Human Factors: a tense, puzzling family drama
“It’s an impressive – if dense – film that undoubtedly requires multiple viewings to fully unpick.”
- Reviewed from the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
Ruben Ostlund’s Force Majeure meets Michael Haneke’s Hidden in Ronny Trocker’s second feature. A power couple’s power dynamics come into sharp focus following a startling home invasion scene – which we see replayed from each of the family members’ viewpoints. The film’s disorienting structure of jagged jumps back in time leaves the viewer feeling as unsteady as the unstable family unit.
It’s an impressive – if dense – film that undoubtedly requires multiple viewings to fully unpick. What is clearly on display, despite Human Factors’s many intricacies, is Trocker’s skill in crafting a tense, mistrustful atmosphere.