It epitomizes that cinema could be a universal language, a point made by filmmaker Hong Sung-eun in her debut feature film Aloners. No matter how Korean she tells the story of life questions thus ultimately destiny connected to our souls it is applicable to us all over the world wherever we get ourselves. Hence, Hong effectively represents an increasingly fragmented society at who and where we are in the mirror without anyone else present but those around us. Ultimately, however, though lonelyness might be one’s lot being alone can be beautiful — and crossing that line is what counts.
Aloners stars Gong Seung-yeon as Jina, a young woman who outwardly appears to prefer a solitary existence. She clocks in and out of her mundane yet simple job at a credit card company call center only investing enough emotional energy into it and in other colleagues just to get by for both customers (Olsen 1). Besides work, she spends most of her time glued to screens—watching cooking videos on her phone while eating at the fast food restaurant or taking metro bus home from work or flipping through TV channels in her “home” which has no much furniture inside.
Of course, throughout Aloners, there are some dramatic moments that threaten to disrupt Jina’s monotonous life. On top of training new overly enthusiastic call center employee she is also surprised when her estranged father contacts him through his mother’s mobile phone as he claims it to have been given by Jina’s late mother; additionally this comes after another tenant next door moves into his block abruptly unannounced.
There are so many great movies about loneliness that it could certainly be considered its own subgenre. The reason why this film differs from others is because the full truth behind Jina’s situation unfolds like something you would expect from detective stories (Lee 2). In much the same way as Jina keeps people away from herself Hong quickly distances us from the protagonist (Olsen 1). It is interesting to recall that in a Variety interview, filmmaker described her work as an exploration of personal fears (Lee 2) so it is almost like Hong is shielding Jina from the audience. After all, we are people who live in different countries, speak different languages and have sometimes opposite cultures.
Here, Youngki Choi’s cinematography is key, favoring long and medium shots from multiple angles that simultaneously allow us a full view of Jina, but, eschewing visual pomp and incorporating a more naturalistic lens, still doesn’t offer much by way of by characterization — at least, not at first. As yet we know little about why she holds herself back from those who want to get acquainted with her; but gradually through conversations with her father (Park Jeong-hak), new friendly neighbor(Soo hyun-woo), trainee Keon Eun-Ji(De-eun Jeong) she starts giving some hints concerning this attitude (Lee 3).
It eventually dawns on us how much sorrow Jina is carrying from losing her mother and how terrified she is of allowing someone else to get close enough for her to lose them again. By the time the dam breaks, when we finally realize what she is going through; a scene in which Gong bares her character’s soul with abandon, serving up an impressive acting performance that is completely at odds with our previous understanding of this distant woman. It was a relief for Jina to no longer have to be guarded while this experience had a way of changing us in some small but profound manner.
NPR recently ran an article about loneliness being an epidemic in America. This has been only aggravated by the digital age and without doubt, worsened by COVID-19 pandemic as many places are now more isolated than ever before. The all-too-familiar feeling even among people separated by oceans is perfectly exemplified in Aloners. Hong’s brilliance lies in focusing on Jina as a representation of this concept because there isn’t really a bigger indictment here. Of course, Jina almost had something connected to the screen if it isn’t work or personal leisure time yet Hong refuses to portray technology as necessarily being the villain – and her film is better for not doing so.
When one feels alone it’s natural that they look towards their screens like Jina who uses hers to keep tabs on her dad now that he’s alone or lose oneself into another world through a movie. In fact, reviewing films nowadays –in solitude (like the writer did here) on small screen with headphones notes –is similar to constant streaming Jina does throughout most of Aloners actually. Indeed stories are how we connect across spacetime; besides just occasionally one needs to do as shown at the end of Hong’s film where we can see right through an eye shot.
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