Writer and Director: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit
Those thinking of having children in the near future might want to steer well clear of Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s meditative study of a young woman approaching motherhood. Looking at the dot on the sonogram that resembles the foetus, Fren is undecided whether she wants to keep the baby. In Thailand, where abortion is legal up to 12 weeks, Fren still has time to come to a decision. So, when she gets home, instead of telling her husband the news, she hides the ultrasound photograph in a forgotten instruction manual in the cupboard. Ironically, the manual is for something made by LYFS.
Fren drives to and from work in HR, listening to talk radio. It’s all doom and gloom on the airwaves. An announcer excitedly discusses the regular flooding in the country and how the authorities claim that they don’t have enough money to futureproof. Other bulletins consider the proliferation of new diseases and the uptick in violent crime. The experts declare that only the rich will survive the inevitable disasters and, in doing so, will make even more money. Fren listens impassively, but why would you want to bring new life into this world that humans have created?
At work, she has to deal with the world of men. She and her colleague are interviewing people for a job that has just become vacant due to the old employee not turning up for work. June has disappeared after her boss Jak threw papers at her in a fit of anger. Fren tells him that his behaviour is not acceptable in the workplace, but he intimidates her too, and she ends up apologising. It’s difficult to find a replacement for June as the candidates ask for more money than the fixed salary, and not many of them want to work a six-day week.
Fren’s husband Thame works for a security firm and has just invented a super-slim stab vest that policemen can wear. He pitches his invention days after a woman called Ann knifed a policeman. It’s all over the news. She would be facing the death penalty if she weren’t pregnant. Thame takes advantage of the crime in order to sell his protective gear. He wins the contract.
With the threats of the outside world encroaching on Fren’s life, Thamrongrattanarit’s quiet film, full of long takes, becomes unbearably tense. Open windows and high balconies appear as escape routes. Car journeys when Fren and Thame encounter people on mopeds, who drive the wrong way up a one-way street, are jumpy and portentous. And the scene where Fren glimpses Jak’s new assistant, wiping tears from her eyes, demonstrates the complete lack of agency Fren has in her life. If she doesn’t do something, her life is already written.
Prapamonton Eiamchan is excellent as the weary and powerless Fren. It’s clear that she doesn’t love her husband, ably and sensitively played by Paopetch Charoensook, but the world has trapped her. Fren is just another human resource in this timely ninth feature by Thamrongrattanarit.
Human Resources is screening at the BFI London Film Festival from 8-19 October.
The Reviews Hub Star Rating