Human Nature

Human Nature (2001) is a quirky comedy-drama you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Michel Gondry from a Charlie Kaufman screenplay. Tim Robbins, Patricia Arquette, and Rhys Ifans lead a Franco-American production that treats civilization as a punchline — and means it.

Lila has spent years living wild in the forest, wrestling with body hair she can't shave fast enough and a deep suspicion of social norms. Her boyfriend Nathan is a scientist conditioning mice to use cutlery. On a forest walk, they stumble onto Puff — a man raised by his father to believe he was a chimpanzee. Nathan sees a research subject. Puff sees a woman. Lila starts wondering who the real animal is.

Kaufman builds the story as an absurdist love triangle where every character is simultaneously predator and specimen. Gondry directs with the same whip-smart visual instinct he'd bring to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind three years later. Stream Human Nature (2001) online on iFILM.