Kim Mu-bee (Park Bo-young) is a film director who hates movies. Her father was a renowned filmmaker, one who loved the silver screen so much he named his only child the Korean loanword for “movie”. Mu-bee grew up feeling as if she would always come second in her father’s eyes, yet her disdain for the industry – and deep-seated grudge towards her father – somehow put her on a path to become a budding filmmaker herself.
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Despite her best attempts at keeping the art of film at an arm’s length, her perspective on movies and, ultimately, life itself begins to slowly shift when she first crosses paths with Go-kyeom (Choi Woo-sik). The antithesis of Mu-bee, Go-kyeom is an idealistic cinephile who approaches the world through the rose-tinted lens of his favourite blockbusters, and eventually becomes a film critic. The pair seem pre-destined to be natural rivals, yet find themselves tethered to one another through the very thing that divides them: movies.
Their complicated history with one another may be marked by complex feelings and fuelled by past grievances and lingering doubts, but Melo Movie depicts a world where movies are much more than just entertainment or a career path – they are more importantly a medium through which our protagonists learn to navigate life.
Had Melo Movie focused on the dynamic between Go-kyeom and Mu-bee, the series would’ve been easier to digest. But with convoluted timelines, unnecessary backstories and side characters, the series is bogged down by pacing and continuity issues. The K-drama’s overreliance on supporting characters, in particular, serves no worthwhile purpose to its overarching narrative – apart from being yet another hurdle for the leads to to overcome or establishing an underutilised support system.
On a broader scope, though, Melo Movie does enjoy the same raw, nuanced depictions of growing pains as 2021’s Our Beloved Summer, which was also written by Lee Na-eun. Melo Movie eschews major epiphanies and incidents in favour of a slow burn, which lends an air of realism. The series also thrives on its balance between light-heartedness and emotional weight, although regular viewers of Lee’s work will not be surprised.
With both its screenwriter and lead actor on board, it’s inevitable for Melo Movie to be compared to Our Beloved Summer. Even if this new series does make for a cute romcom to kick your feet to, the K-drama does little to deliver anything beyond from what we’re used to getting from the genre. Though, if you’re only looking to fill the Our Beloved Summer-shaped hole in your heart, chances are you’ll only come out of it feeling somewhat satiated.
Melo Movie is streaming now on Netflix.