Honja saneun saramdeul

I am really surprised - though honestly not shocked - that more people don't note that the glaring truth of this film is that it's about the invasion of Western capitalism in South Korea. The more SK has Westernized, the more its people have the same problems as anyone stuck in a capitalist grind.

The main character is basically a robot who takes abuse constantly in her job as a customer service agent who answers phones for a credit card company. She handles every call with rational detachment and feigned politeness, obeying the commands of rude and irrational customers who don't see her as a person.

Jina's plight is further complicated by her bottled up grief over the death of her mother. It takes the death of a neighbor, who appears to her as a ghost, and a young, needy trainee at work to reach into Jina's solitary world of work and television.

Its about our new gen live since 1-2 decades sgo. Nobody cares anyone, especially with smart phones neighbours or colleagues ignored each other.

This story lacked too much, nothing interesting from start to end. Some are minor illogical but biggest problem is its boredom.

It is too simple written and too hectic made without realizing it does not content ant punch or effect. Wasted my time and money, max rating is 4.8/10 because thousands better movie out there.

This is a review for those who, like me, like to come back here after watching a film, just to see if anyone else shared their concluding thoughts. Thought there are no spoilers, this short review will only resonate with those who have already seen the film.

The director/writer felt the need to insert a few completely uneccessary and very implausible events into the plot, which almost spoiled what should have been a quite good viewing experience. Not sure if the "uneccesaries" were derived from cultural humor or whimsical creativity. Once again, without giving anything away, the silly implausibles were: the magazine death; the hidden camera confession; the restaurant seating incident.

A young girl works at a call-in centre for a credit card company. Aside from greeting customers and looking at her cellphone constantly, she hasn't much of a social life. She is a misanthrope, avoiding any human interaction. When she is forced to have a trainee she is rude and abrupt to her.

All this is well done by the main actress (Jeong Da-eun) and she certainly can't be accused of over-acting. The film is also sprinkled with humour, which alleviates the atmosphere and prevents the film from being overly world-weary.

Obviously the purpose is to demonstrate the alienation and loneliness of young people in today's' world - yet hasn't this been a perennial problem - listen to some of the folk music from the 1960s.

We work the 9/5 to get along. We survive and yet we feel so disconnected by the people around us. I would compare this movie to Fight Club, but a drowned out introspective feminine version. It's a story about a woman working a job, living in a one room apartment, as life happens around her. Of course she doesn't have a murderous compulsion to do violence, but a slow realization that life isn't what it seems and that life is of the habit to keep us from living. If you are into film and understand the lifeless grind of working to survive, this movie hears you.

If you want a solid Korean movie about the working class that has zero frills and tons of humanity, this movie is for you. If you need action and still want some class consciousness, there is always Snowpiercer or Parasite. This one is a much more low key vibe.