20th Century Girl (2022) - Korean Movie Review

 -May contain major spoilers-

Photo source: Netflix

20th Century Girl (20세기 소녀) is a Korean romance film written and directed by Bang Woo-Ri and released on Netflix on October 21, 2022, starring Kim Yoo-Jung, Byeon Woo-Seok, Park Jung-Woo and Roh Yoon-Seo. 

Short Summary

In 2019 Na Bo-Ra receives a call from her father (Jung Suk-Yong) who tells her that someone sent her something in the mail and sends her a photo of the contents of the package when Bo-Ra sees the picture she starts to remember her youth.

In 1999 17-year-old Na Bo-Ra (Kim Yoo-Jung) is hanging out with her best friend Kim Yeon-Doo (Roh Yoon-Seo), who has to go to the United States to get heart surgery. Yeon-Doo tells Bo-Ra that she doesn't want to leave because she has fallen in love with a boy who helped her when she fell in her mother's tailor shop and one of the only things she knows about him is his name (that she reads on his school jacket) Baek Hyun-Jin. Yeon-Doo tells Bo-Ra where Hyun-Jin lives, the bus he takes, and that they go to the same high school. Bo-Ra is a good friend so she reluctantly promises Yeon-Doo that she is going to investigate more about him and they make e-mail accounts so they can keep in contact. 

Bo-Ra to the surprise of her family wakes up early and doesn't eat breakfast so she can get on the same bus as the boy. When Bo-Ra manages to get on the bus, the driver brakes suddenly she falls on top of Baek Hyun-Jin (Park Jung-Woo) himself. She tries to follow him to school but her teacher stops her because even if their school is co-ed, the students are divided by gender, so Bo-Ra resorts to stalking following him from afar, even going as far as looking in the trash to see what his favorite drink is.

Bo-Ra overhears Hyun-Jin talking with his best friend Poong Woon-Ho (Byeon Woo-Seok) about what club they are going to join. Woon-Ho says he will be joining the broadcasting club, so Hyun-Jin tells him he will be joining the same club. Bo-Ra decides to audition for the broadcasting club too and gets in by showcasing her talent in taekwondo, but Hyun-Jin decides not to audition after seeing Bo-Ra's talent because she deserves to enter more. In the club, she meets Woon-Ho, who did get in. 

After an awkward phone call where Bo-Ra calls Hyun-Jin pretending to surveying his favorite song, the one who answers the call is actually Woon-Ho, who recognizes her. The next day at the club Woon-Ho laughs about the call and promises Bo-Ra that he will give her Hyun-Jin's beeper number if Bo-Ra gets him an adult-rated movie from her father's video store.

Bo-Ra starts to hang out more with Woon-Ho and Hyun-Jin, but Hyun-Jin confused by Bo-Ra's odd behavior, thinks that she has a crush on him and asks Bo-Ra to date him, but Bo-Ra who seems to have catched feelings for Woon-Ho rejects Hyun-Jin...

Thoughts

20th Century Girl is a movie that touches on first love and youth and does a great job of giving the viewer nostalgic feelings. The cinematography is great and while I normally hate the filter this movie uses, in this case, it works wonderfully and makes the movie feel almost like a dream adult Bo-Ra is having. 

The acting is really good and Kim Yoo-Jung does great portraying the positive and charismatic Bo-Ra who is the heart of the movie.

The romance is great and very touching *SPOILER* although it ends on a very sad note with the death of Woon-Ho *SPOILER ENDS*

I recommend this movie if you like youthful movies about high school life, but if you don't like sad endings I don't recommend watching this movie.

Rating

Acting - 10/10

Plot - 9/10

Romance - 9/10

OST - 8/10

Cinematography - 10/10

Overall Rating - 9/10

Extended Movie Info

Run Time: 119 minutes (2hs[ish]).

Release Date: October 21, 2022.

Directed by: Bang Woo-Ri.

Cinematography by: Jo Yeong-Jik.

Screenplay by: Bang Woo-Ri.

Music by: Dalpalan.

Starring: Kim Yoo-Jung, Byeon Woo-Seok, Park Jung-Woo and Roh Yoon-Seo.