20th Century Girl (2022)

I thought it was a light-hearted movie yet it ended up tragically

Queen YooJung made it again. I actually miss watching YooJung and I haven't seen her on both movies and dramas for a while so I really got excited about this new movie. And as usual she delivers. I missed her youthful appearance in a show. I still can't see her doing mature roles. She's still teen and a high school fairy for me.

Enough of YooJung though, let's get int the plot. I was actually ecstatic watching the first hour. I saw myself giggling, laughing and relating to the characters. It took me back to those high school crushes days that everyone might have experienced. Then I get that along the way, conflict must arise and I kind of predicted it from the beginning. Everything is all good until after WoonHo left. I felt like they should've ended it there but they just thought it would be nice to have a twist. I didn't feel heartbroken that he died. I feel mad that I was hoping a happy ending yet they gave me a tragedy, It's my personal agony though.

If you've been reading through this, I hoped you've watched the movie already because I basically spilled everything here. I warned though that spoilers are here. I still loved the movie though and myghad, there's a lot of oppa's here. I never thought of Byeon Woo Seok until this movie. I just discovered a new oppa to add on my list. Anyway, overall. This is still a fairly good movie to watch so I still highly recommend it specially for fans of YooJung.

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A deep and complex look at a traditional love triangle

Well paced. Interesting. Heartfelt. Emotional. Just a few words to describe 20th Century Girl. The movie does well setting the groundwork for the relationships that are built throughout its runtime.

This movie tells a deep and lifelong story about lost love in a short amount of time. I hope that more Korean dramas have pacing more on par with what we saw here. It never dragged its story with filler and continued to move forward at a pace that kept it fresh and interesting. Obviously, like most K-Dramas a lot of the issues that come up between our characters is as a result of an egregious lack of communication skills, but the motivation for the misunderstanding was plausible, so it gets a pass here.

Otherwise, I greatly appreciated the change in tone later in that movie and how it wasn’t so heavy handed with showing us too much. Sometimes it’s better to leave things up to to audience interpretation rather than have it spelt out so obviously, as tends to be a cliché in romantic K-Dramas. The ambiguity of the twist might be divisive, (depending on your tastes) but achieves its intention. Furthermore, maybe we could have spent a little more time with the other leads, but that’s a small nitpick in an otherwise fine movie.

I generally think they focused their attention where they needed to and that this is definitely a movie worth watching. If you’re looking for something a little different in the genre of Korean “romantic comedies”, definitely give 20th century girl a try.

Recommendation: WATCH

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i really enjoyed watching the movie i mostly watch dramas not movies but this one was really nice loved the characters the only thing i didn't was the ending the rest was amazing i loved the male characters more they were so cute and handsome the girl is cute but i don't like her acting sometimes. you can find all kind of scenes in the movie : comedy , action and....
if they ask me for movie recommendations i will surely recommend 20th century girl to them cause i truly liked it and im sure other people will like it toooo it was a movie good for all ages to watch and enjoy

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SPOILERS AHEAD

20th Century Girl.


I will keep this review (not so) short and i’m simply going to cut straight to the chase. This movie was good but personally i do believe that this had potential to be GREATER than just good.

First of all i want to highlight the spectacular acting delivered by the female and male lead in particular. Both were able to depict such raw and realistic emotions i felt as if i was watching the movie taking place first hand and not just through the screen. The chemistry between all the actors felt natural and genuine, none of the forced cringy friendship acting we’re normally faced with.

The visuals were good, The acting was amazing and finally, The Plot.

The plot kept me fully immersed and hoping for a memorable and powerful finale.. but i soon realized that my expectations were too high as the ending did in-fact leave me and (it seems quite a lot of people, unsatisfied).

Loopholes and unanswered questions. The ending felt rushed. The story was gradually building up and was doing so well until it all suddenly out of nowhere collapses.

.. Prior to watching the film i did see a few comments and reviews revolving around the ending of the film but i never knew what the actual ending was.

Let me start off by saying that my issue with the ending isn’t the ML passing away. - I had a hunch it was coming when the FL was at the telephone box and said something along the lines of “you’re better off dead to me” in regards to the ML. I knew then it was a foreshadowing method used by the director and it just made sense.

My problem is how sloppily they executed the MLs death. No backstory on how he passed or why he passed. Surely the ML’s best friend was close enough to his family to know that he had passed on and FL would’ve found out sooner no?

Also somewhere near the end of the film we see an old video recording of FL in her high school days talking about how she hopes her parents are well and how she hopes her brother is grown well. They showed the parents but didn’t show Ba-Da (the brother).

And not to mention MLs brother appearing out of the blue, it seems as if they just spontaneously threw him in and called it a day. I had to pause and scan him for a good minute as i did NOT know who i was looking at. Everything about the ending scenes felt unrealistic and rushed.

There are a few more things but these are my main issues with this film.

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Bitter sweet beautiful melodt

What a beautiful movie to watch!

This movie hits various cords just the right way. The settings of late 90s takes you down the memory lane. Any 90s kid would identify with the setting of the movie.

The characters, each one of them, are so nuanced, well written and beautifully portrayed by the actors. In the 2 odd hours the story gives you comedy, romance and heartbreak and many more shades of emotions in between. I absolutely loved the character arch of Na Bo Ra.

It's a tear jerker and even though I am not a huge fan of melodramas, even the sad ending of the movie was done just right.

I wouldn't be able to watch it for the second time though just because I would know how it ends.

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Had good potential, but tried a little too hard

After seeing the wonderfully raved reviews, I let myself into the school romance arc again to give this a shot. Right away, I felt Our Times (Taiwanese movie) vibes, with the vintage school life and then the flash forward to present day with a different main lead cast.

The scenes between the main couple were not developed enough for me to feel anything towards their story. This is a typical love at first sight romance, which makes it even harder for us to feel. And although they looked cute together, the main guy had no personality. And the other guy? Felt like a completely random dude who was thrown in to have a cute trio effect. I also had trouble distinguishing the two men at one point.

Worst of all, some things didn't make sense to me. It was weird the friend called the main girl silly to mistaken the name of the guy she likes for his friend. So did the friend know his name was switched too or what? Cause it sure didn't seem like it. The friend and the conflict was more interesting than the entire romance plot. I would rather watch a movie about their interesting dynamic than this, in my opinion, because a main girl lying about her personality to her best friend the whole time doesn't sound very healthy.

And that ending! It was super out of the blue. I felt like the movie wanted to throw a angsty dramatic factor in for kicks, as if the train scene (1999 version of airport scene) wasn't enough. Not every movie needs to end in tragedy for it to be good, especially when it doesn't add anything to do so!

I think I get the direction the director was going towards, with the nostalgia for the 20th century, the youth, the common friendship problem, and the melo thought of what could have been in the next century. But, it was just done in a rather mediocre way that leads an empty confused place in viewers' hearts after watching.

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Kim Yoo Jung, the carry as always <3 . But movie LACKED A KICK

as a true fan of KYJ, I'm gonna be honest, and not biased.

Kim Yoo Jung, Jung Suk Yong, and Gong Myung's acting are not to be doubted at all. Charisma of experience actors, they don't lie.

KYJ has best chemistry with Jung Suk Yong (father), Jeon Hye Won from True Beauty (Darn It). Yoon Yire (Madam), and Gong Myung.

the chemistry around the 3 main leads to Kim Yoo Jung is lack luster, but their acting is good! But seriously, you have seen better main male lead, second male lead, and BFF for Kim Yoo Jung . But these 3 were still far from her level. I agree with someone who said Park Jung Woo has better chemistry with Kim Yoo Jung.

For Han Hyo Joo, I feel like... she acts exactly the same like in Golden Slumber. I was not touched, but she played a convincing adult Bora.

Color is nice, but cinematography feels rushed. Could have been better if it was done with the style of TV drama.

music feels kinda low and not moving. Coming from the music director of secret royal inspector and joy. this is disappointing. They should make it more RETRO, like taxi driver.

Even so, ITS A HIT! Thank you to AwesomeENT, Swoon, and all of the promotion and support.

I believe after 8th night, 20th century girl, chicken nugget, and perhaps 1 more hit netflix drama.. Kim Yoo Jung should return to SBS, get a first TVN drama, KBS2, MBC... and skip JTBC, return to Netflix in the future.

No more movies please, movies are always rushed. That's the problem with Korean Movies, slow start, rushed finale. It's only moving when Kim Yoo Jung was around

Korea can make rewatchable dramas but not rewatchable movies.

Verdict: it's not a family romcom flicks like Backstreet Rookie and Clean With Passion For Now that will touch the experienced watchers.

It's a hit movie directed at mainstream gen MZ, I'm amazed it's a mainstream hit and I am grateful. Still the best 2 hours of my life but I am not that amazed. Only amazed at Kim Yoo Jung

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20th Century Girl was going strong as a light, fluff and full on cliche teen romance with cute characters, fun interaction and a bit of 90’ nostalgia, until the writers decided to be “ambitious” and give it a random, unfitting and poorly executed ending to make the movie “more memorable”. And I’m here questioning why? I get it, as a writer you don’t want to start your career with a cute, but not memorable rom-com, but what we’ve got here is not the way to go.

What went well? Most of the characters are likable, even if they lacked depth. Bora was your typical energetic and bubbly girl, Woon Ho was a perfect first love material with his warm demeanor, and Hyun Jin was the most fun and entertaining of the group. Sadly, the writer did Kim Yeon Doo dirty presenting her in rather unflattering light - clueless about the situation she was in, not getting a hint about the relations people around her have, defined by her circumstances and the illness - little to no info about her as a person.

Surprisingly, I adored all the piling misunderstandings. All of them presented in a light and heartwarming way, showing the mistakes most of us made when we were teens facing our first love.

What’s more - 20th Century Girl is simply beautiful. The use of light and shadows gave me goosebumps more than once. I am a sucker for good dim aesthetics.

So what went wrong? For a movie that is 2 hours long, we truly did not know much about the characters. Halfway through the movie I started to question, how there is still an hour to go and why are we not exploring any of the circumstances the characters are in?

The acting was also not mind blowing. Maybe I expected too much from this cast, but with a plot so simple and full of well known cliches, the performances are what carry it. Here, while everyone did a great job, none of the portrayals of the characters was truly unforgettable. My biggest issues were the more emotional scenes - they did not resonate at all. Maybe because Kim Yoo Jung tried to tap deep into the overly emotional teen, but her crying was more annoying and less moving than I would like.

By now, everyone knows the ending is just disappointing. I honestly don’t have an issue with the idea the writer had for it, but the execution was simply bad - no set up, no explanation, no message to tie it all together, no nothing.

Overall, it’s a decent movie, bringing back many memories of my teen romances and for that I am grateful. It’s not exactly memorable, nor innovative, nor a simple feel good watch. Tries to stand out in the sea of teen rom-coms with the ending, but fails to truly deliver a cohesive narrative that leads to this conclusion.

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