Review of Aloners / 혼자 사는 사람들, directed by Hong Song-eun

Something I always do when I go to another country (I write this as if I travel internationally often—I really do not do that) is check my various subscriptions and see what is available in this country but not the USA. In January 2024, I had the fantastic opportunity to go visit my cousin in Malaysia, and when I was jet lagged the first night, I immediately turned to my subscriptions.

It was my MUBI subscription I was most delighted with seeing the options with, and several of the reviews I have coming out of the next few days are going to be from what I was able to access when I was in Malaysia.

Aloners was one of the movies I watched during this time, as I was really intrigued by the premise of the movie. As someone who spends a lot of time by myself, I know the perils of getting too stuck in your head and routine.

And before we get into the thick of the review, I will admit: this film really spoke to me. Let’s get into the review!

After the death of her mother, Jina, a call center worker, begins to realize the error of her ways.

Our protagonist in this movie is Jina, who is the best employee at a call center. She does her job efficiently and coldly, answering calls and answering the concerns of customers in the best manner possible. However, there’s a crack in her facade: her mother has died recently.

Jina is struggling with her mental health because of it, and is irritated at how her father is handling things. Despite living in a tiny room by herself, Jina also did not get any of her inheritance, putting her in a situation where she relies even more on being the best at her job. During her lunch breaks, she gets noodles with her headphones in, and watches television shows when she’s at her apartment.

One day, she’s heading home when she sees police officers in front of her apartment. As it turns out, a noise Jina heard a few days ago was her neighbor being crushed to down by adult magazines. We saw Jina earlier in the movie talking to him, which makes her potentially one of the last people to see him, as he died right after.

She continues throughout the movie watching her father through a camera she rigged in her parents’ home, and she sees him doing different things.

Jina also kind of brushed him off, leading to some regret here. Soon after, Jina’s boss asks her to take on a trainee, a young girl named Sujin. Jina tries to teach her the ways, despite not wanting her to do it, and is frustrated at how Sujin doesn’t do the job as well as she does.

Sujin also tries to befriend Jina, but Jina brushes her off and even rudely rejects the girl at times. As Sujin grows more dependent on her, Jina eventually cranks up her own avoidance of the girl. Eventually, Sujin stops coming to work, and Jina puts her belongings away.

A guy tries moving in next door as well, and he asks Jina about the apartment. One day though, Jina arrives to work and starts breaking down. She messes up during a call, and Jina breaks down. She calls her father on the way back to her house, cursing him out, and he hangs up. The new neighbor is moving in, and she gets irritable when her TV is messed up.

Jina requests a leave of absence the next day, and apologizes to Sujin. She watches as her new neighbor holds a vigil to cleanse the home of spirits. After that, we don’t know if she quits her job, but her boss asks her if she’s looking for a new job. She then calls her father and tells him she has a camera in the house.

Overall Thoughts

Y’all…this is a movie that really shattered me in some ways. It’s so relatable how Jina has her own specific routine that so many people are following today. I know and see so many people eating out with headphones in, or escaping by watching shows on their phone because they have nobody to talk to.

I’d describe this in general as a quiet, character-driven story. There are a lot of moments of silence where Jina is just by herself, and those hit hard.

Watch it if you haven’t already—I think this one of my favorite movies I’ve seen in the past year, despite it not being flashy at all.

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