[Review] 'Intern' offers a gentle nod to Korea's tireless office workers

Gi-ho (Choi Min-sik), who spent 37 years at a map publishing company, now lives out a quiet second act after retirement. His days are simple. He arranges an armful of the flowers his late wife once loved in front of her photo, and he sits at a cafe, watching the world's busyness pass by for a while.

One day, indistinguishable from the last, Gi-ho comes across a job posting from the fashion brand Wootootoo (WOO22) seeking a "silver intern." As if drawn by something in the ad, he applies without hesitation.

"My strength is that I have a lot of experience, and my weakness is that I am also old."

His unusual preparedness and clean, no-nonsense answers carry him smoothly through the interview, and he lands the silver internship. Dressed in a well-worn but neatly kept suit and carrying a bag that has seen years of use, Gi-ho leaves home to step in as an "intern" at Wootootoo, a promising fashion company that reached sales in the 10-billion-won range ($7.4 million) just three years after its founding.

In the ceaselessly busy office, no one moves faster than the CEO, Sun-woo (Han So-hee). Living by a schedule broken down to the minute, she is the one who turned Wootootoo into a dark horse of the fashion industry. Gi-ho, the oldest but lowest-ranking intern at the company, is assigned as her direct assistant. But Sun-woo, who has never grown close to any older adult, finds his presence simply uncomfortable.

The diligence Gi-ho built up over a lifetime of work shows in every corner of his day. Even though there seems to be little for him to do, he wakes on time, leaves home at a set hour, and is always the first to switch on the office lights. Yet neither Sun-woo nor his direct supervisor, Min-a (Ryu Hye-young), seems inclined to give him any work.

Gi-ho spends days sitting in front of a messenger app that never pings. Rather than let his diligence and years of experience go to waste at an empty desk, he uses the free time no one else in the office has. He attends to corners that have been neglected while everyone else races ahead. Gi-ho restores a chaotic pile of samples and a long-abandoned storage room to order, and watching him, Sun-woo slowly begins to open up. A man who has passed through the hottest days of his life and a woman sprinting endlessly toward limitless possibility gradually close the distance between them. They exchange different perspectives and experiences. This is "Intern," set to open Sept. 16.

Directed by Kim Do-young, known for "Kim Ji-young: Born 1982" and "Manyage Uri," and starring Choi Min-sik and Han So-hee, "Intern" reimagines the 2015 Hollywood film "The Intern" for a Korean audience. Ben and Jules, once played by Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway, return to the screen under new names — Gi-ho and Sun-woo — carrying the sensibilities of 2026 Korea. Having passed through an era when online shopping felt cutting-edge and arrived in the age of AI, "Intern" returns to us with an unchanging message. It asks what we must seek out and protect amid relentless change.

The film fully inherits the humane "office comedy" spirit of the original while carefully weaving in the particular sensibilities of Korean office culture. At Wootootoo, a company filled with so-called MZ (Millennial and Gen Z) employees, an older intern's mere presence feels unfamiliar and awkward. But rather than turning this into conflict, the film frames it as an opening for two different generations to sit down and begin talking to each other.

The same holds true as Gi-ho tidies every corner of the office and restores the neglected storage room. The film swaps out the original's cluttered desk for a couch buried under clothes. Gi-ho revives the organization's sole space for rest, long buried beneath a relentless chase for speed and efficiency. The breathing room he creates in an office packed with work becomes, once again, a place where employees can rest, opening up space for relaxation and connection. Amid Wootootoo's breakneck pace, time seems to slow down only around Gi-ho.

The biggest departure from the original lies in perspective. Where the original film centered on the relationship between Ben and Jules and the deep experience and burning passion within it, director Kim Do-young's version of "Intern" widens that lens to take in the whole of Wootootoo. As Sun-woo trusts her own instincts and pours everything into running the company, the film never loses sight of the people behind her who are doing their best just the same.

In that widened view lies the quiet grief of an office worker who has credit stolen by a team leader and cannot even properly vent about it. That worker is simply swept back under a mountain of work. There is also the all-too-familiar heart of the "Korean office worker" who wants to quit everything one moment, only to soften instantly at a single word of praise from a boss. Ours are ordinary, repetitive lives, enduring rough days while earning recognition for our own worth. The film quietly reflects that back at us, and somehow it brings comfort. It is people, not AI, who kindle passion, who keep trying without giving up, and who, even amid hardship, ultimately get the job done.

The chemistry between Choi Min-sik and Han So-hee exceeds expectations. Returning with a rare "comfortable" look, Choi naturally embodies Gi-ho, living up to his nickname as "Korea's De Niro." From the arm sleeves he wears without a second thought to the puffed rice snack he shyly sets on his desk, every carefully chosen detail blends together as he paints a perfect portrait of a "Korean-style ajeossi." He radiates a warmth that feels familiar yet distinct from Ben's.

Han So-hee is equally effective at capturing Sun-woo, a character in whom cool charisma and warmth coexist. It is her understated gaze and timing that reveal the anxiety and weariness hidden beneath a seemingly flawless success story. Recalling the cast of a genre film, the two actors use their newly built characters to create a quiet but solid rhythm that crosses both generation and gender.

The message about the value of "experience" and seasoned wisdom in a rapidly changing era, carried over from the original, remains just as relevant in this film. At a time when AI is quickly taking over roles once held by people, the film quietly revisits the value of human relationships that speed and efficiency alone cannot fill. It also reflects on the weight of trust that different generations build together.

There is a "sunbae," a senior in life, who willingly unpacks a lifetime's worth of hard-earned experience for the next generation to use. There is a junior who does not take that effort for granted. And there is the warmth both of them show in truly listening to each other's stories. Without any flashy twist or dramatic turn, each word Gi-ho speaks, seasoned by time, offers a small comfort to those of us who must keep living into tomorrow. An impression that lingers without ever being flashy — that is the strength "Intern" leaves with its audience. It opens Sept. 16.