My Perfect Stranger (2023)

Back To The Future meets Tunnel

I start watching anything that has time travel tag. Start, mind you, not necessarily finish though! So of course I had to see this!

Year 2022: Yoon Young is an unhappy person. Her parents are a mess and she's bullied at work. One day she argues with her mother and later that evening she discovers she had been murdered. Sad and full of regrets, she wonders around and ends up in an freak car accident which takes her to 1987. There is a serial killer creating mayhem in the peaceful village and with the driver of the car, they have to stop him.

One episode was enough to see that the plot lifts heavily from both the movie and the drama. They mixed the two plots and frankly it works rather well. The plot manages to remain logical, because it stays mainly in the past so we really do not know if the repercussions on the future are more than cosmetic as it was shown in the last episode. Butterfly effect was not their priority. But characters' original unhappy and miserable lives were changed for the better. Most of plot points and characters were very predictable/cliché so I was a bit wary of the outcome. They managed to surprise me a little bit. Some of those plot points (plagiarism) were solved in a blink-and-you-miss-it rapid way.

The romance is not romancing very much though: apparently they fall in love and live happily ever after but their actions are not very obvious. They never touch each other's hands before the last minutes of the last episode. Zero kisses! Don't get me wrong, I do not need kisses and stuff in romance but this kind of restraint is so anti-climatic. The romance does not really change their characters which are emotionally stunted. It reminded me very much of Summer Strike: same kind of story without time travel!

The drama is a very very slow slow-burn mystery. I love slow burn dramas. But this one is on another level: so much so it took me over a week to go through the first half. I kept falling asleep. I almost dropped it because I was annoyed by the tropes and the predictability. But it got better in the second half. The plot was often very interesting and gripping but there are many many very long scene between the main leads, standing facing each other, five meters apart and talking with the speed of a snail (it felt like one word a minute).
Those scenes were rather pretty! Well done for the cinematography: fields, water, moonlit scenery. It was pretty to watch. The sets and costumes for 1987 were spot on. The hair was awful. It brought back some unpleasant memories! LOL

I have to congratulate the casting director: they managed to cast actors who look so much alike to play the same character in different time periods. It was uncanny! Of the rest, Kim Dong Woo was his usual self. I guess he is typecast always playing these stoic, cold, taciturn characters, men of few words. Well, if the shoe fits....Lee Ji Hyun, the actress playing Yoon YOung's mother in 2021 looks like a grandmother and she is the only miscast!

Time travel is notoriously difficult to write but they did it here masterfully. It is a good albeit a slow watch.

Lire davantage

A decent mystery plot and family reconciliations

My Perfect Stranger is a well-grounded story told in a comfortable pace, the twist is unexpected but the reason for the twist is not so convincing. I appreciate that they tied all the loose ends in the end, no suspense in disbelief.

But for me it's really forgettable. I'm not thinking about it when I'm watching it because somehow it's not so exciting, so I didn't feel hooked to keep watching. i completely forget about it once I finished it. I don't buy the chemistry of the leads, and I wish they become good comrade.

I think it's a show worth to watch on the side of watching other shows, especially if you enjoy following a decent mystery plot and family reconciliations. But mind you that it has unexpectedly a lot of physical and verbal violence.

Lire davantage

A perfect drama from start to finish!

I am going to divide the review in parts for ease of reading:
**TIME TRAVEL** - The major element of the drama is time travel, the drama handled it pretty well despite it being a complicated storyline, at the end of the drama I still have questions about it but they don't affect the outcome in any way. Everything made sense at the end.

**SUSPENSE/MYSTERY** - This is my favorite element of the drama, with each and every episode, the end kept me in suspense and the reveal of the murderer was rather unexpected, not gonna spoil though ;)
If you love suspense dramas, this is a must watch for sure!

**RELATIONSHIPS/ROMANCE** - The romance between ML and FL is very subtle and slow-burn romance. There are other couple in the drama though, the young versions of FL's parents have very cute interactions between them. I also loved the bickering of FL and younger version of FL's father. Coming to other bonds in the drama, some are heart felting and some are toxic. It has a very well rounded emotion to it.

My rewatch value for it is low as its a mystery drama, and the suspense is no longer suspense after you complete watching the drama.
Fl's acting was a bit awkward for me but overall the cast. The music, and the story were perfect.
This is my first time writing a review for a drama, and that should tell you how good this drama is :)
If you about to watch it then All the best and Happy watching!

Lire davantage

a drama can't be this perfect and special.

There hasn't been a series of this quality for a long time, a 10 out of 10 series with every subject in it. Scriptwriter never gives a clue about the murderer until last episodes. It was very good with everything, I'm sure it would be much more enjoyable if there was a second season. (I hope We will have ;) )
Before entering the tunnel, I thought that the caller was his son, even seeing the man visiting, I thought it was possible. Knowing that he was really his son gave a very nice and different feeling, I wish after returning to 2021, the bad memories were filled with good memories with the new future they created themselves, but even seeing photos in 2021 felt good and even seeing the main characters for a while in 2021.
It was so special and emotional for them to go back and heal their wounds by themselves and support each other, I even cried at parts :'(
It was nice that Yoon Young started to understand her father and Tae Jun started to understand his mother
I am so glad that there is another drama that I feel very special while watching ,especially at the end, ^.^

Lire davantage

Loved it

This gave me Life on Mars vibes which I also really loved. It just had better romance & more fleshed side characters. I came with low expectations but the drama had everything I liked, school setting, adorable couples, and dynamic one-line actors. The killer was tricky, I had my doubts till the very end so I was pleasantly surprised that I wasn't a step ahead of the writing. Even the time machine owner was a surprise to me, my guesses were all in the wrong places with this one.

Overall, I am delighted with the themes and plots within the main story. I wasn't happy with the main character's treatment of her father initially, but that was also part of the emotions I needed to feel. It made me think that one grows while understanding their mother's feelings but they mature once they can understand their dad (or at least girls like me do).

Great watch, I binged this so I expect myself to forget the minor details and want to rewatch again soon. Maybe then I'll figure out why they can travel to a certain day of the year and why they went back to that date at the end.

Lire davantage

came for the time travel, stayed for the heartwarming

Without touching too much on the things that the summary doesn't allude to, I will give my thoughts on My Perfect Stranger.
I cannot recommend this to anyone who is looking for a sci-fi drama. This drama is like 10% sci-fi and there are so many questions I have for it. I want to call them plot holes but they honestly aren't considering that characters in the story don't even wonder about them themselves. It's like the writers just assumed that since the characters don't care that we wouldn't either.
Although the leads DO form a subtle romantic relationship, you will find a sweeter romance with the support characters (FL's parents). The best part of this drama is the relationship you'll see between them and the FL's family as a whole. It was beautiful and touching and I actually teared up multiple times. I was not expecting a murder mystery drama to be so warm. This aspect honestly makes the whole drama worth watching
The mystery and investigation part of this drama was also very interesting. You'd never guess who the killer was until it was plainly laid out. That was a good and bad thing. As the investigation deepened and the case was solved, everything made sense, but it sometimes just felt like the writers made certain things happen just to be sure that they could outsmart the viewer.
Although I enjoyed this drama while it was airing, in retrospect, I would've enjoyed it more if the characters had a bit more passion. It seems like they never fully felt any particular emotion.
Overall, a good drama. 8.5/10

Lire davantage

A beautiful journey through time

Yes beautiful because it was. Despite being a mystery thriller, the romance was beautifully executed. I had no idea that hand holding and simple hugs could be shown so beautifully. Loved this drama from beginning to end. I wish YY knew her son but then again not knowing is best. Also loved the way the last bits were tied up. I am happy that all was well in the end. But I wanted to know how HJ's mom was faring but oh well. I loved the bike riding scene n the happy glimpses of the present. I am still confused about that loop hole though but anyway It's been a long time since I have watched 10/10 drama. A must watch this one.

Lire davantage

All perfect

Watched the drama because of jin kijoo but suprisingly the plot, the uncanny resemblance of the cast make it the perfect drama ever!!! I love how they potray the emotions, the quality time together and even the bickering father daughter moments, its make it more fun to watch. A big applause to the director, writer, casting team and all the cast for making this masterpiece all worth it. The plot was perfect that make me cant wait for the next episode and became nervous everytime the plot twist came out. The romance was perfect and very natural. The chemistry very the top tier. Last but not least, the funny scene make me laugh out loud so muchhh. Very recommended!!!

Lire davantage

Such a sweet drama with the most thrilling story

This drama was absolutely mind-blowing. The story kept me hooked from the very first episode and I was guessing until the very last minute, and when the culprit was revealed I was really shocked! It has soo many details so much info that creates a bigger picture, it's amazing. It also has the sweetest couples! The ML and FL are very casual nothing too grand but they're just so sweet, especially their confession scene it's so simple but incredibly sweet. The second couple are just adorable! Loved them sooo much. The acting was truly incredible, especially the character Baek Hee Seop- his character was the most touching for me. The cast and crew have done an amazing job. The music is very upbeat and very pleasant throughout the drama, it's a very nice vibe. Overall, it's an incredibly sweet drama with the most thrilling plot and suspense-filled story. ???‍??1️⃣9️⃣8️⃣7️⃣???‍?

Lire davantage

A time travel story, the two main characters go back in time to a town with events (a murder mystery) and people important to their lives. The pacing of the mystery was quite good, it was slow but in a good way.

Pros:
1. The mystery was done well, and I never felt frustrated thinking that something was happening just to extend the plot. This was mostly because the ML had interesting relationships with everyone else in the town, so just seeing those interactions was worthwhile.
2. The actress who plays Ko Mi Sook was terrific. In general, I thought the acting and characterization of most of the female characters here was really good, and you generally don't see that in serial killing shows. Lots of characters I wish had more screen time.
3. I liked the ending, it wrapped up a thought I had the whole time watching. I only remember noticing one plot hole, which was pretty good for a time travel show (a lot could have gone wrong).

Cons:
1. The writers let the FL down. Her character wasn't that interesting, her relationships with the people in the town were underwhelming, and at some points I wondered if a version of the show that just didn't have her (but gave more time/importance to the other female characters) would be better. It felt like she was just a cheerleader for 2 people, rather than actually being a part of the world. But she wasn't annoying either - she was just there.
2. The romance. Just why? Came out of nowhere and seemed rather pointless.
3. Show, don't tell. I would feel cold listening to the ML talk about his life with the FL. But then when the ML would actually interact with important people, those scenes were really compelling. Especially for a 'mystery' show, I wish the ML would have explained himself less, so that there would have been a bit more emotion and suspense.

In the end, this was a solid, quite consistent, and enjoyable show.

Lire davantage