I had the pleasure of watching “혼자 사는 사람들 (Aloners)” by Hong Sung-Eun, who both wrote and directed the movie. This film is currently being showcased at the International Film Festival of Ottawa until March 20th. Before reading further, please note that this review has some spoilers regarding the end, therefore, I recommend you read it after you watch the movie.  

The movie is set in the year 2019, pre-pandemic era, and tells the story of Jina, who chooses to create a solitary life for herself, deprived of any form of relationships with others. Her best friends are her phone, tv and laptop. 

She goes to work every day and then comes home, a routine she carries out almost robotically.

Throughout the course of the film we start to understand more about Jina and why she chooses to isolate herself from human interaction. As the viewers will see when they watch the film, life throws in her direction a series of unforeseen events that ultimately serve to break her away from her cycle of solitudine.  

The main question the film raises is why do people choose to live alone. I think this film specifically addresses millennials who are in their 20’s and 30’s and live a very hectic lifestyle governed mostly by technology. The film posits fear as one of the main emotions that Jina is running away from. She is afraid to get close to others and uses her desire to be alone as a safety net to avoid facing her own unresolved issues. In the end she admits that she is not cut out to be alone, she doesn’t really want to take the bus by herself or eat alone. This determines Jina to start making a change in the right direction. 

The idea behind this film made me think about my own life, choices I have made and situations I am currently still encountering. Are we too alone, do we keep ourselves busy to avoid making new friends or are we running away from forming meaningful relationships with others because we don’t want to be hurt? I believe these existential questions probably go through the minds of many people but it is human nature to push everything to the side in favor of the next item on our busy agenda. I specified that the movie was set in the pre-covid era because I really think that the last two years, when many have been forced to be alone, have had a profound global psychological impact on the majority of people. Although technology itself has been positively impacting the lives of many during the pandemic by facilitating forms of communication when people were alone, I also think technology has warped human interaction because it is much easier to hide behind a screen than to speak to someone face to face. Despite the positive aspects of technological advances, ultimately nothing can ever replace human contact and interaction. 

In my daily life I often hear people say they are tired of online meetings and prefer seeing someone in person. I am happy to hear such words because it resonates with the ending of the film when Jina also comes to realize that making drastic changes in her life was her only way out. 

I really hope you go watch “Aloners” because the film subtly teaches a poignant lesson about the importance of human relationships.

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To watch the film please visit the website. 

https://www.iffo.ca/2022/aloners

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This film has been brought to you by the Korean Cultural Center of Canada. 

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#aloners #kcinema #tffo #movies #koreanculture

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