Happiness is fickle, contends director Thomas Balmès (2010′s Babies) in his latest documentary, Happiness shown at It’s a universal truth, as applicable to us as to people of the largely undeveloped country of Bhutan. To them, the imminent arrival of television is sure to bring the happiness they dream of. Naturally, our tech-fatigued modern society knows better. Oh, how wise we are.

The film follows Peyangki, a young boy sent to the local monastery. While his village moves towards the future, Peyangki is forced backwards, made to live a simple life with only simple pleasures to suffice. Peyangki is like his people: happy with what he has, happier if he had more.

It’s here that Balmès seems to miss his own point. His message is anti-technology, yet it’s brought to us through a film, played in a theatre, without any hint of irony or self-awareness. So should we, the audience, feel ashamed to enjoy our modern advances? Of course not. Happiness isn’t about stripping away our wants, but enjoying them without judgement. We are not arbiters of joy. If Bhutan believes that TV will bring happiness, who can say otherwise? Not this film, and not us.

Nimy Leshinski