20th Century Girl (2022)

I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THIS

From beginning to end, this film was a true masterpiece. If you want to experience a beautiful story filled with authentic feelings of affection and true love then watch this. It evokes nostalgia for items like DVDs and payphones, and the overall melodramatic, nostalgic, dreamy mood only adds to the plot.

Watch it if you want to be left feeling like a complete and utter wreck. Also don't watch it for those same reasons. I just feel the same as I did after completing 2521. It's literally so similar to that with the youthful, coming of age storyline filled with miscommunications and missed opportunities except there's a very big plot twist at the end.

Be warned, there is no happy ending to this story. I'm still not over it. Bo Ra and Woon Ho deserved sooooooo much better.

It's a solid 9/10 for me but I am so mad / confused I want to give it less but it was a really good movie, I think the actors did a really good job portraying these characters and sharing their love story. I was literally up at 3am watching this sobbing for 15 minutes after it ended. This film truly made me feel so many emotions.

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My heart is so warm but broken after this .

It was the perfect romcom movie , the entire plot , the story was so adorable , and their scenes together that just made me scream because of how cute they’re ????? . but then everything suddenly was so sad ???????

All I can say is that I knew from the beginning that there’s a sad ending but still watched it and enjoyed it even if I cried my eyes out at the end , and I’m not regretting . It’s was a perfect love story and I LOVE IT before the ending that surprise me until the very end . I was speechless and my heart was broken into pieces .

I feel like if you’re hesitant to watch it or not because of the ending , I still think you should give it a try .

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what happened?

how do you ruin a good romcom movie? by attempting to crush viewers' hearts with an unexplained twist.

the start was strong and had a good buildup to the chemistry between bora and woonho. with a decent cast, on point aesthetics and amazing sismance, i was ultimately hooked at first. the romantic scenes had me yelling to the void at how i wish i could revoke my 'i'm single' card. even though the camera was a bit shaky in some scenes, i was able to push through and say, "this is definitely a 9. without a doubt"

but..... the ending....

the thing is i have no problem if they made this a hundred times more angsty and make a main character's death more tragic than my whole life is right now. i'm into that shit. the PROBLEM is how the movie felt like a half-baked lasagna. it didn't even feel like an open ending. we just know "oh, they're dead" that's it.

cause of death: unknown? does hyunjin know? what happened?

instead of me crying over this character i once loved, i'm clouded with curiosity. the ending took away my attachment to how sad the death of this character is. in my opinion, there could've been a better way to end this movie without leaving the viewers with a question mark on their head.

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Cliche yet heartwarming

●FIRST IMPRESSION
I am overwhelmed and suddenly get all the memories of my school days flashing in front of my eyes. That first crush, that best friend, that picnic, those phone booth calls, and many others.
Although the memories are hazy cause we didn’t have access to the camera to click all the moments, but it still flutters my heart cause it is saved in the hard disk of my brain.

●PLOT VIEW
The movie is heartwarming with some light cliche teen story which is cute. Two girl best friend relationship becomes complicated after getting to know two boys HyunJin and WoonHo. The movie follows them falling in love and realizing what is important for them in life. Every moment needs to be cherished and do everything which doesn't make you regret it later in life.

●ENDING
The ending is bittersweet and must be seen carefully to understand why the movie is titled, 20th CENTURY GIRL. It tells us to enjoy every moment, cause many people as grownups are stressed in life and unhappy so sometimes look at the past to see how you were happy. enjoying yourself.

●ACTING
Acting is super by Kim Yoo Jung. Her long hair flying while she runs in the school uniform is breathtaking. Her eyes when she was crying made my tears fall, but she looked cute even with puffy eyes.
Yeon Du was reminding of her role from Our Blues and she is really good. I hope she gets more projects.
Woon Ho and Hyun Jin served the male charm needed in the drama. The friendship was nice as they cared for each other more than the girl.
Han Hyo Joo was a surprise and I liked her seeing, after her last work "Happiness."

●REWATCH
Yeah, it was a great watch so am gonna rewatch this.

●APPRECIATION
The cinematography is amazing, the time period when the internet had just started was not much stressful but used as some key elements were just perfect.
The lights and color usage were the visual appetizers.

●RECOMMENDATION
watch this if you want some feel good light movie.

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Female Leads

The superb acting skills of Kim Yoo Jung and Han Hyo Joo make this movie worth watching. Both of these young women have won numerous awards and after watching this movie you will understand why. The movie does have a sad ending but the reality of life is not always pleasant. But knowing someone still loves you 15 years after you have passed away provides reassurance that your life is worth living to the fullest. Both of these women should win awards for this movie.

The male lead does an excellent job of providing a love interest for Kim Yoo Jung in the traditional timid behavior that is so common in K-Dramas. Coming from the US, relationship behaviors are quite different here. They are straightforward when expressing one’s feelings for another. It is refreshing but sometimes frustrating leaving so many emotions unsaid. We never know how long our time is going to be on Earth and leaving unsaid emotions is a shame for those we left behind.

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Never believe in the dramas / movies set in the 80s and 90s

The plot is somewhat typical, a story about first love and friendships in adolescence, at first I felt that it was a bit slow but then it improved, really what is most striking is that you do not expect the ending and the fact that the love story from Bora and WooHon it ends before it started it hurts, at least they would have had another kiss
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The performances were good, Kim Yoo jung and Byun Woo suk in the train scene where they say goodbye will always be a memorable scene, it was impossible not to cry and Han Hyo Joo in the last scene where she sees the tape... Damn she didn't even have to speak so that I would be destroyed
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The best movie of 2022 and here the phrase that destroyed us all "I want to see you, Bora of the 21st century"

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“Artsy” yet unsatisfying movie

SPOILER ALERT:
I’m tired of all these types of shows that have the viewer invested in a love story that has misunderstandings. Oh, and the usual female lead is too nice to tell her best friend she likes the same guy, so she sacrifices her feelings.

Acting: Kim Yoo Jung- her acting is the best! This was the main reason I watched. Love her in everything she does. Actually secondary ML (Park Jung Woo) acting was better than ML (Byeon Woo Seok) but then again maybe it’s just that they made the characters that way. Secondary FL , BoRa’s best friend, I thought her character had a lot of nerve to expect BoRa to research the guy she liked even though they got the names mixed up, and then she got all mad at BoRa for liking him!

All in all, not happy with the direction they went with this…..would’ve liked to see FL and ML together…. At least you don’t have to invest 16 hours in a Series drama to find out that the FL and ML never get together!

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a warm cup of tea on a rainy afternoon

{It will warm your heart like a cup of tea...with youthful laughter and the innocent blushes of first love...yet you will still feel somewhat sad and melancholy...as one does on a rainy afternoon.}

20th Century Girl is definitely a solid high school, nostalgic rom-com. Admittedly, it is nothing original with a cliche plotline, and typical misunderstandings make up the biggest backbone of the plotline. However, the actors give life to their characters; Kim Yoo Jung's range of emotions never fails to astound me, and her co-lead Byun Woo Seok represents his character's subtle warmth perfectly. (AND OMG all the cameos--Han Hyo Joo, Gong Myung, & Ong Seung Wu--were a surprise to me, and all of them were faves, so I was genuinely happy to see them, too <3)

My only gripe is that I don't think it was quite the tear-jerker like fans on TikTok and other social media made it seem. I was definitely not sobbing or bawling at the middle of the movie, and I was not a puddle of tears at the end. (BUT I DO WISH that we could get a happy ending FOR ONCE in kdramaland 2022. Why do writers hate us this year!? Why WON'T YOU GIVE A PERFECTLY GOOD COUPLE their well-deserved happy ending?!? I'm also definitely unsatisfied with the lingering, unanswered threads at the end of the movie, but I appreciate how other aspects did come full circle. )

Nevertheless, the nostalgic color palette and grading of the film make this movie feel like a warm cup of tea on a rainy afternoon, and the overall production quality raises what should be a 7/10 story to a 8.5/10 cinema. (The silhouette scene of their side profiles in the closet? LOVE.) Because even I, no matter how cynical of a critic hat I pretend to don, am a slave to my feelings, and the predictable plot could not prevent my tears at the end. The simplicity of the dialogue still pulled at my heartstrings, proving that a trope done well...will always hit home.

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Sweet and Sad

This is one of those beautiful doses of nostalgia, a moment in the life of a bunch of teens... Reminding me of my own youth, as I too was born 1983, had a heart condition, and had to leave my loved ones behind to move to different country, crying on a plane... longing...

This movie has an amazing cast, great cinematography and some really good characters. There are a few scenes that annoyed me, but they were properly delt with later on showing a teen with a heart condition as... you know a teen with crushes, wishes and desires beyond a cure... Wanting to stay put so she can get close to her crush... As well as some stuff that others take for granted but teens with heart conditions have to del with. + She actually got to have a scar!

" I need a friend not a nurse"

The flirting in this movie is top notch, and though there are moments when the female lead feels straight out of Disney (especially in the beginning) and I do not agree with all of her decisions. She is pretty cool, bad ass and kind all at the same time without becoming a super hero. The male lead is really sweet in every way possible (almost), playful, kind and listen to this he actually respects women, and seems to grasp the notion of consent before people used the word consent 1999.

The friendships in this movie have their good sides and less good sides, just like most relationships do in real life. They are however really well executed except for some annoying overly high pitched crying here and there, which is why this is a 9 and not a 9,5. There is a a pretty high rate of predictability but also some moments that may surprise you (very few though) .

Level of tears- build up and light fog in the eyes but no full blown snotty crying.
Level of cuteness- High, oh so high...

So if you can handle some pain, go watch this movie. If not save it for a day when you can handle it.

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a ‘bud’ of a movie

Mayve the fact that I expected a lot of this movie made me so disappointed. The scores and reviews are all good, it’s a Netflix Production, and it’s got a very good cast.. so what could possibly go wrong?

With all those good things I guess the script and writing is what fumbles. It’s a shame because a lot of lower production does things a lot better but don’t get the recognition they deserve. I won’t talk about that anymore here.. I’ll just share my thoughts about the movie

What I liked were the main character trio. I liked them, but unfortunately they weren’t developed at all. The time jump seriously is too harsh and the division is very big between being a high school to an adult. The college scene was thrown in there to make up for it but it failed, it just showed that Bo Ra against gotten over Woon Ho, and it was done with a blind date which I find pretty lazy. There are so many ways to present a character missing someone but trying to deny it, and she straight up said it out loud.

There is a lot of visually stunning moments, the aesthetic is very good with this movie. I just wished they would’ve been more creative other than just beautiful scenes. They couldn’t done much more symbolically.

Woon Ho and Bo Ra had a short romance, but it didn’t get to be fully developed either. It seemed nothing fully bloomed. So I don’t understand why Woon Ho was just pronounced dead- it really threw me off? The time skip didn’t need to happen- honestly I can’t tell what kind of ending to a movie this was other than to cheaply try to get people to cry. Emotional stories can be done better than that, it’s kind of insulting to kill someone off and just say it rather than show or allude slowly or hint it. He was just dead and she never knew.. it felt cheap to me to get me to feel bad. If this movie really wanted a cry and to make a character die at least tell me why he died, instead I’m left feeling like this movie didn’t end, it was very loose and had no resolution. Her friend wasn’t brought up on the future, her parents, her own brother… what happened to those characters that were introduced.

I also understand I’m being harsh. But within a realistic setting and time that I’ve lived through I’m just baffled at this loose approach. It’s hard to have things be so all over the place and unexplained if it’s in a modern setting where answers can be found easily.

So this movie is just a watch- interesting, it was so easy to just do and not make a fuss but it tried too hard and failed for me.

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