JP Nunez
I had high hopes for Human Resources. While I didn’t know too much about the plot, I knew it was about a shady company run by some dastardly horror villains, and I thought that was a pretty cool and relatable premise. We all know what it’s like to have a boss who seems more like a soulless monster than a real human being, so I couldn’t wait to see how this movie would tackle its perennially relevant themes.
Human Resources was directed and co-written by Braden Swope, and it stars Hugh McCrae Jr., Anthony Candell, Sarah José, Tim Misuradze, Michael Kammerer, and Angel Hilton. It’s about a young man named Sam who seems to suffer from some sort of chronic anxiety, and he’s struggling to find a job. Every place he’s applied to has rejected him, but one day he gets the call he’s been waiting for. A store called Brooke’s Hardware is finally hiring him, and he can’t wait to start.
At first, the job is pretty easy. In fact, outside of Black Friday, the place almost never has any customers, so it seems like the best job in the world. However, Sam soon realizes that something isn’t quite right with the store, and after he and a coworker named Sarah decide to investigate, he discovers that his bosses are hiding an unspeakable evil.
For about the first half of its runtime, Human Resources is pretty much all set up. You meet the characters, you learn about Brooke’s Hardware, and you get a few clues about the evil lurking behind the store’s locked doors. For the most part, it’s pretty standard stuff, and it’s not bad. It’s not particularly good either, but it’s not bad.
Most notably, I found the acting to be somewhat hit or miss at times, but I thought Sarah and Sam, the two main characters, were watchable enough. On their own, they’re a little bland, but actors Hugh McCrae Jr. and Sarah José have good enough chemistry that I more or less enjoyed seeing them whenever they were on screen together.
In fact, they’re pretty much the reason why I didn’t hate this part of Human Resources. Sam and Sarah spend a lot of time together during the first half of the film, so if they don’t work, the movie as a whole won’t work. Luckily, I had a decent time watching them, so they kind of saved the film for me.
I say “kind of” because even though they keep this part of Human Resources from being truly bad, they’re not enough to make it truly good either. At best, I’d say they make it watchable, so while I never felt like I was loving it, I also never felt like I just wanted it to be over.
It’s very middle of the road, so I was really curious to see what the second half of the movie was going to be like. Would it redeem the film and push me to give it a positive review? Would it go downhill and cement this as my first negative review of the year? Or would it stay so-so and make me struggle to come up with 20 different ways to express that same sentiment? I didn’t know which way the movie would go, but I was eager to find out.
Unfortunately, Human Resources takes the second route. When the film pulls back the curtain a bit and begins to reveal its secrets, it becomes really disappointing. I don’t want to spoil anything in case you decide to check it out for yourself, but I will say that it makes a big storytelling mistake that takes something away from the narrative and drags it down quite a bit.
Granted, I get why the filmmakers chose to take the film in that direction. It allows one of the characters to go through their arc, so it makes sense on one level. But it hurts the movie too much on other levels, so on the whole, I think that decision ended up doing more harm than good.
On top of that, when Human Resources puts all its cards on the table in the third act and explains the mystery, it’s pretty underwhelming. To be fair, the answers aren’t bad in themselves. They’re just not all that great, so I would’ve preferred the exact nature of the evil dwelling in Brooke’s Hardware to remain a mystery. Not knowing the truth is often way creepier and more interesting than knowing it, and this is a prime example of that horror axiom.
That being said, there are a couple of cool moments in the third act. Most notably, there’s a scene involving the two bosses and a hammer, and I thought that was pretty effective. It’s not scary, but it’s pretty shocking and bloody, and I quite enjoyed it.
Unfortunately, though, moments like that are few and far between in Human Resources, so they’re not nearly enough to save the film. It’s pretty disappointing overall, and that was a real bummer for me. As I said, I had high hopes for this movie. I was really looking forward to seeing my frustrations with some of my former bosses (and maybe a few current ones) depicted in a cool, horrific way, so I wish I could’ve given it a better review.
But I can’t, so I’m sad to say that I wouldn’t recommend this movie. The first half is decent enough, but the second half is a real letdown, so if you’re looking for some good new horror to watch, I recommend that you look elsewhere.
Human Resources will hit VOD on January 10.
