— Overview
The notes read a British film about a parcel-worker family coming apart inside the gig economy, and take the original title as a message both to an absent customer and to people shut out.
— Contents and key concepts
A 2020 rise in parcels, a sold family car, and fourteen hours
The notes begin with a figure: Korea is a heaven of parcels and deliveries, and in 2020 the volume of parcels rose about 20 percent from the year before. It is easy, they write, to forget that many people are sacrificed for convenience, and the film makes one pause and think. The protagonist works not as an employed driver but as a service provider, and has to furnish the vehicle himself, so the family’s car is sold. He works six days a week, fourteen hours a day, cannot spend time with the family, and fights with his son twice — a distance the notes take from those scenes. In the last scene he goes out to work again with an injured body; there is a struggle with the family, and notices of compensation and of fines leave a long aftertaste. That 2020 rise stays as the notes date it.
Zero-hours contracts, and a British director left unnamed
The director, they write, is a leading figure in British film who deals with the excluded working class and with the poor, and whose earlier work is similar in theme and in how it unfolds, like a series. They do not name that director. A previous film, they add, focused on a society in which support systems do not work; this one concentrates on the gig economy. That economy, they summarise, is a way of using individual workers, as needed, on contract or temporary terms, and it is criticised because the worker bears every responsibility. The couple work without a monthly wage or welfare, paying fines and fees, or on zero-hours contracts with no set working time, only a payment per job. Wealth polarisation — a widening gap in income and assets, and a falling middle class — is listed among the ideas they bring to the film.
More than six trillion won, and a message to the people left out
The domestic parcel market, they write, has already passed six trillion won, yet deaths presumed to be from overwork are reported year after year, and responsibility for compensation is deferred. A system that replaces one worker who cannot work with another hits a limit, they argue, and does harm to society as a whole. The original title is read in a double sense: a message left for a customer who is not at home, and words held out to people who are being excluded. The government, they propose, should make policy to prevent harm to contract and temporary workers; firms should keep at least a minimum safety system; consumers should feel that the person who delivers is a human being like themselves. Convenience, they conclude, should not make one forget the worker behind it, and government, firms and individuals each have a part to find. That market size stays as the notes record it. The same Korean report, at fuller length, is on CampusDown.
Sources
- The notes, a student film reading of Sorry We Missed You, with a 2020 rise in parcel volume, zero-hours contracts, and a Korean market already over six trillion won left as the notes date them.
Last updated: 15 November 2026
Frequently asked questions
How do the notes open, and how is the main character made to work?
They begin with a statistic: Korea is a heaven of parcels and deliveries, and in 2020 parcel volume rose about 20 percent from the year before. It is easy, they write, to forget that many people are sacrificed for convenience, and the film makes one stop and think. The protagonist works not as an employed driver but as a service provider, and must furnish the vehicle himself, so the family car is sold. He works six days a week, fourteen hours a day, cannot spend time with the family, and fights with his son twice, a distance the notes underline. In the last scene he goes out to work again, already hurt, there is a struggle with the family, and notices of compensation and fines linger. That 2020 rise stays as the notes date it.
What do they say the gig economy is, and how do the couple work?
A previous film, they write, without naming its director, focused on a society in which support systems do not work; this one concentrates on the gig economy. The director is described only as a leading British filmmaker of the excluded working class and the poor, whose earlier work is similar in theme and unfolding, like a series. The gig economy, they summarise, is a way of using individual workers as contract or temporary labour as needed, and is criticised because the worker bears every responsibility. The couple work on zero-hours contracts: no monthly wage or welfare, fines and fees to pay, or no set hours, only a payment per job.
What do they say about the Korean parcel market, and how do they read the original title?
The domestic parcel market, they write, has already passed six trillion won, yet deaths presumed to be from overwork are reported year after year, and responsibility for compensation is put off. Replacing one worker who cannot work with another, they argue, hits a limit and harms society as a whole. The original title is read as a message left for an absent customer, and, in a second sense, as words held out to people who are being left out. The government, they propose, should make policy to prevent harm to contract and temporary workers; firms should keep at least a minimum safety system; consumers should feel that the person who delivers is a human being like themselves. That market size stays as the notes record it.
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