Futureless Things (2014) Movie Review

『Between End and Beginning, the Quiet Solidarity of Ha-na and Eun-young』

🎥 Movie Overview

• 🎬 Title: This Is Our End (Original title: Futureless Things, 2014)
• 🌍 Country: 🇰🇷 South Korea
• 🎞️ Genre: Drama / Ensemble / Romance
• 🗓️ Production: Nowhere Film Production / Kepler Film, Distribution: KT&G Sangsangmadang
• ⏳ Runtime: 107 minutes
• 📢 Director: Kim Kyungmook
• 🖋️ Screenplay: Kim Kyungmook, Hwang Ji-hee

👩‍💼 Cast: Yoo Young – Ha-na
Jung Hye-in – Eun-young

🧩 Story Deep Dive (Spoilers)

🍂 Small Space, Big Memories: The Narrative of Encounter

The convenience store, a confined space, serves as the narrative stage for this work. Ha-na appears as someone about to quit her part-time job, carrying an emptiness in her heart caused by a love that has expired. This setting functions as a device through which the characters’ everyday conversations and minor actions reveal lingering emotions.

💔 Lingering Emotions: Dynamics Between Ha-na and Eun-young

Ha-na experiences both the beginning and end of love with senior convenience store worker Eun-young. The film shows that Ha-na’s past romantic relationship was with Eun-young. Though their relationship has ended, she still harbors emotional pain. Early in the film, Ha-na grieves a “love past its expiration date,” reflecting the loss from their breakup and partially explaining her desire to leave the store.

🤝 Symbolism of the Convenience Store

The film uses the convenience store to portray Ha-na and Eun-young’s relationship. The store is where their love began and also holds the memories of their separation. Their relationship, like the 24-hour nature of the store, symbolizes a snapshot of youth that continues to flow rather than remain frozen.

🌐 Identity and Social Context: External Pressures on the Relationship

While the film does not overtly explain homosexuality (queer elements), the characters’ positions, the gaze of surrounding people, and the tension of the public space of the convenience store amplify the weight of their relationship. This Is Our End was rated for adults only by the Korea Media Rating Board at release, sparking discussion. Director Kim Kyungmook expressed regret over the adult rating, given that the film realistically portrays 20-something youth experiences.

🦋 Emotional Resonance and Meaning of the Work

🎬 Director’s Perspective and Genre Experimentation

In this work, Director Kim Kyungmook weaves multiple short episodes into a single narrative using limited time (one day) and location (the convenience store), presenting his experimental tendencies in a different form. The fragmented episodes form a narrative network, showing various layers of youth simultaneously while leaving sufficient space for Ha-na and Eun-young’s emotional arcs. Compared with his earlier works, this film adopts a more “observer-like” tone, focusing on capturing subtle emotional textures.

🎥 Portrait of Expired Youth

This Is Our End depicts the youth standing between endings and beginnings, set against the familiar, confined space of a 24-hour convenience store. Its greatest appeal lies in its authenticity. Part-time workers with different personal stories experience heartbreak, vague anxieties about the future, and the gap between dreams and reality—emotions anyone can relate to—faithfully represented on screen.

📚 Temporal Context and Message

The omnibus structure, intersecting multiple characters’ stories, can feel somewhat scattered. However, this reflects life’s fragmented nature and presents slices of youth intentionally. The film situates itself in 2010s South Korean youth culture (unstable labor, fluctuating relationships, lack of belonging), suggesting that small connections are survival mechanisms. Ha-na and Eun-young’s relationship leaves lingering resonance for the audience without dramatic turns, inviting reflection on the meaning of “end.”

🎯 Personal Rating

💕 Love Scene Intensity: ♥
⭐ Overall Rating: ★★★