Drama

Romance

소공녀

KwangHwaMoon Cinema

CGV Arthouse

MOTTO

South Korea

한국어/조선말

Microhabitat

Esom

Ahn Jae-hong

Kang Jin-ah

Kim Guk-hee

Lee Sung-wook

Choi Deok-moon

Kim Jae-hwa

Cho Soo-hyang

Kim Yae-eun

Park Ji-young

Kim Hie-won

Kwun Hyun-jeong

Woo Moon-gi

Lee Yong-nyeo

Kim Jae-rok

Hwang Mi-young

Lee Yo-sup

Jang Sung-kyu

Jeong Bo-ram

Kim So-hee

Lee Hye-min

Kim Do-gyun

Kwon O-kwang

Kim Tae-yang

Jeon Go-woon

Kim Soon-mo

Go Bong-gon

Kim Tae-soo

Park Yong-ki

Ji Ji-yeon

Kim Nam-sook

Kim Tae-gon

Jun Young-seok

Kim Yu-jin

Seo Sang-hwa

Park Ju-gang

_Microhabitat_ is quietly funny in that dry, blink-and-you'll miss it sort of way. Jeon Go-woon's debut is a subtle but assured sly satire about how utterly absurd adulthood turns out to be. The story follows Miso, played with pitch-perfect restraint by Esom, a character whose struggle to afford life's small pleasures in a world that demands too much and gives too little is all too relatable. Her choice of cigarettes and alcohol over her flat is a stark reflection of the compromises many of us make. What follows is a sofa-surfing odyssey through the crumbling dreams of her so-called friends, now the so-called 'adults'.

Each stop is a mini-tragicomic gem. Her sister, in the glamourous corporate job, which turns out to be little more than serfdom, held together by intravenous supplements, for which she undertook a nursing qualification to administer (the most valuable training she's taken). The joyless new parents, the pitiful man-child, a 50-year-old living with his parents, who support his attempts of abduction in order to marry him off. There's bleak satire in every corner—an unflinching look at how adulthood has failed us all. Never cruel—just painfully recognisable.

Miso's drifting detachment has hardened into something more radical. She begins to see those who've conformed as traitors—sell-outs to a broken system. Her lifestyle becomes a quiet manifesto, a rebellion against the rat race. Her freedom unsettles those who've buckled down, exposing their choices as cowardice. What begins as a story of survival turns into a powerful critique of societal norms. It's bleak, funny, and strangely empowering, leaving the audience enlightened and thoughtful.

The third act lands with a quiet, aching finality. As Miso's boyfriend confesses he's trading his dreams for stability, the film crystallises its core heartbreak—not just that adulthood is disappointing, but that even the dreamers eventually surrender. His choice isn't cruel, just crushingly ordinary. It's the slow erosion of hope that stings most. The time jump that follows is disorienting, deliberately so. Her old bandmates speak of Miso at a funeral with the hollow nostalgia of people who've long buried their idealism. Their words are polite, rehearsed, meaningless—revealing more about their own resignation than about her. And then, in a wordless, lingering moment, we glimpse a woman—greying, solitary, and still moving forward. Whether it's truly Miso or just her ghost doesn't matter. What matters is the sense that she never gave in. In a world that wears everyone down, her continued existence feels like a quiet act of defiance.

_Microhabitat_ brilliantly mocks the illusions of adulthood with a knowing, bitter chuckle. Bleakly funny, oddly moving, and wonderfully observed.

MICROHABITAT (소공녀) | Official Trailer | MUBI

Microhabitat (2018)

Best Movies

Microhabitat

Cast & Crew

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Cast

Esom

Ahn Jae-hong

Kang Jin-ah

Kim Guk-hee

Lee Sung-wook

Choi Deok-moon

Kim Jae-hwa

Cho Soo-hyang

Kim Yae-eun

Park Ji-young

Box office

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