Smile, Bob's just here to kill you

Bureaucratic euthanasia is part of the fun in director Caitlin Cronenberg’s darkly amusing debut

- PETER HOWELL

Bob, played by a deliriously deadpan Enrico Colantoni (right, with Jay Baruchel, left, Peter Gallagher and Alanna Bale), is from the Department of Citizen Strategy and is charged with carrying out a government euthanasia program to reduce the population in “Humane.”

In “Humane,” Caitlin Cronenberg’s scathing dystopian satire, a not-soGrim Reaper arrives at the door, smiling. He’s dressed in baby blue overalls and carries a clipboard.

His name is Bob, played by a deliriously deadpan Enrico Colantoni (“Veronica Mars”). He’s from the Department of Citizen Strategy, D.O.C.S. for short, and he’s here with his team to kill you with a euthanasia kit, then carry your body out to his white RV for disposal after.

It’s nothing personal. The world is nearly a year into a “catastrophic ecological collapse” that has slashed food and water reserves. Governments everywhere are attempting to deal with it by culling their populations by 20 per cent.

The euthanasia program is voluntary — for now — and if Bob’s here it means you volunteered (for a large cash payout), good citizen that you are. But once you’re in, you can’t back out without serious consequences, although people do try. Oh, how they try — especially the Yorks, the wealthy family at the centre of this story.