Review | Venice 2025: Human Resource movie review – a bleak view of corporate culture in Thailand
Happy Old Year director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s portrait of modern-day white-collar work in Bangkok gives pause for thought
3/5 stars
With its portrait of modern-day corporate culture in Thailand, Human Resource will strike a chord with anyone familiar with the soul-sapping world of white-collar work.
Nawapol sets up a world where the news is anything but cheery: the rich-poor gap is widening, microplastics are infiltrating human reproductive systems, and there is an uneasy feeling on the streets.
One character demonstrates a new “ultra-slim stab vest” to protect users against knives – “For an increasingly hostile world”, the slogan goes.
Amid all this, the film’s central character, Fren (Prapamonton Eiamchan), is five weeks pregnant. At the outset, when she goes to the hospital for a scan, her unborn baby is just a little black dot on the monitor. “Take care of your emotions,” the doctor says. But in this world, that may not be possible.