Ji Hye Won

Review: The First Night with the Duke

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

When Show is at its best, it’s frothy, irreverent, cheeky fun, all self-aware and blithely poking fun at drama tropes.

However, when Show is not at its best, it’s slow and laborious, like it’s putting all of its effort towards achieving its secret dream of being the best traditional sageuk it can be. 😅

The watch experience is understandably quite uneven, and sometimes, even a little whiplashy.

As a silver lining, Show does manage to serve up a pretty solid ending, despite its missteps along the way.

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Review: My Perfect Stranger

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

A surprisingly engaging, heartfelt time travel mystery that stays nicely consistent, from start to finish.

Yes, Show’s production values lean basic, and yes, the 80’s characters can sometimes be a bit too loud and theatrical, but once you adjust your viewing lens and expectations around these, this turns into a pretty strong watch.

Show more than makes up for its shortcomings with how much heart it has, and, importantly, manages to finish strong, instead of petering out at the end, as some time travel stories have been known to do.

Would recommend.

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Review: It’s Okay To Not Be Okay

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

A meaty, dark, whimsical melodrama that examines the difficulties faced by people suffering from trauma and mental illness, It’s Okay is not an easy watch at all.

There is lots to unpack, difficult feelings to feel, and even internal biases to examine. So if you’re looking for a fluffy rom-com, this is probably not for you, for right now.

However, it is remarkably satisfying to witness our characters’ journeys, because those journeys are teased out so organically, that all of the growth and progress feels earned and true.

Fantastic performances by our cast – with a special shout-out to Oh Jung Se for his impressively amazing interpretation of an autistic character – brings everything to life, and it’s not hard to get invested in our characters’ journeys.

There are a few bumps in the road, but overall, this proved to be a very satisfying watch.

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