Capsule Review for Seattle International Film Festival 2023.
A contemplative and unique Korean thriller, Jung Ju-ri’s Next Sohee is artfully directed and performed with reserved grace. Sohee (Kim Si-Eun) is an “extern”, a student worker exploited for their labor, mandated to work a call center as a precondition for graduation. Ju-ri turns the office worker grind into a mental prison that chisels away Sohee’s identity, dulling her sparkling presence to a nub. Gaslit by her superiors, manipulated into manipulating customers, subject to degrading psychological warfare, it’s no wonder Sohee is falling apart. Ju-ri paints a portrait of a young adult’s evolution from student-to-worker that’s deeply dehumanizing, revealing a shockingly broken system that’s intentionally stacked against the Sohees of society. Powerful stuff. (B+)
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By: Matt Oakes
Started blogging about film in college when the university paper wouldn’t have him. Dislikes your consensus film Twitter favorites. Devotee of horror movies that make him die a little inside. Catches films at festivals when he can. Proud SFCS and OFCS member and Tomatometer-approved critic. Editor-in-chief of Silver Screen Riot.
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