English Title: Melo Movie
Korean Title: 멜로 무비
Director(s): Oh Choong-hwan
Screenwriter(s): Lee Na-eun
Studio: Studio N
Released: 2025
Runtime: 10 episodes, ~1h each. (min. 1h – max. 1h 14m)
Starring: Park Bo-young, Choi Woo-shik, Lee Jun-young, Jeon So-nee, Kim Jae-wook, Ko Chang-seok, Cha Woo-min
My Verdict: Solid production but the plot is uneventful. Autopilot pacing. Relies on performance to carry the series.
● Ko Gyeom (Choi Woo-shik) lives above a video rental shop and is a movie buff. Not wishing to waste that passion and knowledge, he pursues a career in acting. On set, he meets Kim Mu-bi (Park Bo-young) who assists the director.
● The template is basically “opposites”. Whilst Gyeom is seemingly outgoing and tries to be friends with the rest of the world, Mu-bi always has her guard up and is seemingly cold. The first episode is Mu-bi slowly warming up to Gyeom as well as providing their individual backgrounds.
● Meanwhile, Gyeom’s friends Hong Si-jun (Lee Jun-young) and Son Ju-a (Jeon So-nee) break up.
● [Minor Spoiler] At the end of the first episode, Gyeom disappears. Although there is a reason, this is nonetheless convenient. As if he can’t send a few text messages. But this is part of the premise.
● Episode 2 skips about five years and Mu-bi is now a director. Gyeom and Mu-bi bump into each other. Meanwhile, Ju-a becomes a scriptwriter and Si-jun is still a struggling musician. They too reconnect.
● The series follows the two couples as they reconnect and deal with the issues. The plotting is mostly predictable in a general sense but there are enough unknowns regarding specifics, so that keeps the series moderately interesting.
● The main problem is that the issues these two couples have could be resolved by simply communicating. Granted, some things are awkward to say and it is one of the themes of the series to dwell on that point. But still, the premise is a bit forced in this respect.
● There are too many conveniences and coincidences. Granted, this is also one of the themes, that real life can resemble movies and movies can resemble real life. But even for a romantic drama, some of these conveniences come a bit too easily.
● Despite the above, there is nothing so bad that it completely ruins the series—at least it is true to the genre. However, there is nothing special or striking about it either.
● At 10 episodes, and most episodes are at 1 hour, plotting and pacing issues don’t get a chance to drag on too long. The series moves at a steady, autopilot pace.
● The soundtrack is not bad, a mix of orchestral and contemporary styles with acoustic guitars and/or piano, ranging from a little more upbeat to the usual spaced-out, mellow hemes. It mostly avoids extremes and mostly works.
● Visually, it uses solid colors with a soft glow, producing a colorful and clean look even if it is artificially clean. It is shot and edited somewhat conventionally with the occasional wider arty shots. In at least one episode, however, there is the heavier use of these along with tight shots of daily objects typically seen in the slice-of-life genre. Whilst this is done well, the change in frequency across episodes, although not jarring, is noticeable.
● The series relies on the performances to carry the show. Park Bo-young is the ever-reliable performer. Gyeom’s character is deliberately a bit annoying but Choi Woo-shik does well enough. Lee Jun-young and Jeon So-nee also do well too considering they are not given much to work with. No reason is given for their breakup, the series drip-feeds that background as part of their process of working things out.
● The supporting characters are compelling which helps. The “opposites” template also applies to Gyeom and his older brother Jun (Kim Jae-wook), the latter is quiet and more pensive. Gyeom’s veteran director friend Ma Seong-u (Ko Chang-seok) is the mentor figure who although not outgoing like Gyeom is more expressive and impulsive. Whilst some episodes focus on the brothers, not having a plotline for Seong-u is a lost opportunity. There are other supporting characters and they are generally nicely portrayed but like Seong-u are under-utilized.
● Overall, the production is solid. But as the plot is rather uneventful, it relies on the performances to carry the series.
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