t get to find out anything about them prior to the race.
The Hitchcock style opening is completely unexpected and perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the movie. The basic premise of the film can’t be faulted in its simplicity, that combined with the central mystery as to how and why these people are in this brutal race does initially help the film’s faults to be overlooked.
Clearly owing a debt to The Lord of the Flies, Battle Royale and The Hunger Games, the film isn’t as intelligent or well executed in comparison. For a film like this to work there has to be a satisfying reason as to why these people have been put in a situation which results in them behaving in such an extreme way. The Human Race doesn’t have one; as a result once the violence increases it feels ill judged and distasteful.
That the 80 people are of various ages, religions, races and abilities is purely superficial as the film fails to portray any of these characters with any depth. As the film rests entirely on its central premise the initial curiosity quickly ebbs away and starts to feel like a low budget short film that has out stayed its welcome.
Another let down is the ending. When a mystery is put at the heart of a film, if the film decides to have a reveal at the end, then it better have a great pay off.
The Human Race does not have a great pay off.
What starts out as an intriguing horror film quickly runs out of steam and degenerates to ill-advised brutality topped off with an underwhelming ending that undermines the film all the more.
Watch Battle Royale instead.
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