Our Movie Season 1 Review – An artsy and lively melodrama that fails its leads
Episode Guide
Episode 1 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 2 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 3 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 4 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 5 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 6 -| Review Score – 2.5/5
Episode 7 -| Review Score – 2.5/5
Episode 8 -| Review Score – 2.5/5
Episode 9 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 10 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 11 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 12 -| Review Score – 3/5
Melodramas tend to be a hit or miss, especially when the execution piles up on the bittersweet plot with equally depressing aesthetics, dark and dreary colours, haunting string music and performances by the cast as if their cat has just died. What saves a melodrama from being too one note is the direction as seen with Our Movie which tries to liven up the tragic romance and give a message of hope and love.
Our Movie is SBS' latest hand at melos and they have had some experience with the likes of Moon Lovers and The Hymn Of Death. Their 2025 attempt has everything from eternal love and hopelessness to ethical dilemmas and movie-making drama.
Our Movie follows Lee Je-ha, a genius director who ends up in a slump after his debut movie wins him several accolades. Focused on a superstitious jinx, he decides to return to the scene 5 years later. However, he takes up an ambitious task of telling a story of a terminally ill patient in love.
Struggling with the concept, he finds a muse in Lee Da-eum, an aspiring actress who has a terminal illness herself. With no cure, she can die any day. He is surprised as she refuses to succumb to the hopelessness of her situation, living each day to the fullest. As director and actress work on the script together, they clash on their very different ideologies on love and eternity. But over time, they start falling for each other.
The cast includes Namkoong Min, Jeon Yeo-been, Seo Hyeon-woo and Lee Seol among others. It is directed by Lee Jung-heum who is known for thrillers like Falsify and Inspector Koo.
As expected, Director Lee does everything in his power to break away from the usual melo cliches and tropes. The supposed antagonists aren't truly the antagonists, supporting Da-eum and Je-ha in their endeavour to make something worthwhile. Lee Seol's Seo-yeong, a fellow actress, is a refreshing character who questions the 'women-beware-women' archetype. Seo Hyeon-woo's Producer Bu acts a little shady to add suspense and tension, but in the end, he highlights the importance of having a strong support system.
Director Lee and the crew also put their all in ensuring that Our Movie Season 1 is a visual treat. Soft and bright scenes make up the majority, even when they are set in hospitals, symbolising Da-eum's optimistic take at life. Certain poignant scenes or emotionally stunted moments are in black and white. And so, when they change to colour, it is that much more satisfying as the characters finally take a leap of faith by accepting their feelings.
The show also plays around with aspect ratio, using it for meta commentary or, once again, to highlight certain emotions. We see the 16:9 ratio when clips of the remake movie or reimagination of the movie are shown for the cinematic vibe. It is also used for difficult scenes when the characters have to make a life-changing decision, creating a sombre effect in all aspects.
Peppy and cheerful music is interspersed with the typical haunting and melodic string music as expected. They represent the ups and downs of Da-eum's life, her relationship with Je-ha and even the progress of the movie being shot.
We can go on and on about how beautifully Our Movie is made but the technical execution isn't able to save the main plot or the leads' performances. The subplot of the movie-making and the industry politics is quite intriguing. Unfortunately, the love story is a little grim in the sense that the female protagonist, the one with the terminal illness, the one who has to suffer for the sake of the story, is mostly a passive character.
She's a prop for the male protagonist, a plot device for him to realise his faults and become a better human and experience love and yada yada yada. While he grows and gets all the juicy moments, whether it is the moviemaking politics or ethical dilemmas, Da-eum is the same from start to end. Remember the lively treatment we were talking about; she's used for that as well.
Jeon Yeo-been plays Da-eum as a bubbly, charming, but innocent girl. Whenever scenes get heavy and sombre, Yeo-been suddenly turns goofy and playful to lighten the mood. Da-eum is the whole package except for the tiny drawback of her dying. Even then, she is the smiling through her pain type of person, so we don't see much of her introspecting on her own limitations and fate.
And sure, Yeo-been's portrayal is a choice, and doesn't really hamper the story. Some viewers may even like how Da-eum comes across, including us, as she has some sweet moments. But we are pretty sure that almost everyone is going to be annoyed with Namkoong Min's Je-ha.
Je-ha is an introvert, a reserved character who comes off cold. Even when he feels feelings, he doesn't show them outwardly. Until he does! 8 episodes later, he is suddenly a whole new person, smiling and joking and laughing and crying. Our Movie is possibly Namkoong's first project where he stumbles with his performance. And he was such a great tsundere turned lover boy in the historical melodrama, My Dearest.
Well, in Our Movie, for the first 8 episodes, when Je-ha is his selfish, stubborn self, Namkoong plays him as a robot, oddly stoic and mysterious. Once he has his character development, he finally acts human. It makes for a boring and lifeless character, and may lose viewers since most of the plot revolves around Je-ha.
Namkoong's visuals are the only thing that may stop viewers from labelling Je-ha as one of the worst K-drama male leads created. No matter how inspiring and artsy the show is, the love story and the performance let it down. And it is a shame as Our Movie does try its best in creating an aesthetically pleasing and refreshing tragic romance with a message of hope.
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In response to the statements above, Pisciotta's attorney, Lisa Bloom, told 'While Kanye West's publicist has come up with a slickly worded (and outrageously false and defamatory) attack on Ms. Pisciotta, Kanye himself has publicly admitted much of what she's claiming.' 'Kanye's publicist is deafeningly silent on Kanye's own admissions, which will destroy him in court. We look forward to seeing him there, where he cannot hide behind a high priced spin team,' Bloom concluded. The response on West's behalf come just days after Pisciotta accused the father-of-four of sexually harassing and assaulting her on multiple occasions. In her amended complaint, filed earlier this week, Pisciotta accused her former boss of forcing 'his penis into her mouth' during a business trip in San Francisco. The oral rape allegedly occurred not long after she began working for Ye in July 2021. She alleged that he attempted to kiss her on the lips, more than once, despite her repeatedly rejecting his advances, which she insists she told him were 'not professional.' After participating in a writing session for his album, Donda, the complaint alleges that West invited Pisciotta to his hotel suite to discuss the record. When she arrived, Pisciotta alleges in the complaint 'Ye abruptly laid down in his bed and insisted that Ms. Pisciotta lay beside him.' She proceeded to 'reluctantly' sit next to him in bed as her then-boss praised her work and shared how he could 'propel' her success in the music industry, according to the complaint. The conversation quickly turned south, she claims, as he began speaking in graphic detail about an unnamed model's genitals and described his sexual encounters with other women. Pisciotta claims in the complaint that West attempted to kiss her again, but that she 'continued to deflect his advances.' She then claimed he began to ask her questions about her vagina, such as 'What's it like?', 'Can I touch it?', and 'I just wanna see what it's like.' According to the complaint, despite her reminding him his behavior was not professional, Pisciotta alleges West 'stroked his penis over his pants with one hand and forcibly touched her vagina with the other hand.' 'Ms. Pisciotta immediately told Ye to stop. Ye soon fell asleep mid-sentence,' the complaint reads. 'Ms. Pisciotta left the room once Ye fell asleep.' During that same stay in San Francisco, Pisciotta claims West went to her hotel room and demanded to use her shower. After cracking the door open, Pisciotta says in the complaint that her former boss 'pushed the door open and proceeded directly into the bathroom.' When he reemerged, she claims in the complaint he was only wearing a 'towel covering the lower half of his body' and approached her while she was sitting in a chair. She claims 'Ye dropped the towel from his waist to expose his penis,' removed her from the chair she was sitting in, and pushed her onto the bed, so that she was pinned against its pillows and headboard. Pisciotta says he used his 'body to pin and restrain' her and restricted her from leaving the bed, before thrusting his penis repeatedly into her mouth, according to the complaint. 'As Ms. Pisciotta frantically pled for Ye to stop, Ye forced his penis into her mouth. Ms. Pisciotta froze in shock and fear but continued to plead with Ye and beg him,' according to the legal documents. After the alleged rape, she alleges he apologized and left. When she confronted him about the sexual assault, she said in the complaint he gave her what she thought was 'a sincere apology' and agreed to continue working for him. Still, she insists in the court record he never stopped his sexually inappropriate behavior and harassment. She claims he detailed sexual fantasies about her, demanded she send him explicit material including topless and nude photographs, constantly remarked on her body and even allegedly called her while engaging in sexual acts with another woman. Other shocking claims in the second amended complaint included that he offered someone the opportunity to have sex with her and that he 'constantly told her that 'he wanted to have sex with her and how he thought about her while he had sex with other women.' She also says he offered 'one million dollars in exchange for her deleting her OnlyFans account, from which Ms. Pisciotta earned approximately one million dollars over the course of eight months.' After deleting her account, Pisciotta claims in the court paper that West refused to pay the 'agreed-upon amount' and quickly lost her substantial OnlyFans following. During her employment, she alleged he interrogated her about her love life, the last time she had sex, how large her partners' penises were and if she would be 'open to engaging in threesomes with her partners, his partners, and other women Ye found on various social media platforms.' After terminating her in fall of 2023, she claims he 'grabbed' her neck and 'squeezed his hand around her throat, restricting her airflow' after running into each other at a concert, according to the complaint. 'With his hand still around her neck, Ye pulled Ms. Pisciotta's face towards his, inserted his tongue in her ear, and licked her ear repeatedly, causing it to become wet with his saliva. Ms. Pisciotta recoiled in horror and quickly walked away,' her complaint says. Pisciotta claims West went on to move into Ms. Pisciotta's same apartment complex, which caused her 'significant anxiety and distress.' She said in the complaint while he lived there he would walk past her place in a 'conspicuous manner' and even 'stationed his security team at various points of the complex.' Pisciotta alleged this pushed her to relocate to 'Florida as a means of escaping Ye.' Following her move, she claims he hired an individual who offered 'swatting' services for purchase, to 'swat' her. Pisciotta, who began working for Ye in 2021 as a music talent scout (A&R) for his Donda album, originally sued West in 2024. While working as his personal assistant and Chief of Staff, she handled his music, fashion ventures (like YEEZY), property management, and schedule. During this time, she claimed in the complaint that he controlled her life and made her ask for permission to shower or take breaks. Additionally, she alleged he verbally abused her, especially in front of male colleagues, demanded 'hugs' where he would press himself against her and spoke about monitoring her social media to masturbate to her photos. She also accused him of assaulting her in 2015 while she blacked out at a studio session. She believes she was drugged and has no memory of the evening, according to the court document. Another disturbing allegation involves a flight to a fashion show. She claims in the complaint that he locked her in a room and masturbated in front of her, until someone from the outside was able to open the door as she 'cried into her lap.' West previously denied Pisciotta's other allegations made in her initial June 2024 complaint. In his initial legal response to her prior claims, West's companies issued a blanket denial of all allegations made by Pisciotta — including her claims of sexual assault. In response to Pisciotta's original lawsuit, West's lawyer called the claims 'baseless' and announced plans to countersue. In her new, second amended complaint, Pisciotta lays out a sweeping list of allegations, including sexual harassment and a hostile work environment, assault, battery, sexual battery, sex trafficking, stalking, false imprisonment, gender discrimination, promissory estoppel, failure to prevent harassment, discrimination and retaliation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Pisciotta's lawyer confirmed to Daily Mail that the second amended complaint was mailed to West. In a statement to Pisciotta's attorney, Lisa Bloom, wrote: 'We are pleased that the judge granted our request to file an amended complaint against Mr. West in the sexual harassment, assault and battery case we are litigating against him in California Superior Court, County of Los Angeles.' 'In a series of recent tweets, Mr. West calls himself 'a walking me too' (we agree) and corroborated many of our client's claims by proclaiming, 'If a CEO don't hug you inappropriately he's a f@gg*t' and 'Life is about using your position to f*k the baddest b!**hes possible' and other disgusting and offensive posts,' she continued.
