Homo Sapiens

2016 documentary

Rating: 16/20

Plot: Where did all the people go?

The title of this is a little misleading because there isn't a single gay person in this movie.

I apologize for that. In my head, it seemed a lot funnier.

Haunting and meditative, this is like a record of our world, post our demise. Austrian Nikolaus Geyrhalter presents us with a series of shots that show man-made structures--schools, factories, hospitals, roads, amusement parks, water parks, apartments, etc.--that are all devoid of humans. The camera doesn't move, but there's plenty of movement and life in this seemingly dead world, probably a world that the titular people homo sapiens have somehow destroyed. Birds, water, and wind create this movement, and growth goes on without us, all of our edifices, our tools, and our vehicles existing in dilapidated or withered states like mementos or peculiar trinkets. The imagery is frequently heartbreakingly beautiful and just plain heartbreaking at the same time. There's no score at all, just sounds of nature that exist far beyond our expiration dates. Drips, insects, birds, unidentifiable thumps and thwacks.

"Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Percy Bysshe Shelley knew the thwacks would outlive us all.