Human Theories
Director(s): Jess Zeidman
Film description: Isn’t it funny to be alive? Through forty interconnected vignettes, Human Theories is a comedic kaleidoscope exploring how people try, and often fail, to connect with one another in this weird world. Filmed over a year on location in New York City with a diverse ensemble cast of over 50 actors and non-actors, the film is an experimental love letter to the awkward struggle of modern city living.
Preceded by “A Good Man”
ERIC SAYS Human Theories unfolds like an artisanally stitched quilt, lovingly yet wryly depicting diverse young big-city dwellers today struggling for personal connection and finding instead… life, in all its sloppy awkwardness. Comprised of forty (!) interconnected short stories, micro-fictions brimming with humor, familiar faces, and relatable scenarios, Human Theories is Jess Zeidman’s first feature as director after producing several prior films, including Olivia Peace’s Tahara (which she also wrote). That previous experience pays off tremendously here, resulting in a confident debut that’s winningly loose, bright, and compulsively entertaining.
Zeidman’s superb directorial debut brings to mind post-mumblecore ensemble gems like Dustin Guy Defa’s Person to Person, cult comedies that take the pulse of an entire metropolis like Al Warren’s Dogleg, and the many-character frescos of Altman in his prime. It’s sweet, funny, offbeat, sincere, and very much alive.
Writer(s): Jess Zeidman
Producer(s): Arno Mokros, Yoko Kohmoto, Tam Sackman, Jess Zeidman
Editor(s): Ryan Martin Brown
Country of origin: USA
Principal cast: Elise Kibler, Joey Dardano, Nick Naney, Matt Albani, Sofia Dobrushin, Sara Hennessey, Sureni Weerasekera, Kelsea Bauman Murphy, Kelly Cooper, Madeline Grey DeFreece, John Hedrick, Wyatt Fair, Jessy Morner-Ritt, Joanna Arnow, Sophie Zucker, Josephine Chiang, Asha Ward
Language: English
Year: 2026
Duration: 71 min
Premiere status: Maryland Premiere
