‘Aloners’ Review: Plugged In however Shut Off

Jina (Gong Seung-yeon), the reclusive determine on the heart of “Aloners,” is lonely however by no means alone. Or maybe it’s the opposite manner round. She isolates herself at each level of her day — when she eats, when she works, when she smokes — turning to screens for companionship. She is all the time on her cellphone, scrolling even whereas speaking to prospects on the name heart the place she works. At night time, she falls asleep with the TV on.

Yet it’s clear within the director Hong Sung-eun’s quietly tragic story of alienation, Jina is admittedly simply numb. Her mom has not too long ago died, and she or he is estranged from her father. But on the name heart, an keen new rent (Jung Da-eun) begins to push up in opposition to Jina’s walled-off existence.

Hong’s biggest power is restraint. At each second during which she may flip the movie into a better, feel-good story a few lady being taught methods to get up to life, she pulls again. Life shouldn’t be so easy, and therapeutic is difficult. As a lot as “Aloners” is about grief, it’s additionally a portrait of the ennui of contemporary life, how simply folks can shut themselves off and fall into the void — and the way mundane that withering away appears to be like. Yet you may spot, within the excellent, refined performances from Gong and Jung, the ache and desperation below the floor. The solely manner out is that if Jina may see the identical in another person and attain out.

Aloners
Not rated. In Korean, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes. Available to hire or purchase on most main platforms.