Thai filmmaker Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit is bringing his most personal project yet to the Venice Film Festival‘s Horizons section with “Human Resource,” a contemplative drama that tackles the global decline in birth rates through the eyes of a pregnant HR manager.
Variety is exclusively unveiling the first clip from the film, which follows Fren (Prapamonton Eiamchan), an HR professional who is one month pregnant and wrestling with a life-altering decision over the next two months. As she conducts interviews with young job candidates, their conversations become a mirror for her own internal struggle about bringing a child into an uncertain world.
“Eight years ago, I made a film called ‘Die Tomorrow,’ and that film explored death, but this time, now I’m 41, it’s like a last spot to think about having a baby,” Thamrongrattanarit tells Variety. “So I started to explore birth. I saw the news about the declining birth rate worldwide, and I think it’s evidence that a lot of people think about this — think about birth, think about life.”
The director, whose previous credits include Thailand’s Oscar submission “Happy Old Year” and Busan winner “36,” describes “Human Resource” as a return to realism after the more conceptual approaches of his earlier films. “I want to observe the daily life of people in this era,” he explains. “I want to make it like a routine in the film, to simulate my daily feeling to this era.”
The film’s central premise emerged from Thamrongrattanarit’s own personal questions about parenthood, combined with his fascination with the HR profession. “I have friends who work as HR managers, and when they have interviews for recruitment, they meet a lot of people. They see and witness a lot of people’s anxiety, uncertainties, attitude, and hopes,” he notes. “This HR manager has a chance to explore many aspects of people, and they have a lot of questions when they go back home.”
In the film, these job interviews become metaphorical conversations with Fren’s unborn child. “The character is one month pregnant in the film, and that’s a new person in her body,” Thamrongrattanarit explains. “This boy or girl is listening to the interviews. But actually, that interview is the condition of the world — what if you are here in the world? This is how people think, behave, hope, or are hopeless.”
The director deliberately crafted the film to give audiences space for reflection rather than providing easy answers. “I give them less story and more time to think. Each scene is slow, and sometimes characters don’t show much expression because this question is hard to answer,” he says. “I want to give this duty to the audience to think about it while watching.”
While the subject of declining birth rates resonates globally, Thamrongrattanarit acknowledges it carries particular weight in Asian cultures. “In Asian culture, I think it’s kind of taboo. For Thailand, sometimes it’s taboo to ask this question about motherhood or birth,” he reveals. “For Thai audiences, I think this film will open the opportunity for everyone to talk about this.”
“Human Resource” arrives at Venice during a banner year for Thai cinema, following “A Useful Ghost” winning the Critics’ Week grand prize at Cannes. Following its Venice premiere, the film will screen at the Busan International Film Festival, with additional festival selections being finalized. The film is set for theatrical release in Thailand in Q1 2026.
Produced by Thamrongrattanarit and Pacharin Surawatanapongs through Happy Ending Film and presented by “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies” producer GDH 559, the drama also stars Paopetch Charoensook, Chanakan Rattana-udom, and Pimmada Chaisaksoen.
Watch the clip here:
variety.com
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