Human Resource Review (2025 BFI London Film Festival)
Flicking through the news or scrolling down your X feed feels like a descent into hell. The rise of fascism, the failures, and the lack of funding for key institutions are enough to be the stuff of nightmares. Then you have to struggle with jobs and capitalism, making it easy to assume there is no hope for humanity. Many of us have wondered: Why would I want to bring life into this world if it’s destined to remain a nightmare? Human Resource ponders this very question, while also addressing the modern horrors of working in a capitalist society that prioritises business over the well-being of staff.
We open on an ultrasound scan: Fren (Prapamonton Eiamchan) is one month pregnant but, for the time being, keeps this information a secret from her partner. Fren cooks breakfast and later picks up her partner, hours after finishing her job. While going about her day-to-day tasks, Fren hears news and rumours about the current state of Thailand. She works in the HR department of a large company, and we explore her role as she hires a new staff member to replace a previous employee who has been a no-show for several days, following a complaint she filed against her boss. We follow Fren as she interviews candidates and wrestles with the decision of whether she wants to bring a child into the world.
Human Resource is not for the faint-hearted. Clocking in at just over two hours, there is nothing hopeful about this film, and while this is by design, Human Resource reflects the current state of society. While I do not believe that all films should be used as a form of escapism, I do feel that sometimes seeing a reflection of a viewer’s everyday experience—and how soul-crushing that can be, with no hope in sight—is simply depressing.
Seeing how capitalism impacts Fren’s job—forcing her to handle the fallout from an abusive boss who is considered more valuable than the colleague he abused—is grotesquely toxic. This toxicity also affects the campaign to find a new employee: while the company offers flexibility, the boss insists on someone who will be in the office six days a week. The unemployment crisis must be addressed, making it clear that the fault does not lie with the unemployed but with corporations demanding the mythical “dream candidate” who does not exist.
When Fren is not at work, she is grappling with the revelation that she is pregnant and the horrors unfolding in Thailand, which I found to be the most powerful storytelling in the film. It really makes me wonder why anyone would want to bring a child into this hellscape—especially when her partner only adds to the nightmares. Fren is at her partner’s beck and call, whether it’s picking him up from work or being forced to stay put when a bike goes the wrong way on a one-way street. When he finds out Fren is pregnant, her wishes are no longer up for consideration. Fren’s life is a living nightmare, and seeing how helpless she is and how much of her soul has left her body is truly depressing.
Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit does a great job writing and directing Human Resource, which is an accurate yet heightened reflection of our reality. The film is not overly flashy, but the aspect ratio creates a sense of claustrophobia, adding tension. However, my biggest issue with the film is how abrupt the ending is. The film kind of just ends, leaving you perplexed about the deeper meaning and what Thamrongrattanarit is trying to say. When the film finished, all I felt was hopelessness, highlighting how horrendous our world truly is.
Human Resource is not for everyone, but it has enough interesting things to say to be worth watching, even if I will probably never experience it again.
★★★ 1/2
Playing as part of the BFI London Film Festival 2o25 on October 8th and 10th / Prapamonton Eiamchan, Paopetch Charoensook, Pimmada Chaisakaoen, Darina Boonchu, Chanakan Rattana-Udom / Dir: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit
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