A student experiences the grim realities of the workplace in July Jung’s chilling portrait of a generation of South Koreans let down by society

The future is not so much a prize to be seized by the young as it is bleak, foreclosed and unrelenting in this drama from South Korean director July Jung. Sohee (Kim Si-Eun) is a free-spirited high schooler with a fiercely independent streak and a love of dance. At school, her teacher pulls her aside and shares the good news: he’s found her an internship at a call centre. But the signs that she will hate the job are there on day one: during training, managers advise staff – all young, all female, all considered expendable – what lipstick to wear.

The film was inspired by a news story about a student who killed themselves while on a work placement, and one can sense Jung (who...