Microhabitat 2017

Miso Esom is a thirty-something woman who guards what she cherishes most—cigarettes, whiskey, and her boyfriend—by living with fewer basic comforts than most people would tolerate.

In 2015 she works as a housekeeper, but her income barely covers her day-to-day needs. When her landlord raises the rent, she takes on extra shifts to stretch every won. A spike in cigarette prices forces her to switch to a cheaper brand, yet even with careful budgeting she finds herself short as the year winds down. Faced with this shortfall, she makes a stark choice: she plans to do away with rent altogether and compiles a list of old bandmates she might crash with for a while.

The plan unfolds in fits and starts. The first invitation is refused, but the next person, Hyeon Jeong—the keyboard player—welcomes Miso into her marital home. Hyeon’s husband speaks up privately, arguing that a surprise guest would be an inconvenience for his parents, and their quarrel becomes loud enough for Miso to hear. In conversations that follow, Hyeon confesses her own struggles with cooking for in-laws who had once run a restaurant for thirty years, and Miso absorbs the weight of that pressure.

One morning, Miso cooks for a friend and then leaves to press on with her search. She tracks down the house of a drummer, Dae-yong, who has room to spare because his eight-month-old marriage has just collapsed. Yet Miso’s boyfriend—staying at an all-male dorm provided by his factory—tells her he feels inadequate with the arrangement, and she ends up spending the night elsewhere, in a restaurant. She then reaches out to a guitarist, Woo Moon Gi, whose parents are visibly pleased and hint at marriage for their son.

The next band-mate she visits is Jung-mi, a woman who appears very well-off with a large house. Remembering how Miso once helped her out of debt, Jung-mi generously offers shelter for as long as Miso wants. This development allows Miso to save money again, even as her boyfriend reveals he’s grown tired of his spartan life and has volunteered for a Saudi assignment that would help pay off his school debts.

A tension-filled exchange with Jung-mi’s husband, Kim Hee-won, about Miso’s wild past irritates Jung-mi and ultimately leads to Miso being asked to leave. Undeterred, she continues to hunt for a cheap place to stay, but each option remains out of reach. Time moves forward to a funeral where all of Miso’s bandmates except her gather to share perfunctory memories of her.

As the story closes, a woman with greying hair—reminiscent of Miso—walks along and later pitches a portable tent next to a highway, suggesting that the bonds she forged with people in the past might still endure, even as her own future remains uncertain.

The film weaves a quiet, observational thread through friendship, dependence, pride, and the fragile lines between independence and chosen family, anchored by Miso’s stubborn defense of the things she values most.