'Next Sohee' is based on a real life event in which a high schooler decides to end her life after five months of so called field work. It exposes and criticizes specific social problems, but the tone of the narrative remains rational and mild. Even so, this movie is exceptionally emotional because the portrayal of reality is so accurate that it can pierce into the heart and because the tone and the direction are lonely, melancholy and hopeless. For example, when Sohee looks up from the underground stairs, she sees snow outside in a very small frame of the door. When she drinks beer alone, the sun shines only on her toes at a very narrow angle. The space is always restricted and confined, resembling the fact that Sohee is suffocated without any exit. In contrast, the lake she walks into is wide enough to fill up the whole screen. The most open, spacious, and free scene in the whole movie.
After the movie was released, the law that guarantees the underaged workers all the rights and protection that adult employees receive passed. There will be more strict criteria for the workplace that high school students can attend. It is now on our watch that there will be no more next Sohee.
After the movie was released, the law that guarantees the underaged workers all the rights and protection that adult employees receive passed. There will be more strict criteria for the workplace that high school students can attend. It is now on our watch that there will be no more next Sohee.