Humans in the Loop | 2025 | Film Review

 (I haven't written a piece on a film in almost two years, so let me stretch my wings...) On the 23rd of February, a friend took me to the first screening (in Delhi) of 'Humans in the Loop' at the JNU Convention Centre. Although I had seen a short film titled, 'Mirgi', by the same director, Mr Aranya Sahay, I had no idea what to expect from his debut feature. I went in completely blind, and, I'm happy to say, that my non-existent expectations were blown to smithereens by how good this film turned out to be.

 Set in contemporary Jharkhand, the film centres around a tribal woman who is going through a divorce with her non-tribal husband, because of which she now has to work as a data labeller for an artificial intelligence company and raise her teen daughter and a toddler. However, her troubles only increase when her daughter, unhappy with being moved to her mom's village, lashes out against her. She now has to deal with a resentful daughter and an inhuman job which goes against her personal beliefs.

 Like many of the Indian new-wave of indie films, 'Humans in the Loop', too, is a quiet, contemplative film which engrosses the audience with its thoughtful prodding of the themes. But the film is quiet only in its style; the characters burst with emotions, often shouting and yelling at each other. The camera, with its gorgeous cinematography, remains still for most of the runtime. It not only makes you feel like you're part of that world that you're witnessing on the screen, but makes it feel like a distant memory of your own; makes you nostalgic for a place you've never been to. And very few films can boast that achievement. 

 The interiors, framed like paintings with its multiple layers, are just as impressive as the landscape shots bathed in natural lighting, showcasing the flora and fauna of the wild. The whole film has an intentional "underlit" kind of a feel; as if the entire world of these characters was overcast and something terrible was nigh, or the clouds of despair could clear away at any moment if you could just wait a bit longer. The sound design lends a soothing depth to the world as well, because of which you can feel the rustling of the leaves and distant calls of unseen birds and grunts of porcupines and coos of babies and whispering narrations. Akin to a Terrance Malick film, even though the resemblance, which I confirmed, was not intentional. 

 Each cut of the film is so deliberate. For me, when it comes to editing, the scene that comes to mind would be where the protagonist is giving a test for her interview and she forgets a captcha and begins to panic, but the sequence is intercut with her having flashbacks of her village, of her childhood, and the film cuts back and forth with the sound of a mouse click. The whole scene, pulled off with unfaltering elegance,  shows off such fantastic bravado from the filmmakers.

 As you can tell, I pretty much loved almost everything about the film. I was fully engrossed by it by the end, utterly moved. I was so invested by the relationship between the mother and the daughter that I almost forgot to notice something that the film was doing until after the screening, during the Q&A, Aranya explained how much of a sci-fi geek he is and how fascinated he is by the idea that we, humans, are just custodians for the non-organic life form, A.I and we're here to just pass on the knowledge we have accumulated as a species. The moment he said that, the entire film realigned in my head and I realised that this could work as a prequel to so many sci-fi stories, like Star Wars or Star Trek, Interstellar etc. The birth of A.I presented in such a unique setting. 

 'Humans in the Loop' is a pleasant reminder that cinema, like all the other art forms, flourishes in perilous times instead of withering away. And this film is the latest bloom of the season.