The Humans with Stephen Karam

Austin Film Festival's On Story

This week on On Story we’re joined by The Humans writer & director Stephen Karam for a conversation on adapting a play for the big screen.

Stephen Karam is a playwright, screenwriter, and director. His plays Sons of the Prophet, a comedy-drama about a Lebanese-American family, and the subject of today’s episode, The Humans were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2012 and 2016, respectively. The Humans won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play, leading to Karam adapting the play for the big screen in 2021. The film was shown at the 2021 Austin Film Festival.

Set inside a pre-war duplex in downtown Manhattan, The Humans follows the course of an evening in which the Blake family gathers to celebrate Thanksgiving. As darkness falls outside the crumbling building, mysterious things start to go bump in the night and family tensions reach a boiling point.

Moderator Casey Baron sat down with Stephen Karam for a panel about his work at the Austin Film Festival.

Clips of The Humans courtesy of A24.