My Rating : 8/10

'Microhabitat' is a Korean-drama. It is full of the kind of good depression energy that the viewer can engage with. There is a lot of humour and one can glean into the culture of the place.

I love a movie that can bring such cozy vibes, it makes you feel lazy, triumphant and rooting for the underdog which is what most viewers enjoy. If someone is bored with watching mainstream Western or Hollywood dramas and wants something different then 'Microhabitat' maybe just the right thing. Simple, full of charisma of the main actor (she has done a stellar job!) - this is a feast for the lazy, drunken eyes. Transcendental, meditative and extremely healing...go watch it already.

... even though it's not my house.

The more I watch productions from regions whose culture hasn't been deeply influenced - until recently - by western culture, the more I'm undecided on my capacity to judge them. Had this movie been produced in Germany or the Uk I would have given it a 4-5 for its restrained gaze, farcical tone and not particularly original themes. But I'll give it a cosmopolitan benefit of the doubt.

The film shows how willing people are to settle for less than ideal socio-economic bargains, just for inexperience or social pressures, actually ruining their lifes. And how outsiders are dissed, blamed and ultimately discriminated (though the movie doesn't show that much) for their choices.

Unfortunately the film feels a little too surreal to my eyes: things seem forcibly represented as cute and fine and often even comical where I'd expect struggling, drama and wounds. And while I guess that may well be my bias towards realism, the result is that overall the production fell a little flat.

The conclusion too left me cold: a more direct collision against hypocrisy and conformism would have made everything more meaningful. Instead we are left believing that outsiders aren't going to get crushed by the rest of society and will do just fine.

A cute little fell-good movie whose social critique doesn't really hit... unless OFC the purpose wasn't hitting in the first place but a more gentle reproach.

A story so relevant to our generation and the times we live in. It reflects the struggles of our society with prices rising up in all major cities, and young people struggling to live their dreams. It makes you ask this question, what are you willing to give up? In Miso's case she gives up her home to have the things she love most, whiskey and cigarettes, but as we see throughout the film, everyone has to give up something in their lives. Absolutely brilliant, funny, performances are compelling. A wonderful film by director Jeon Go-woon.