ONE EARLY WINTER DAY IN 1992, PAPER MILL WORKER TOM MONFILS WENT MISSING. THIRTY-SIX HOURS LATER, HE WAS FOUND DEAD AT THE BOTTOM OF A PULP VAT. A 40-POUND WEIGHT WAS ATTACHED TO A JUMP ROPE TIED AROUND HIS NECK.

Almost immediately, Tom’s death was considered a homicide. Since it had to have occurred inside the paper mill - a locked building with 24-hour security - a list of suspects was quickly generated. At the top of this list was a coworker Tom had recently butted heads with in a very public way. Everyone expected an arrest within days. It took more than two years. 

BEYOND HUMAN NATURE is about the conflict that erupts between mankind’s inherent need to make sense of the world and his limited capacities to do so. Is it possible to be utterly committed to the truth yet unable to see it? Can the mere pursuit of truth become an end in itself, keeping us from going deeper? Is the truth intrinsically elusive? These questions and more will be explored through a first-person retelling of the Tom Monfils murder investigation of 1992-1995 and its contentious aftermath. The film is the second feature documentary directed by Michael Neelsen (Last Day at Lambeau, shown at the Green Bay Film Festival), and is produced by his father Dave Neelsen through their production company StoryFirst Media. It has been filming on location in Wisconsin, USA since May, 2014.