(Movie Review) 'Next Sohee' exposes systematic labor exploitation

By Kim Eun-jung

SEOUL, Feb. 1 (Yonhap) – "Next Sohee" is a sobering story about the suicide of a high school student who worked at a call center, but it also tells a larger tale about exploitative labor practices and emotional stress from the competitive work environment.

Inspired by a real life story, director Jung Ju-ri's second feature film revolves around Kim So-hee (Kim Si-eun), a vocational high school student who is assigned to an internet service provider's call center as part of a job training program.

Once on the job, the main character faces a grinding reality, the suicide of her supervisor and endless pressure to excel.

At the packed office, agents have to deal with angry customers and fill quotas by selling bundle packages. They answer the phone by saying, "Dear customer, I love you," and must restrain themselves during aggressive and rude calls, even suffering sexual harassment over the phone.

Despite her struggle and repetitive overtime work, Kim gets paid below the minimum wage and becomes increasingly depressed. She takes her own life three months after the job training.

In the two-part story, detective Oh Yoo-jin (Bae Doona) tries to get the bottom of her death although it seems to be a straightforward suicide case.

When Oh visits the call center, she sees employees' names and performances on a giant white board and faces company officials who try to lay the blame on Kim.

Although the job training program was part of the vocational school's curriculum, students were under little or no supervision, left in a blind spot from the education and labor authorities.

Kim's teacher doesn't know exactly what her student was learning from the program. What he needed was a high employment rate among his students, as did the school's vice principal.

Again, Oh finds the big chart and numbers that show employment rates and rankings of schools, the barometer for their performances.

To them, Kim was not a pet care major student who loves dancing but a student who could lower the school's rank if she caused trouble at the workplace.

The impassive detective loses patience as there is no single culprit behind Kim's death. She discovers the perpetual cycle of systematic labor exploitation and negligence.

Even when Kim said she wanted to quit her job, her parents and teacher give her unhelpful advice: Life's hard and it's just the way it is.

Her friends are not in a better situation and seem like "Next Sohee." They are also struggling in low-paying jobs, such as parcel delivery, parking lot assistance and factory work.

The film raises the sobering question of what sacrifices workers have to make in a capitalist system and the value of their labor when they can't find meaning or joy in work.

The story was inspired by a 2016 incident, but Jung's film is still relevant today as there are still young people who are exploited as cheap labor at work and suffer emotional stress due to harassment by their employers and customers.

Bae's acting is gripping as she develops empathy for So-hee's desperate situation and connects to her friends. Kim conveys complicated emotions as the energetic young girl's soul is gradually broken in the abusive work environment.

Jung's compelling social drama received critical acclaim, being selected as the closing film of the Critics' Week at Cannes Film Festival last year.

"Next Sohee" will hit local theaters on Feb. 8.

ejkim@yna.co.kr
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