Happy Old Year

When, having spent years in Sweden, Jean returns to Thailand, she is offered a job – subject to the condition that she has an office of her own. She decides to radically declutter, in Marie Kondo-style, the packed family home she shares with her mother and brother and transform it into a minimalist zone. But this meets with resistance from her family as well as emotional obstacles; it seems she can't just throw everything out. So instead she decides to return everything she once borrowed from others – including her ex-boyfriend. This becomes a cathartic, painful process that gives rise to beautiful memories, unexpected emotions and new insights. Like the house she is aiming for, the camera follows Jean in a calm, restrained style, paying loving attention to details and the complex inner world of the characters. This sensitive drama is lightened by moments of self-parody, discomfiture and sudden eruptions. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)