All people who come from working-class origins can relate to the experience of laboring in a soul-crushing job, simply for the hope that the financial gains can lead to greener pastures. That is the initial premise of Human Resources, a horror movie that portrays a hardware store employee’s first days as a lowly clerk. To top it all off, the protagonist soon discovers that there is a sinister, perhaps supernatural force, that is behind the seemingly old fashioned, struggling business. While the surface plot seems highly relatable, the filmmakers behind this obvious, low-budget, indie movie have a lot of wild ideas that never really payoff in any satisfying ways.
Hugh McCrae, Jr stars as Sam Coleman, a young and ambitious, but very timid young man who has been begging for any semblance of a job. After getting rejected from multiple prospects, the desperate young man accepts the very first job offer he receives. And that opportunity comes from his local Brooke’s Hardware. Determined to overcome his anxiety, Sam takes to his new job with a mix of trepidation and excitement. Though his new workplace initially seems rather dull, he eventually realizes that something bizarre and unnerving is taking place behind the scenes. After discovering that a former employee may have been killled, and covered up by the management, Sam and his co-worker Sarah (Sarah Jose) aim to reveal the truth.
Written and directed by Braeden Swope, who co-wrote the film with Evan Swope and Chris Kelly, Human Resources certainly has an intriguing and riveting concept, and builds the tension initially, but ultimately disappoints when it comes to its big reveal. The fact that this movie is a very low budget feature film is glaringly apparent in a lot of its key moments. It doesn’t exactly help that the script drags the film way too long before it reveals what is exactly happening.
I honestly would have preferred that the movie was more of a psychological exercise, and that perhaps the mundanity of the work, along with the anxiety of the protagonist would prove that everything is his mind playing tricks. However, since the filmmakers decided to take it in a different direction, and just don’t have the resources to pull it off, the reveal and the movie’s climax crash and burn.
In addition, and I actually feel bad for calling them out on this, the actors in this movie perform amateurish, and obviously need more training and experience. Everyone in the movie does shows promise, and possibly have a bright future ahead of them, However, these actors have some work ahead of them to get there. I honestly feel really badly for saying this, but the bad acting moments captured in this movie is glaring and distracting.
I have definitely seen worse movies, and I have seen way better. Human Resources is a film I really cannot recommend, as it frustrated me in its execution. Everyone involved obviously have skills, but also have some growing and learning to further develop their crafts. I do hope that everyone involved learns from the experience of making this movie and I wish them well with any future projects they may have ahead.