A Job Interview Becomes a Real-Life ‘Squid Game’ in the Cutthroat Chaos of ‘Final Interview’

Getting hired has never been this hard. Six applicants have beaten 5,000-to-1 odds to reach the final interview at global IT company Spiralinks. After spending a month preparing for a group discussion, they hoped they would all get offers. But on interview day, they are given a task: Within two hours, they must discuss among themselves and choose just one person to hire. Meanwhile, mysterious envelopes bearing each of their names turn up in a corner of the interview room, which is surrounded by surveillance cameras.

Opening November 4, 〈Final Interview〉 follows the six applicants as they discover envelopes containing revelations about each of them, plunging the group into suspicion and confusion. With each envelope opened, another secret comes to light. The interview room, where they had been promised a fair competition, becomes a locked-room mystery in which the applicants turn on one another.

〈Final Interview〉 is a mid-budget commercial film that makes smart use of its limited cast, setting and resources. Its direction is particularly effective at shifting suspicion from one actor to the next, deceiving both the audience and the applicants. It is also an ensemble film in which all six actors—Cho Yi-hyun, Kim Jae-won, Shin Seung-ho, Kang You-seok, Kwak Dong-yeon and Bae Gang-hee—take turns looking like both the protagonist and the culprit, steadily building suspense. Most of the story unfolds in the enclosed interview room, but the director finds ways to vary what could have become repetitive scenes through cameras positioned at different angles, sound effects and cuts between past and present.

〈Final Interview〉 is based on Japanese author Akinari Asakura’s novel 「Six Lying University Students」 and the Japanese film of the same name. While retaining the original’s locked-room mystery framework, 〈Final Interview〉 sets itself apart as a Korean adaptation. Most notably, its examination of society’s contradictions is sharper. Set during the COVID-19 pandemic, it captures the social climate of the time and addresses problems facing young people, including difficulty finding work. Another point of departure from the original is the addition of the human resources team’s perspective as observers. As the applicants attack one another’s weaknesses, the observer—the head of HR, played by Kim Jae-chul—does not intervene, but simply watches. That perspective also gives the film a satirical edge, exposing the contradiction of a hiring process that, in the name of evaluating talent, pushes applicants into a real-life ‘Squid Game.’ The applicants’ efforts to win votes by digging up one another’s weaknesses can also be read as a satire of negative political campaigning.

A press and distributor screening of 〈Final Interview〉, followed by a press conference, was held on the afternoon of October 28 at CGV Yongsan I’Park Mall in Seoul. Director Kim Jung-hoon attended alongside Cho Yi-hyun, who plays applicant Moon Hye-in; Kim Jae-won, who plays Han Jin-woo; Kang You-seok, who plays Lee Hee-chan; and Bae Gang-hee, who plays Cha Joo-won. They answered reporters’ questions.

Asked what he focused on most while filming in a confined space, Kim Jung-hoon, who directed 〈The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure〉, 〈The Accidental Detective〉 and 〈Petty Romance〉, said, “Rather than the atmosphere of the interview room, I focused on the applicants’ emotional journeys as they pursued the job. I worked very hard not to miss the actors’ expressions. I filmed it thinking that the actors’ faces were this movie’s mise-en-scène.” He added, “I thought each envelope, as it was opened, created a new kind of tension. The balance of power changes, the dynamics among the characters change, and the voting results change. Rather than worrying about how to keep the scenes from getting boring, I trusted the strength of the story.”

The actors credited rehearsals before filming for their ensemble chemistry. “Even before the set was finished, all the actors got together and rehearsed as though we were practicing a play,” Cho Yi-hyun said. Because every character had to look like the culprit at some point, each actor faced a different challenge. “In our movie, every actor had to look like the culprit. Everyone comes under suspicion at least once because of an envelope,” Kim Jae-won said. “Jin-woo wants to bring order to the chaos, but he still wants to win the vote. That tension was an interesting part of playing him.”

Kim Jae-won, taking his first leading film role in 〈Final Interview〉, said, “Until now, audiences have seen me in series. I thought a movie, on a big screen, would require more focused and detailed acting, so I prepared twice as hard.” Asked the same question, Bae Gang-hee said, “Seeing my face on a big screen feels really unfamiliar and fascinating. I hope this film becomes an opportunity for audiences to remember me more clearly.”

After twist upon twist, 〈Final Interview〉 leaves viewers with a weighty question: Just as we see only one side of the moon throughout our lives, are we judging other people by seeing only one side of them? Asked about the film’s message, Kang You-seok said, “Everyone has another side, and what we see may not be the truth.” Kim Jae-won said, “The message that what I believe to be real may sometimes not be the truth, or may have another side, resonated strongly with me and led me to take the role.” Director Kim Jung-hoon pointed to a line in the film: “People don’t believe what’s real; what they believe becomes real.” He said he wanted to portray a society that readily judges people on the basis of a single side, even though unseen truths exist like the far side of the moon, as well as the contradiction of an interview system that cannot fully evaluate a person.

〈Final Interview〉 opens November 4.