Venice 2025: ‘Human Resource’ is a Clever Modern Workplace Satire
by Alex Billington
September 7, 2025
It’s time to get real: capitalism is going to kill us all. Most of the world is living in a capitalist hell, but we’re stuck in it and there’s not much anyone can do. The endlessly futile game of jobs, resumes, bosses, bonuses, time off, promotions, contracts, incentives, interviews, HR, and everything else that makes everyone cringe. There’s a trend within cinema these days with films subtly, slyly commenting on this capitalist hellscape, from Ruben Ostlund’s Triangle of Sadness to Mark Mylod’s The Menu to Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You to Alex Scharfman’s Death of a Unicorn, and everything else. The latest film to join the party is a Thai film called Human Resource, made by filmmaker Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit as his 8th feature film so far. It just premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival in the Orizzonti section, though it’s so damn good it really should’ve been playing in the Main Competition. What makes Human Resource unique is that it is a much more dour, depressing film following a woman in Bangkok who works at a company. However, it’s a hilariously bleak satire that makes Nawapol out to be Thailand’s Ruben Ostlund with a dash Roy Andersson.
Human Resource is both written and directed by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, set in the bustling, modern city of Bangkok. Prapamonton Eiamchan stars as Fren, a quiet, contemplative young woman who works in the HR department. “Fren closely observes people’s lives through interviews with numerous young new hires at her unjust company.” She also just found she’s pregnant, and seems to be entirely unsure of what to do next in life. What is the point of all of this? What is the point of bringing a child into this broken world? The film takes a bit to get going – at first it’s slightly confusing why we’re following this woman, or what the story will be, or what’s going on. But it eventually settles in and then things get hilarious. There are perfectly crafted ironical scenes straight out of a Roy Andersson film, and funny moments showing just how absurd and empty and pointless life is in this capitalist hell. Everyone needs work, everyone is desperate to keeping working, to make money – in order to go home & then do nothing, with empty lives where nothing exciting ever happens. Then they go to sleep, wake up and eat breakfast, and repeat this cycle over & over. To what end? As bleak and melancholic as this film is, I found my laughter getting louder & louder as it continues on.
By the end of the film I was ready to admit: this is brilliant, just amazing filmmaking. I loved this film, even though it’s painful to watch at times. I laughed way louder than I should’ve at some of the most unsettling shots (like the pile of ash). The fact that Nawapol is smart enough to show these images, to let the camera linger, in order to make sure it has an impact on viewers, is part of the brilliance. This is clever filmmaking. It’s extremely dark, yet exceptionally sharp, in its perfectly depicted sly criticism of the what-are-we-even-doing-anymore hell we all live in nowadays. I doubt it’ll wake anyone up from the delusions they’re living in. I doubt it’ll suddenly cause the world to stop being so obsessed with capitalism & corporations. But it totally slays anyway. As depressing and dismal as the film is, I still found plenty of joy in this expression of angst using cinema to make us laugh while we wince at this reality we’re all stuck in. Fren is superbly expressive in her subtle mannerisms that convey frustration with the world, and it’s a relief to spend time with a character who’s also just so fucking tired of all this. Sometimes a cinematic cathartic release is helpful. Sometimes it’s wickedly entertaining to see a filmmaker who completely gets it put all this on screen for us to reflect upon…
Alex’s Venice 2025 Rating: 9 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
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