Futureless Things

At first glance, I’d say Futureless Things is just a simple film. There’s nothing interesting or unique about it. It’s more of like a documentary about the day to day work and encounters of different workers in a convenience store during their shifts with a really sad ending about the owner. However, if I look closely and actually focus on the subtle imagery and themes, I’d realize there’s more to it. This was hard for me because after researching about the film, it turns out most of the themes in the film were about Korean culture. So, since I’m not Korean, it wasn’t easy to get.

The main characters in the film were the clerks working for the convenience store. It is very much likely that these characters are the ones being referred to by the title as “Futureless Things”. It could be a reach but it could mean that these workers are used merely as objects or tools by the companies that own these convenience stores to work for them. They could easily be replaced by someone else who needs the job, which could explain the ‘futureless’ part. Some of the characters are even shown in the film looking or applying for other jobs, or are clearly yearning for something else and not a job as a clerk. For example, there was a guy who was practicing for his acting auditions.

Of all places, why is it set in a convenience store and not somewhere else? This is interesting because all throughout the movie, the location never changed. If the goal of the cast was to set the scene wherein everyone with different beliefs, hopes, and dreams come together to collectively present the varying culture in Korea, then a convenience store is the perfect place. Anyone and everyone can come in and out of a convenience store.

A lot of themes or issues in Korea are also presented in the film. Some of them are racism, language/(il)literacy, plastic surgery, and religious diversity. A girl, who used to live in North Korea but is now a South Korean citizen, was working as a clerk in the convenience store peacefully until one rude customer noticed her thick North Korean accent. She was harassed sexually and verbally by the said customer. He only left when she threatened to call the police. Another clerk was also presented as someone who didn’t know how to speak English. He tried so hard learning and practicing it with the customers who only found it offensive or rude. Plastic surgery was also shown through an Arabic-looking woman with a bandage on her nose. She, then, showed the clerk a picture of a South Korean girl that she wants to look like. Lastly, there was a guy who tried every single religious practice there is just to get lucky in the lottery scratch and win game. After he left, a guy who wanted to introduce the ‘right’ Jesus arrived, and then, another guy who only talked about Philosophy and nothing else.

Futureless Things was honestly a very interesting movie for me. Regardless if I understood the flow of the whole movie or the connection of each and every one of the scenes or characters, I still enjoyed focusing on the different underlying themes and issues related to the Korean culture. I’m hoping a movie like this will be made again but about the Filipino culture if there’s none yet.