BOTTOM LINE
Art film, AI Human Touch
PLATFORM
Netflix
RUNTIME
1hr 12 mins
What Is the Film About?
Nehma, an Adivasi single mother in Jharkhand, is fighting a court battle for her children’s custody after leaving her husband. With great difficulty, she gets a job in her village at an artificial intelligence centre, focusing on data labelling. Meanwhile, her feisty teenage daughter, Dhaanu, struggles to live with her mother, trying to adapt to the quiet village life and her new schoolmates.
Performances
The film is an out-and-out one-woman show led by Sonal Madhushankar (as Nehma), who reflects the highs and lows of a single mother at work and home, with a sense of warmth and vulnerability. Gita Guha (as Alka, her boss) looks apt for her role, in the shoes of a superior who shares a cordial rapport with employees, barring an occasional mood swing.
The child artist Ridhima Singh (playing Dhaanu) proves to be a promising find too. Anurag Lugun and Vikas Gupta have minimal screen presence, though they fit their parts reasonably well.
Analysis
We live in confusing times. New technologies are on the rise, always with the worry that machines will take human jobs. Yet, at the same time, human presence continues to be inevitable across many lines of work. Like they say: when one door shuts, another one opens. Humans in the Loop, a short 74-minute indie film, underlines this intersection, where people and technology meet.
Now streaming on Netflix, Humans in the Loop, inspired by a true story, drives its point across, with three subplots, showcasing a woman Nehma’s relationship with nature, family and technology. The film begins with an ironic situation, where a captcha error nearly denies her a job (asking her to prove she’s not a robot) at an artificial intelligence centre, until a recommendation seals the day.
The artificial intelligence centre, run by a woman for women, focuses on data labelling and makes for a truly unique workplace. Nehma’s boss encourages her to treat AI as a child, reminding her that the technology needs human guidance to accurately reflect reality. With the women in charge, the film sees them as nurturers, but ones working toward a crucial, futuristic purpose.
While Nehma deals with technology at work, the film also highlights her deep connection to nature. She maintains a surprisingly enduring friendship with a porcupine, a generally shy creature that makes an exception for Nehma’s rewarding company. Many years later, in these same beautiful surroundings, her daughter Dhaanu feels completely trapped and lost.
This tension between Nehma and Dhaanu mounts at home, spilling over into school and the workplace. Nehma, who nurtures AI with fondness, struggles to show the same care to her daughter, caught as she is in the custody battle with her ex. The story switches between the daughter’s anger and the mother’s personal chaos, using nature and technology as key metaphors.
The beauty of the storytelling is its unassuming simplicity; the fluid writing makes way for social commentary seamlessly. That racism and misappropriation of cultures can be an issue with AI is smartly brought to the fore in the film’s final stretch. It also suggests a solution for the same – the need for data and consistent human effort to help AI better itself with every prompt.
Humans in the Loop constantly flirts with the docu-drama style, yet it does enough to fully grab your attention, craftily tying up various threads in the story without wasting any time. There is a light, breezy quality, an innocence and intimacy to the storytelling, using mundane details in the lives of its characters to discuss the larger picture.
In a nutshell, Humans in the Loop is a story of a mother and a daughter coming to terms with their altered realities, while making an important comment on a human’s adaptation to nature and technology. Though the film’s slow-burning cinematic language may not work for all, it tells a universal story of human change in the age of AI panic, a dimension one rarely gets to witness.
Music and Other Departments?
The music score nudges the narrative ahead with a calm assurance, not going overboard to make its presence felt. Cinematographers Monika Tiwari and Harshit Saini do a commendable job in mapping the intertwined existence of the key characters with AI and nature, using the backdrop effectively as a visual metaphor to drive the story forward. The dialogues are simple, situational, minus any attempts to preach. The 74-minute runtime is perfect for its compact plot.
Highlights?
Organic, sincere storytelling
Technically brilliant
Neat, precise performances
Drawbacks?
Artsy/slow-burn treatment
Dhaanu’s character/conflict needed more depth
Not all of its threads come together effectively
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes, it’s a unique take on the relationship between humans and technology.
Will You Recommend It?
Certainly, captures a rare dimension of India, where women have a voice of their own and are catching up well in the age of AI.
Humans in the Loop OTT Movie Review by M9
