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‘People And Meat' Introduces Three Hard To Forget Characters
In 'People and Meat' three seniors enjoy a meal they cannot pay for.
The central characters in the 2025 Korean film People and Meat might fade into the background on a busy street in Seoul. Two of the characters are old men collecting discarded cardboard to sell. It's a wearying job that requires scouring the neighborhood for old boxes and their work barely earns them pocket change. The third of these characters is an old woman crouching by the vegetables she sells on the sidewalk. Passers-by might easily dismiss any of these characters. They are poor. They are old. They are nondescript. And yet these characters, the film's protagonists, deliver a touching and often funny meditation on life that makes them difficult to forget.
They first get involved with each other when a fight breaks out between neighborhood newcomer Ui-sik (Jang Yong) and Hyun-jong (Park Keun-hyung), a longtime neighborhood resident. When they start fighting over cardboard Hwa-jin (Ye Su-jeong), the vegetable seller tries to shoo them away. She has no idea they will change her life.
Ui-sik and Hyun-jong quickly make up. They share some tea and talk about the indignities of old age. They nostalgically reminisce about beef and radish soup and plan to make some together, roping in Hwa-jin because neither of them knows how. Then Ui-sik proposes a radical idea.
Hyun-jong, played by Park Keun-hyung, collects cardboard to make ends meet.
What they need is to nourish themselves with some delicious meat in a restaurant. He invites them to dine, but when it comes time to pay confesses he has no money and instructs them to dash out without paying. It's a bolder thing than Hwa-jin has ever done. She's been a law-abiding citizen all her life. However, that meat was delicious, satisfying their taste buds after many meals of cat food or worse. Dining and dashing gives them something to do, a chance to interact, and provides a touch of drama in their uneventful lonely lives.
Although dining and dashing is not a victimless crime, it's hard to fault these seniors for wanting to have a decent meal. Unwise life choices, but also random accidents, have left them alone and in limited circumstances. A decent meal seems like a small thing to begrudge them. They see other seniors enjoying their golden years, dining out, and playing golf while they continue to work every day and still don't have enough to eat. The free meals they share are enjoyable, a chance to feel part of the wider world, so their small crime spree continues.
There are many films—from Babette's Feast to Fried Green Tomatoes to Ratatouille that use food to propel the plot and in this film the stolen meals become a metaphor for the nourishment these characters derive from engaging with each other. The film also becomes a wistful poem about life and aging, one that observes the injustice of old age with humor and kindness. Defying the law is risky and there are consequences, but the film seems to say that there are also consequences to a life not lived, to not making the most of the rest of your life, whatever age you are.
All three actors imbue their roles with a quiet dignity. Park has appeared in dramas such as Island and The Good Detective, while Jang had roles in the dramas Hold Me Tight and Avengers Social Club. Ye's prolific career includes roles in the films Project Silence and An Old Lady, and dramas such as ,The Worst of Evil, Jirisan, One The Woman and Mine.
Yang Jong-hyun directed the film written by Lim Na-moo. People and Meat had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival.
