Agent of Happiness

A slow-burning portrait that’s infused with warmth.

This quiet, gently absorbing documentary follows two “happiness agents” as they travel door-to-door, like census workers, collecting data for the government’s happiness survey.

“Agent of Happiness” uses meaningful visual contrast to scrutinize Bhutan’s narrative about itself. It re-injects a vibrant sense of nuance into an exercise that, though nominally geared toward gauging humanity, too often reduces it to a number.

Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbo's intriguing documentary follows pollster Amber Kumar Gurung, who travels the kingdom of Bhutan interviewing its citizens as part of a government survey of happiness.

Novel, deeply beautiful, but sadly too long. Edited to half its current running time, I’d be raving. That said, arguably the stillness, and extended ordinariness add to the theme —> determining “Gross National Happiness” begs better tools.

In Agent of Happiness, Bhattarai and Zurbó have gifted us with a charming, heartfelt moment spent with the people of Bhutan, where, despite the efforts of the government, happiness can’t be quantified

Mildly engaging, but tedious, underwhelming and incomplete.

Laced with some humour and set against Bhutan’s gorgeous scenery, the filmmakers conduct their own investigation into what makes people happy.

Objectively speaking, the people in Bhutan are no happier than people anywhere else living in an economically unequal, unjust and oppressive society ... the responses ... are not so different than one would expect to find in any part of the world.

A complex, observant, and bittersweet look at the nature of fulfilment viewed through the infrequently glimpsed lens of Bhutanese culture.