Filmmaker Aranya Sahay’s award-winning debut feature film Humans in the Loop has struck a chord with the audience following its Netflix premiere, with many praising the movie for exploring relationships, discrimination, parenting, AI, and nature with coherence.

The film, set in Jharkhand, released on a limited number of screens across major cities in India on 5 September. It follows Nehma (Sonal Madhushankar), an Oraon Adivasi woman, rebuilding her life after divorce by working at an AI data-labeling centre. As she struggles with the data she processes, tension rises back home with her teenage daughter Dhaanu (Ridhima Singh) dreaming of returning to urban life.

Aranya Sahay and the entire team deserve recognition for presenting such a wonderful story, an X user said, praising Netflix for showcasing great content.

Another internet user described Humans in the Loop as a profoundly beautiful movie, noting that in just over an hour it explores themes from AI and nature to relationships, discrimination, and parenting, all with coherence, poise, and sensibility.

Humans in the Loop recently won the Grand Prix award from FIPRESCI-India, the India chapter of International Federation of Film Critics, alongside Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light.

“Movies like these are about to rule Indian cinema,” tweeted a Netflix viewer.

A fan urged movie lovers to watch Humans in the Loop, calling it a beautiful story on human-nature relationship, migration and technology.

Humans in the Loop is produced by Mathivanan Rajendran, Sarabhi Ravichandran, and Shilpa Kumar via Storiculture’s Impact Fellowship and SAUV Films, with Kiran Rao and Biju Toppo as executive producers.

An X user noted that #HumansInTheLoop uses minimalistic pacing and a restrained tone to explore AI data labeling and the world behind it, including the dhuku element.

“Two worlds meet. A cycle of interdependence. Raw characters meet AI,” tweeted another viewer.