Human Nature

95 minutes

English

A breakthrough called CRISPR has given us unprecedented control over the basic building blocks of life. It opens the door to curing diseases, reshaping the biosphere, and designing our own children. Human Nature is a provocative exploration of CRISPR’s far-reaching implications, through the eyes of the scientists who discovered it, the families it’s affecting, and the bioengineers who are testing its limits. How will this new power change our relationship with nature? What will it mean for human evolution? To begin to answer these questions we must look back billions of years and peer into an uncertain future.

Writer/Director/Producer

Adam Bolt

Writer/Editor

Regina Sobel

Cinematography

Derek Reich

Music

Keegan DeWitt

Editing

Steve Tyler

Art Direction

Ned Piyadarakorn

Producer

Meredith DeSalazar, Sarah Goodwin

Executive Producer

Dan Rather, Elliot Kirschner, Greg Boustead

97% on the CINEMETER

100% - Nov 17, 2019

The best documentaries leave you exiting the theater full of opinions and ideas. This film succeeds.
Fabulous, concise and beautifully done. Should be shown in all high schools, medical schools, nursing schools.
San Francisco Member

Superb, in fact extraordinary review of issues facing all of us in a comprehensive film - THANK YOU.
San Francisco Member

Brilliant. I marvel at how the filmmakers made such complicated science so accessible to the non-scientific population. Loved the graphics. Dana White [guest speaker]'s perceptions were helpful and insightful.
San Francisco Member

A clear, balanced and riveting documentary that - like great art - raises issues and questions that we will ponder over for our lifetimes.
San Francisco Member

Before seeing this I expected the info from the field would predominantly frighten me - but that did not happen. The unknowns of gene editing are still scary but there is also hope for positive future changes. Great film!
San Francisco Member

This is the rare movie that I would love to see again, immediately. Maybe several times. And Dana Smith's measured and articulate commentary was an added bonus.
San Francisco Member

I now have a much crisper understanding of genetics.
San Francisco Member

My grandson has albinism. He is now 8. Like the parents in the documentary with an albino daughter, the idea of genetically removing this defect is complicated - I think none of us feel he would be "his wonderful self" without his "affliction."
San Francisco Member

OMG - Thank you for 95 minutes of intellectual reprieve from the tweets and nonsense of our political systems. This was a fabulous treatment of CRISPR technology and testament that scientists are a group that really knows how to collaborate.
San Francisco Member

MIL

97% - Oct 13, 2019

Great documentary. Explains very complex information in understandable ways. Raises great societal questions.
Milwaukee Member

Well-organized, scientific documentary. Excellent explanatory graphics and analogies. Raised many questions.
Milwaukee Member

Interesting movie with scientists coming up with great analogies to teach everyone a simple way to understand genome science.
Milwaukee Member

Raises lots of deep, disturbing questions but also provides a ray of hope.
Milwaukee Member

Fascinating! Very effectively presented.
Milwaukee Member

Excellent way to present complicated information. Visually, very appealing.
Milwaukee Member

I couldn't believe how much this film affected me. I wanted to go out and tell everyone that I know about it. The first half, the explanation, was fascinating. And the second half, the ethical exploration, was great at looking at all sides without pressuring the audience for a particular answer. This was a fantastic film!
Milwaukee Member

Should be shown to all high school students.
Milwaukee Member

STL

97% - Oct 13, 2019

This film opened a world I know very little about and will make me curious for more knowledge.
St. Louis Member

Surprisingly interesting for a non-science type. Very well presented, edited, and scored as well as visually engaging. Great presentation of science's future and ethical challenges.
St. Louis Member

What a fabulous documentary about science and ethics! It also was excellent at showing the importance of good graphics to help communicate complex ideas, experiments, and realities so a larger segment of the population can understand the science involved. It should be required viewing for every high school and college science class!!!
St. Louis Member

Thought it would be boring but I was so wrong. Intriguing, presented the information so well and in understandable terms for lay people. Excellent and thought provoking.
St. Louis Member

Glad to see a different sort of "movie." Presented the multiple sides of this topic in a well-articulated way. Not preachy. I liked (but also craved) an outcome--right or wrong?? Loved the comments of the young bay at the end--I learned a lot by having sickle cell (patience, etc.)
St. Louis Member

Fascinating, disturbing, funny, sad--WOW. So many things. My conversation starter to everyone this week, "Have you heard of CRISPR?" Thanks, Cinema Club!
St. Louis Member

ATL

100% - Oct 13, 2019

Best science documentary I’ve ever seen. Clear, snappy, terrific.
Atlanta Member

The beautiful thing about his movie is that it exemplified the importance of honest dialogue by a diversity of voices. I learned as much about CRISPR from David Sanchez as I did from the very brilliant scientists in the movie.
Atlanta Member

This movie was amazing. It was a great opportunity to learn what is going on in the world of genome editing. Really eye opening. Was not familiar with CRISPR before. The ethics of gene alteration have huge implications for all of us.
Atlanta Member

This film did what documentaries should—it presented complicated issues in clear terms with historical context and enabled us to create informed opinions. Extremely well done and thought provoking.
Atlanta Member

Brilliant and thought-provoking. Beautifully filmed. Loved the musical soundtrack. Thank you for bringing this to the ATL Cinema Club!
Atlanta Member

BOS

96% - Oct 20, 2019

Very well balanced view of technology, society, and ethics.
Boston Member

Fascinating, troubling, hopeful, provocative, exciting.
Boston Member

What an art to condense such a complex subject into an into an understandable, educational, and informative film.
Boston Member

Fascinating and scary: Who is going to control the regulators?
Boston Member

What an incredible film! A clear exploration of a very complex topic--extremely well done.
Boston Member

So moving, intelligent, and inspiring.
Boston Member

96% - Oct 20, 2019

This film is why I am a member of the Cinema Club: the opportunity to learn about, experience, and discuss new and different information/thoughts, concepts, and themes.
Greater New Haven Member

Fascinating, powerful, excellent graphics to explain technical/scientific concepts. Important film. Good choice for the Club: probably wouldn't have seen it otherwise, and Club members can promote and encourage others to see. [Similar comments: 'Fascinating film and subject matter. Probably would not have seen it if I didn't belong to the Cinema Club but I am thankful for having done so.'; 'Wonderful! Something I would not have seen had it not been for the Cinema Club. Very important film.']
Greater New Haven Member

Excellent progression in this film. I am fairly conversant in CRISPR and was not at all bored or impatient during the film's coverage of known areas. The exploration of the ethical issues was thought-provoking.
Greater New Haven Member

Thought-provoking film on the power -- both constructive and destructive -- of the gene editing. The postscript of the November 2018 Chinese selection and manipulation of humans is frightening, because there appears to be no controls in place. One wonders when this becomes a threat of controlling the world -- Putin's comments as an illustration.
Greater New Haven Member

Fascinating depiction of an important stage in scientific development. We have lived 73 years with the prospect of man's destruction by a nuclear holocaust. And now we see another scientific breakthrough with the power for positive and negative results, and knowledge on the microlevel to change mankind's future. Great and scary. Thanks to the producers for making this film, and thanks for showing it.
Greater New Haven Member

Fascinating and horrifying at the same time. For every amazing advance there is a side that can be manipulated for bad. We live in scary times. Having Putin in this movie was chilling. [Moderator note: many members made similar comments about the film being fascinating (and/or excellent), AND horrifying (and/or scary. Just a few examples: 'Very interesting and scary for the human race'; 'Frightening but fascinating at the same time: playing God'; 'Amazing and terrifying. Extremely informative and philosophically thoughtful.']
Greater New Haven Member

'Human nature' (the perfect title for this film) is so complex and self-contradictory that it's hard to know what the future might hold in terms of science. Like the internet, genetic manipulation holds the potential for tremendous good and tremendous evil. At the present moment, my take on the future is pretty dark. It all comes down to human nature, which is pretty scary these days, sad to say.
Greater New Haven Member

This was a terrific example of good story-telling. Bravo for explaining such a complicated topic in a compelling and easy-to-understand way.
Greater New Haven Member

I was enthralled, provoked, entertained, educated. Remarkable film that tackled a scientifically and ethically complex topic and scored 110% on all fronts. Bravo!
Greater New Haven Member

Paced very well. Nice touch in the credits with quotes to identify those who appeared: really helped me remember them. Great that so many female scientists were featured.
Greater New Haven Member

Excellent documentary. Having three out of three children with an inherited disease, I would love to have done anything ethical that would have eliminated their suffering, and prevent their children/future children from having the disease.
Greater New Haven Member

Everyone should get to see this illuminating film. [Moderator note: there were other comments along these lines. Examples: 'Illuminating and essential information. Should be required viewing to educate the public about the potential for hope and horror'; 'Excellent! Everyone should see this.']
Greater New Haven Member

Magnificent! Beautifully presented with wonderfully thoughtful scientists and ethicist, speaking intelligently, interwoven with superb cinematography and well-chosen music. A must-see!
Greater New Haven Member

Thank you for showing this. It explained the science in a very understandable way and was truly thought-provoking about the uses -- good and bad -- of CRISPR. I sit on an Institutional Review Board (human research subjects protection) and am going to take the other members to see it. Final note: I love when you have subject matter speakers after documentaries! [Moderator note: a number of members praised our guest speaker, who answered numerous questions clearly and authoritatively.]
Greater New Haven Member

95% - Nov 10, 2019

Absolutely fascinating - the graphics and music made the movie very powerful.
Washington, DC Member

I think the movie was excellent. It covered so much of the controversy of gene editing. Good or bad, it will be the future, and we need to know all about it! Fast!
Washington, DC Member

This is the most provocative movie I’ve seen in decades. I hope it provokes more discussion in our country.
Washington, DC Member

Wow! Yet again, I would never have seen this movie normally. I groaned after reading the first sentence of the flier, but it is so important that I saw this, because now I’m better informed about more of the basic issues we face in our times. We need more science documentaries!
Washington, DC Member

As a science geek, I loved this movie more than I loved ‘Particle Fever’! I will be taking my equally geeky children to see this.
Washington, DC Member

Having read, and loved Siddarta Mujergee’s brilliant book on The Gene, I was so eager to see this movie and learn more about CRISPR - which I did from all the brilliant scientists. If ever there was a need for understanding and balancing the 2 words of the title, HUMAN/NATURE, that moment is now. I was expecting to be fascinated by new knowledge and debate, but was so surprised to be deeply moved too.
Washington, DC Member

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