Is One Serving Enough?... Movie 'Honja Saneun Saramdeul' [Joohee Kang's Video Prism]

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Still image from the movie 'People Living Alone'./Photo by The Coop

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] People who find more comfort in being alone than 'together.' Directed by Hong Seong-eun, People Living Alone is a film about Jin-ah, a late-20s office worker who has decided to live a solitary life, cutting off interactions with others.

In a society where the use of digital devices like smartphones is widespread, it is no longer necessary to face others directly to carry out daily life. Eating alone, drinking tea alone, and enjoying leisure time alone have become completely normal routines. Jin-ah represents many people living in modern times.

Jin-ah works as a counselor at a card call center and is the best employee at her workplace. She is a veteran who skillfully handles malicious callers who get angry or swear without any particular reason. However, in her daily life, she hardly reveals herself and does not talk to anyone. Whether walking down the street or eating, she always has earphones in her ears, and even when the man next door casually tries to talk to her, she barely gives him a glance.

Training the new employee Su-jin is also a bothersome and annoying task for Jin-ah. Even during lunch breaks, she eats alone, always choosing the same menu at the same restaurant. One day, when Su-jin follows her to have lunch together, Jin-ah refuses to eat facing her. She even coldly tells her, "Don't follow me during lunch from now on," slamming the wall.

Jin-ah seems like someone who neither wants nor needs any change in her life. Each day passes with a routine similar to the previous day. Yet, she does not seem to feel particularly lonely. Jin-ah does not dislike Su-jin or anyone else; she simply says that being alone is more comfortable than facing people.

The film does not specifically explain why Jin-ah avoids relationships with others. This is because the characteristics of people living in modern times are not very different from Jin-ah’s character. Keywords like 'single-person households,' 'eating alone,' 'drinking alone,' and 'solo lifestyle' reflect the traits of independence and individualism in contemporary society. For modern people who live in a world connected 24/7 through smartphones regardless of location, relationships may have become something no longer worth clinging to.

However, People Living Alone is not a film that actively represents or advocates the solo lifestyle. Rather, it asks whether this is truly the life you want. Through Jin-ah’s character, the film invites us to reconsider the meaning of 'living alone.'

Still image from the movie 'People Living Alone'./Photo by The Coop

The peaceful routine of Jin-ah’s life is disrupted by the solitary death of the man next door. After returning home from work as usual, Jin-ah hears from the landlord that the man died alone a few days ago. Moreover, it has been a week since his death.

The landlord says, "Young people don’t care about each other. How could you not know that?" but also expresses concern that a new tenant might not move into the man’s former home. Jin-ah feels uneasy. Although the man’s death was not her fault, she feels guilty for not being kind to him, even though he occasionally tried to talk to her.

'Death' is an important theme in this film. Every relationship involves meetings and partings, and at the end, there is the death of loved ones. However, Jin-ah, who has never had a proper relationship with anyone, does not know how to cope with farewells.

Jin-ah could not even shed tears when her mother passed away. She cannot understand her father, who, unlike her, carefully organizes her mother’s belongings. Perhaps Jin-ah has avoided relationships with others because she fears the emptiness and loss felt when someone leaves.

Still image from the movie 'People Living Alone'./Photo by The Coop

At the end of the film, the belongings of the man next door are cleared out, and a new neighbor, Seong-hoon, moves in. He soon learns that there was an unfortunate incident in the house. Seong-hoon gathers the neighbors to hold a memorial ceremony honoring the previous tenant and mourns the deceased. Jin-ah also stands at a distance, participating in the memorial.

Mourning means 'the sadness felt due to someone’s death.' It signifies accepting another’s death as a part of oneself. In other words, the process of mourning itself represents 'connection with others.' Although Jin-ah and the neighbors never had a proper conversation with the deceased, they linger in sorrow for the departed for a while.

The film conveys that 'living alone' does not necessarily mean 'the severance of relationships.' It is about accepting the natural cycle of meetings and partings. It is about feeling someone’s death not as something unrelated but as a personal matter. The film asks whether relationships are such things, and only then can a person be okay with being alone.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.