This Life
2023 · 4m
Directed by Sumin Ha
Genres: coming-of-age, drama
Tones: contemplative, tender
At the art school, at almost the end of the semester, Joona talks about her past life and next life with her two friends. What were we?
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Four minutes of art-school philosophy circles could be unbearable navel-gazing, but Ha commits to the bit—reincarnation small talk as genuine intimacy—and the deadpan sincerity actually works as subversion of the coming-of-age confessional.
The film positions itself within a lineage of intimate ensemble portraiture (Greta Gerwig's early work, certain strands of contemporary Korean cinema), and the formal restraint—static framing, unrushed dialogue—honors that tradition without mimicking it.
The whole short hinges on a single sound design choice: the ambient hum of the art studio underneath the conversation, which transforms idle friendship banter into something almost sacred—that one tonal decision makes a four-minute sketch feel inevitable.