By Jae-Ha Kim
Substack
February 14, 2025
☆☆☆
Go Gyeom (played by Choi Woo-shik)
Kim Mu-bee (played by Park Bo-young)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.
This show was included in my Teen Vogue round-up of the best K-dramas of 2025:
This emotionally-engaging show is less of a rom-com than it is a slice-of-life K-drama that explores how familial loss greatly impacts who we are today. As Gyeom (Choi Woo-shik) and Mu-bee (Park Bo-young) explore their budding flirtation, we learn more about the traumas that led them to where they are today. Mu-bee was literally named after the word movie. After her father worked himself to death in the film industry, Mu-bee tackles her own demons by becoming a director – a way for her to pay homage to her dad’s love of films.
Meanwhile, Gyeom’s career as an actor never flourished, but he found his niche as a photogenic film critic. Though he doesn’t get as much screen time as the lead actors, Kim Jae-wook steals this series with his heartachingly nuanced portrayal of Gyeom’s older brother, Jun. At 20, Jun became Gyeom’s guardian when the latter was just 9. Though he does everything he can to provide a happy life for Gyeom, the younger brother lives with a constant feeling of guilt, knowing that he benefited from Jun’s sacrifices. (Netflix)
But there were plenty of things I couldn’t get into that blurb that I wanted to discuss, so here I go! Please note that there are some spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the series yet, you may want to read this later:
- In first episode, the child version of Mu-bee is seen addressing bullies who are picking on a smaller, younger boy. She tells him, “Tell everyone you’re my younger brother.” K-dramas love to show the childhood connection between the male and female leads, so I assumed she was protecting Gyeom.1 I was wrong.
- In a K-drama rarity, the central characters kiss in the first episode … and she is the one who took the initiative!
- Koreans are a very practical people. So when you see depictions of guests bringing toilet paper as a housewarming gift (as they do in Ep 3), it’s not considered a joke or an insult — nor is it the only gift option.
- By Ep 4, Gyeom is working as a film critic. Because he is young, good looking and speaks his mind, he finds a loyal following. In a radio interview, he is asked about a critic’s responsibility. He says, “It doesn’t matter to me whether a movie has a happy or sad ending. But it’s rather irresponsible to render the ending unimpressive and turn it into a tool to teach the viewers a lesson.” I found this interesting, because critics and celebrities (and their fans) have long had a love/hate relationship. Naysayers will argue that someone who isn’t an artist themself isn’t qualified to critique the artistry of someone who is. But with that said, then how can fans who aren’t artists or critics accurately critique the artistry of those who are?2
- Gyeom believes that critics and filmmakers have a symbiotic relationship that keeps each other toes. But the aftermath of a negative review is shown, too. The director of a film he panned overdoses on sleeping pills.3
Airdates: Ten episodes (each running 60 to 70 minutes) released on Netflix on February 14, 2025.
Spoiler Alert: At the end of Ep 6, we see the funeral photo of Gyeom’s older brother, Jun (Kim Jae-wook). Jun had one of the most compelling subplots. Incredibly handsome and walking with a limp, he is good natured and everyone’s favorite. In Ep 7, viewers get a flashback that explains how the two brothers ended up fending for themselves. When Gyeom was 9 and Jun was 20, their parents died. Instead of going to college and sending Gyeom off to an orphange, Jun went to work full-time. He took took care of Gyeom and made sure he got a good education.
In a moment of grief and clarity, Gyeom realizes that the car accident that Jun had been in — which the elder brother had previously attributed to a combination of intense fog and poor road conditions — was most likely a suicide attempt. And while the series doesn’t make a definitive conclusion, he was probably correct.
2 I reviewed a film, pointing out some of its flaws. The filmmaker emailed me and threatened to sue me, saying that I caused him hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue because of my review. [Not likely.] What did I do? I passed the email along to the publication’s legal team and they said, “Don’t worry about it,” and that was the end of that. It’s never pleasant when Hollywood filmmakers threaten to sue you for a review that is both factually correct and also subjective in scope. Not everyone is going to like your work. Threatening to sue is egregious and ill conceived.
© 2025 JAE-HA KIM | All Rights Reserved
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