Drama Reviews - Our Beloved Summer (2022)

My first drama of 2022! Our Beloved Summer is a drama about a couple, Kook Yeonsu (Kim Dami) and Choi Ung (Choi Woosik), who filmed a documentary in high school and ended up falling in love and dating for 5 years, but breaking up, then meeting again after another 5 years, not having moved on from each other. The drama's official genre is rom com, but it was a lot more like slice-of-life to me.

It wasn't initially something I intended to check out, but I heard this show was getting rave reviews on Reddit and it was conveniently on Netflix so I tuned in. And I'm glad I did, because I absolutely loved it. Have been pretty fond of Choi Woosik ever since Hogu's Love then Parasite, and while I didn't like Kim Dami's first drama lead role as Yiseo in Itaewon Class, I know her acting is great, so I was already assured by the solid casting.

The first episode hooked me straightaway, with the classic set up of top female student and playful male student who start off disliking each other. I loved that Dami and Woosik were very convincing as teenagers, and they clearly had great chemistry together. In contrast to the more carefree and cute nature of their high school to college relationship, their present selves are weary, jaded and carrying lots more baggage from past events. Thankfully, Dami and Woosik are both great actors and were able to clearly portray the heavy emotions their characters undergo. 

But even the best actors can't save a poorly written show. Thankfully, the writing in this show was top notch. I appreciate shows that clearly put thought into every aspect, and this show does it. From the episode titles which reference various famous movies, to the unveiling of various situations through the perspectives of different characters hence changing the viewer's perspective of the scene, lots of thought has clearly been put into the delivery of the story. I know around episode 9-10 was when people started to feel it became slow, but I still enjoyed it because our leads were clearly not ready to get back together.

 I also feel that in a lot of romcoms, the shows tends to get less interesting after the couple gets together. But I never felt that way for this show. The couple were absolutely adorable after they got back together, but we knew they still had things to work through. That's why episode 15 and 16 were so good, because they were going through the same situations as the past (grandmother being ill, Ung planning to study overseas), but this time they have the maturity to communicate with each other, make measured decisions and trust each other. Dami really nailed that scene above where she was waiting for Ung outside his door after she missed his exhibition cos grandma was hospitalised, and she was so deathly afraid that she ruined things again. Oof, my heart. 

And then the I Love You that Yeonsu (and us, the viewers) were waiting for? Ung drawing Yeonsu as he first saw her and the proposal? I followed the Reddit comments and people already predicted these things to happen, like many other plot points in the show, but the execution always surpassed expectations. 

On the surface, this show may look to just be about some love story. And of course the love story was great, but it was also a lot about loneliness, guilt, pain that we inflict on ourselves and others inflict on us. Our lead couple had their own issues and pain, but second male lead JiUng was undoubtedly the character in the greatest pain throughout the show. I was pleasantly surprised by Kim Sungcheol's acting since the only other thing I had seen him in was Vincenzo.

Thankfully, the show wasn't all pain, and I appreciated the various aspects of humour, elevated by the great comedic timing of both Woosik and Dami. I really liked the friends episode and thought it was freaking hilarious how petty Yeonsu was and kept going Chingu here Chingu there. Special shoutout to Park Jinjoo for her best friend character Solyi who provided so much hilarity.  

The directing here is also excellent, and one of the times where I can confidently say the directing does not just service the show but elevates the show. The cinematography is just gorgeous and one of the best I've seen in recent years. The OSTs were also all so good and always well utilised. I love the 10cm song in particular. 

I've been watching kdramas for 15 years, and this is definitely one of my all time faves now. I rarely watch kdramas live because I'm usually pretty busy and I don't want to waste time watching something that turns out horrible. But with this show, I totally trusted the writers and the story they wanted to tell, and I looked forward to Mondays for the first time. Great rewatchability value, lots of life lessons and outstanding acting from all the actors, especially the 3 main leads.