I got a general feeling of what I was getting myself into from the synopsis alone but still had no idea what I was in for.

The title alone ought to be enough warning but as much as I hate to say it I actually enjoyed the movie. It riled me up, it had me on the edge of my seat, it made me mad, furious, it made me sad and emotional. It accomplished the goal all movies ought to - it provoked a reaction and emotional response in the viewer.

That said, however, this is not a light movie to enjoy between your favorite BL drama hiatus or while you're waiting for a new episode or series or even a movie with that general vibe.

"Lost to Shame" will make you upset, especially if you're part of the LGBTQ+ community. If you're heterosexual and a cisgender person you might still enjoy it and even relate to any of the characters or the plot and maybe, hopefully, get some new insight on how this community feels, but I doubt that's the case and if the movie was even aiming to do that in the first place, which it isn't, the parallels between the movie and real life would be ironic to say the least.

The movie's lead is a straight man, an actor, who's playing a transgender woman on a play - his first big role and his first breakthrough in the business. We follow this man through this journey, while he discovers a newfound acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community and in the end... it's up to you to decide how to feel about it.

I'd say this movie follows the structure of a tragedy but that might be me trying to reach too far. I felt honestly upset at the ending, not because it was bad but because it was too real...

This movie appeared as a recommendation when I wanted to follow up "Method", a movie with a similar vibe which I enjoyed a lot. Maybe because I watched "Method" first my analysis of "Lost to Shame" is a bit biased since I'd actually recommend "Method" to people and I even rewatched it, but "Lost to Shame" is a one time experience.

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A slow burner leading nowhere meaningful...

Let me start off by saying there is not a single likable character in this 18 hour-long drama, which felt double that due to the extremely slow pace at which everything unfolded. So if you feel a need to be able to connect with at least one character, or even their motivations, to make a drama worthwhile, skip this one.

Normally I'm not one to complain about slow-paced dramas or how many turns the plot takes if the payoff feels rewarding. But with this specific drama, it took so long to get to the end that by the time I reached it I was just glad to be done with it.

The acting was great though - especially the moments when characters broke down under the weight of their actions, with palpable despair, and grief - and every member of the cast did a wonderful job portraying these poorly developed, often contradicting characters. The issue is that these were poorly developed, often contradicting characters...

I believe that for a drama like this to be successful, the audience must be able to connect and feel empathetic towards - at the very least - one character and the reasons they do what they do. It doesn't even have to be the main character, it doesn't have to be a noble goal, sometimes we even connect with a supporting one. But I failed to connect to any character whatsoever throughout the 18 hours of this drama and the fact the ones I did start to feel some sort of sympathy towards eventually changed their personality halfway through the plot, made it so much harder to finish the drama.

Goo Hae Won (portrayed by Shin Hyun Bin) played, to the very end, the role of the main antagonist. Without her, the events we see unfolding in the drama would not have happened. Her motives were clear from the beginning - to inflict the same pain she felt on those who caused it. However, the way she went about it felt ridiculous at times, extremely frustrating, and incredibly convoluted. By Episode 5 I was done with her entire plotline - which is an issue because her plotline is essentially the entire reason anything happens in the drama...

Her character, as a whole, was frustrating. It felt like she was making things up as she went along and even if it makes sense for her character to do so, it also doesn't make sense at all because we're shown time and time again how calculating she is, but then she's not because she doesn't have any real agenda and just reacts to things as they happen, usually by crying or being smug about it depending on the situation.

I was much more invested in the story and chemistry between Jung Hee Joo (portrayed by Go Hyun Jung) and Seo Woo Jae (portrayed by Kim Jae Young). Seo Woo Jae had reason enough to be the titular antagonist with a compelling motive we could get behind, even with the cliché amnesia. Their past and their interactions felt raw, emotional, and kept me interested in what would happen next.

If Goo Hae Won had simply been a flashback-only character, this would have been a much more enjoyable drama. I truly believe Goo Hae Won would have served the plot better as an alluded character than actually being an active force in the story.

To wrap it up - if you feel like wasting 18 hours of your life getting frustrated at fictional characters and their choices to the very end, definitely watch Reflection of You.

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The movie was wonderfully directed and the cinematography is out there with most Korean movies, this to say you never get a sense this had low funds, like many movies like these out there, who still do plenty with almost no money, or the full commitment of the cast, meaning the actors approached it as any other movie and had genuine chemistry.

Also it's not everyday we get to see full length Korean films that deal with homosexuality in a serious manner, let alone the way this film approaches it. It does not vilify it nor does it use it as a cheap hook to bring in BL fans to rake in the audiences and then leaves people feeling mad and unfulfilled.

Even though some may say the ending falls into the usual trope for LGBTQ+ movies in western media (either sad or the usual tragedy), I wouldn't have this film ending in any other way as it would take me out of the whole experience.

True to its name, "Method" is a compelling story about an older mentor figure who has a special acting method to get into character whenever he assumes a new role to give out his best performance, which solidified him as famous and well regarded in the industry, and how he deals with a younger less experienced figure, coming from South Korea's pop culture world, trying to transition into acting. Both leads are male and through this acting method fiction and reality start getting blurred.

This by no means does the film any justice but it's about as far as I can go as "Method" must be experienced, not summarized.

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Unpopular Opinion, Nevertheless... (review with spoilers)

Having watched countless romantic dramas that aimed for a more serious tone over a comedic one but ended up falling prey to the same tropes in the end, Nevertheless didn't disappoint and felt fresh, this only heightened by the cast, their acting, and the beautiful visuals.

By now we know how a romantic drama goes: there's a girl who discovers she's been deceived by her boyfriend or has trust issues from a previous relationship, she then meets a jerk of a man usually in a position of power/comes from wealth/or both, they clash over 10 episodes, there's a heartbreaking scene, usually a stupid misunderstanding, and somewhere along the way a romantic interest from the girl's past makes an appearance. These three then enter not a Love Triangle but a Love V (since it's two people pursuing the same person and not them pursuing each other - now that would be a fresh take), and by episode 16 we finally get a hand holding scene and, if we're lucky, a peck on the lips as a treat.

While the drama does lean a bit too heavily on some of these tropes, especially towards the second half of the show - which I assume starts when we're introduced to Yang Do Hyuk, Na Bi's childhood friend - we still get to see young people have casual relationships, women that own their sexuality, and even a little LGBTQ+ representation which I believe was toned down on the final cut, which is a shame.

That being said, the ending of the show didn't really upset me or made me feel like the 9 episodes I had watched were a waste. As a drama-only watcher, I was fine with the ending, especially since from the moment Yang Do Hyuk appeared it was clear as Jae Eon's glass butterflies he was only introduced to cause some tension between Na Bi and Jae Eon.

While I do agree with some reviews that state the charm of Nevertheless is the side couples - the show's worth it just for them and it was nice to see support characters be explored in this way - I also enjoyed Na Bi's story.

One thing I picked up early on, which I think some people didn't and maybe that's why many feel the way they do about the drama, is that we only ever get Na Bi's point of view throughout more than half of it. Only towards the end do we get some insight into Jae Eon's inner monologue, but it's not nearly enough.

This can either be a weak point of the drama, or the entire point of the drama, as we never really get to understand Jae Eon and his motivations. Not only that but we, as the audience, are left in the dark regarding many if not all of Jae Eon's encounters with other women and we only ever know the rumors that circulate about him, the same way Na Bi does, after the fact. Even Yoon Seol Ah's relationship with Jae Eon and why he's on her beck-and-call is left unanswered, maybe it was hinted at? I believe they used to date at some point and then remained friends?

Finally, the elephant in the room - the Toxic Relationship. Let's not kid ourselves by saying Jae Eon was the only toxic person. A relationship, even friends with benefits, requires two willing parties. Na Bi's attraction and pull towards Jae Eon in spite of her better judgment, even at the end of the drama and even after she herself admitted to it, plus her refusal to communicate with Jae Eon after hearing rumors and everyone else's opinions were as toxic as Jae Eon's indecisiveness and unwillingness to be sincere towards her. But that's only my opinion.

Choices were made that for sure made the latter half of the drama decline, but I believe this was as accurate a portrayal of reality as we can get and it for sure was a fresh one for this genre. People make bad choices, in this case willingly, because people aren't perfect and the heart wants what it wants. It was a messy relationship to start with and I'm sure it will not end well. But that's life.

As for some takes that the drama sends the wrong message - that toxic men can change for you if you just pull through, I don't think that's the case. The end credits scene when Jae Eon's being asked for his number by two girls but then tells them he has plans as soon as he spots Na Bi, and Na Bi almost pulling her hand away from Jae Eon's when she sees Yang Do Hyuk proves these two still have a lot of unresolved issues to go through and their relationship is anything but healthy or secure. But that's the choice they made and many others do. This drama, or any other, shouldn't have a responsibility to send a message - it's a portrayal of reality and reality is anything but spotless and perfect.

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