Sundance Film Fest #1: HUMAN FACTORS
Deliberately constructed family dysfunction drama about how solipsism and bias frame perspectives told through the lens of a mostly uneventful home invasion. Though confusing in structure at first due to the loose framework around time and perspective, the decision to withhold key conflicts until after we see how they impact quiet bystanders makes this more of a compelling mystery than the otherwise straightforward story would normally allow. We're also somewhat implicated in the subtle abuses, neglect, and gaslighting, not capturing their significance until we're given added perspective from a different character. Though it all works as a metaphor for cultural relations (racism) and the inherent presumptions we make based on what we see, what works here is the subtle domestic discord and how people wrapped up in their own petty squabbles can miss the unbearable trauma in those closest to them.
Deliberately constructed family dysfunction drama about how solipsism and bias frame perspectives told through the lens of a mostly uneventful home invasion. Though confusing in structure at first due to the loose framework around time and perspective, the decision to withhold key conflicts until after we see how they impact quiet bystanders makes this more of a compelling mystery than the otherwise straightforward story would normally allow. We're also somewhat implicated in the subtle abuses, neglect, and gaslighting, not capturing their significance until we're given added perspective from a different character. Though it all works as a metaphor for cultural relations (racism) and the inherent presumptions we make based on what we see, what works here is the subtle domestic discord and how people wrapped up in their own petty squabbles can miss the unbearable trauma in those closest to them.