In Between Seasons (2018)

a Film about waiting.

I truly think that this movie did an excellent job to portray a story about waiting for the one you love.

There is also the fact that whenever they talk about homosexuality in the movie it always done implicitly (even if you can understand that they are talking about that), which is really a great thing because whenever I see an lgbtq+ film when the main character (or other characters) is homosexual, it is almost always screamed on every rooftop (
I do not have a problem with that, all kind of representation is good for me) and I just like to know that you do not have even to mention once in movie homosexuality to talk about it. Also, the fact that the homosexual representation in Korea is so minimal and not always well represented in media, as being part of the lgbtq+ community it does make happy to see such a good film on this kind of topic.

This is my personal opinion, but I do not think that the main point we should focus on here in this film is homosexuality, but love between two people that will continue throughout their growth as young adults, regardless of gender.
The fact that Soo Hyun is in a coma can be interpreted as time stoping for him, at one of the best moment of his life, when he is with Yong Joon at the beach, and then waking up with the world and his lover changed.
Yong Joon is at the same time is enduring the challenges that come with the discovery of his relationship by Soo Hyun's mother, of growing up, having a job, losing his father, continuing his studies and life without his lover and he is only waiting to be reunited with him. Of course, there is the fact that Soo Hyun's mother is at first not supportive of there relationship because it is a homosexual relationship, but she will with time realise that gender does not matter in a relationship and that the love that they have for each other matters more.

I really liked to watch this movie, it was a pleasant break from couples in dramas who are overdoing a bit everything and searching for problems in their relationships (of course, I do not say it is the case with every drama). It was refreshing and taught me a little more about being patient with the people you love.
I highly recommend it to anyone who does like a calm film now and then (and also to cry a bit).



P.S. thank you for reading my review, I do not know if you understood everything that I wrote. I just needed to put this somewhere.

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Finally!! A story of how I have been living for more than two decades.

Have you ever loved or be loved unconditionally? Have you ever experienced giving your time, strength and love without getting or even expecting anything in return? This movie shows it all.

A story in between reality and idealism that had been delivered well. In our society today, understanding and patience are the foundational values to selfless and unconditional love. This film outstandingly delivered that message.

This movie will tell you that no matter what your belief is, it doesn't necessarily be the right thing. Most often, understanding the situation, understanding the people around you, would be the best and the right thing to do.

The critical role of being patient is well portrayed here as well. More often than not, if the people around us tell us to stop, we will stop. But, sometimes, it is worth fighting for to be patient and persevere no matter how hard and complicated the situation may be.

Kudos to all the cast and the directors and writers for this excellent story telling of how being understanding and patient with humility and respect play a major role in our daily lives. A very timely movie which will leave us the questions, "If ever, this same thing happen to me (or even worse), can I be that selfless as well? Will I be patient enough and persevere? Until when? How far my understanding could reach? Is it worth it?

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This was quite a sad movie because though something good happened still there's something wrong which made the male lead said that he was tired. So sad. The ending was quite vague though. This was not my first time watching this film. I've watched it before without a subtitle and I was able to endure watching it using my small knowledge in Korean. The main leads were attractive, I love there chemistry. Actually I want to see more of them together but the story is not that way. Just wacth it though. This will show how precious unconditional love is.

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This movie is truly wasted on those who don't make the effort to at least understand it, which is probably the reason why the rating is so low.

In Between Seasons is about time; the passing of seasons. Time heals, time makes us accept. Time changes us, and brings out both our best and worst parts. That is what this movie is about.

Don't expect any fetishizing of homosexuals in here. The love between YJ and SH is just love, not some fangirl material. But don't misunderstand, their homosexuality is part of the plot, but it doesn't overshadow the theme.
The question is whether their love for each other made their lives more difficult because of the prejudice of society, or whether it made their lives easier because they have each other.

The character with the most depth and development, is SH's mom. Even though, at first sight, this movie seems to be about two boys in love, it is truly the mother who dominates the story. You get to see her deal with all the problems that has been thrown her way, and how her attitude towards those issues changes as time passes.

The movie uses a lot of silence to portray the love or pain of the characters, because it makes you focus on their actions (or none at all). Also, there are some "vague" or "sudden" parts, which causes the watcher to concentrate and think by themselves a little bit (no hard thinking, it isn't complex). For example, if you don't read any summaries, you will only realised that the boys are in a relationship like 20 min into the movie as they suddenly lie in bed together. As you can see, it's not difficult to then realise that they're gay.
<[spoiler]
Or when someone said "stop, I know everything" in a context about divorce, and then you'll realize that that guy was prob cheating. [/spoiler] >
Honestly guys, just deal with it. Use your IQ just a lil bit, not everything is going to be laid out in front of you.

The acting skills are amazing. Like honestly, wow. When the characters were sad or cried, it seemed 100% (no exaggeration) real. Also, the sexual interactions between the boys were, unlike most LGBT couples in shows, really realistic and not awkward or forced.

And lastly a huge shout out out to the colour palette and camera work. A movie should be realistic but also ideal, and In Between Seasons has accomplished that. It's colour pallettes are stunning, but don't go overboard. It's in between artificial and reality. You can see the effort, but somehow it doesn't seem too forced; the artist/director took every opportunity to make the colours stand out, but didn't create extra opportunities just for the sake of it.

The only reason why I didn't rate it a 10, is because the enjoyment of the storyline itself wasn't the best (but good enough, worth an 8). It was definitely to shed a (lot of) tear for though.

To conclude, In Between Seasons is not only just a movie, but also a piece of art: from its heartbreaking story to the deep theme and the production of the visuals. It's all on point.

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This movie is beautiful.

Some people might find it slow/boring, but its actually beautiful.

It's called in between seasons, because it's about the passage of time, going from one season to another.

If you think about Mi Kyung and Yong Joon's relationship, it kind of goes from Summer (when she's all happy and friendly) to Winter (when she shuns him) to Spring (where she slowly starts to accept him into her and her son's life again).

If you think about Yong Joon, he's sort of gone from Spring (where everything is blossoming and beautiful) to a perpetual Autumn/Winter, where nothing grows, and nothing gets better, and he's waiting for his life to restart.

This movie isn't really a BL. It's about a mother coming to terms with the fact that her son is gay, and learning to accept his lover as a caretaker while her own life is also slowly unraveling around her.

It is about a man who is trying to be close to the only family he knows while being pushed away. And trying to stay afloat under the barrage of his lovers mother's discontent.

It is about family, and love of a person bringing people together and helping them find common ground.

I know many people found the ending depressing. But I found it hopeful. Why? Because before Yong Joon didn't have anyone he could tell he was tired to. The fact that he can tell Soo Hyun he's tired makes me think they're getting back on track. Because now maybe Soo Hyun can be someone Yong Joon can lean on, where before he was carrying all the burdens alone.

Mi Kyung is accepting Yong Joon as her son. So perhaps their relationship is no longer a burden either of them needs to carry.

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Do you think the love is still there?

Soo Hyun is the lucky one in this sudden dramatic turn from the car accident story. This accident might put him in a coma but he was just like in a long sleep. Meanwhile, His mom: Mi Kyung and his lover: Yong Joon were in battle facing difficulties in life. Mi Kyung's season after this accident was a rough season, she had to face her divorce and deal with money to keep Soo Hyun. Yong Joon's season was tough as well. This young man barely survived the season in doing so, he even exchanged sex for money. Difficult seasons may change people, just like how Mi Kyung changed his views on Yong Joong as they were on the same page---having unconditional love for Soo Hyun.

I watched this movie several times. And it's still hard for me to make a piece with this movie. It's just like the Love of Siam (Thai movie), they closed the movie while the hope is up. For this In Between Seasons, I keep asking whether Soo Hyun's love towards Soo Hyun is still there after he wakes up. Whether Soo Hyun lost something during his sleep or dreamt a different thing that made him wake up differently. I thought Soo Hyun forgot Yong Joon completely, but he remembered Yong Joon was a smoker.

The end of the movie can be interpreted differently. Some might say Mi Kyung is still not accepting of her son so that's a reason Soo Hyun sets a distance from Yong Joong. Soo Hyun indeed feels a need to return to how his mom stays with him all the time. From my perspective, Mi Kyung called Yong Joong as a gesture that she was okay with these two boys' relationship.

I still hope they will make In Between Seasons 2 with the same cast. I want to make a piece with this movie and I am not shy to say that I need validation to see they are together and still in love.

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I'm seeing a lot of questions regarding the ending of the story. And at the end of the movie, notice that he faced his mother but turned right away to Yong Joon. It's either he remembers everything but pretend not to or he really can't remember but trying to,. Just look at the way he stares at Yong Joon, I'm pretty sure he can still remember something between them.

But watch this part, 44:25 ( It's self-explanatory). I'm pretty sure Soo Hyun will remember all what had happened between them. And if in case, I hope his mom will get over it and let them live happily. I tried watching this, like, 2x for me to understand the story..

The problem about this movie is that they didn't even show that Soo Hyun and Yong Joon are happy. It really sucks ending a movie with a dim light (it means sad). It would be perfect if they ended it like they went on a picnic or at least day time or whatever.

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The enduring love

If you're looking for steamy action, better watch porn. If you're looking for a movie that'll well up buckets of tears, better watch some overrated melodrama. If you're looking for a movie that supports LGBTQ+ relationship, find something else because this isn't it.

The take of this movie lies more about waiting, thus, the title which entails the passing of time. Most parts of the movie will also involve elements of waiting and anticipation, and will only result in more questions than answers. Oftentimes responses to questions are delivered subtly and most of the time not directly at the main characters but with what's happening with the people around them.

The main theme of this movie is more on love that perseveres and endures over time. It might be cliché to quote a passage saying that love is patience and does not keep records of wrongs, but this movie provides a preview of those who exactly love this way; they're always at a dead end which was strongly framed in a scene at the care facility, and their lines go something like this:

YJ: "I have nowhere to go home to"
Mom: "I have nowhere to run, he (referring to SY) has nowhere to go"

It could have gone tragically for YJ. The mom could have hated everyone. SY could have died. Yet we're treated to an ending of the three being reunited, sharing drinks and a toast, but everything was still stalemate. Mom being ok with things back the way they were, fully knows well everything, didn't choose to hate the two boys. SY oblivious to the love that the other two characters had for him (he may have suffered a bit of amnesia). YJ who still patiently waits but explicitly expresses he is tired and lamenting that only SY seems normal among the three of them.

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I went into this film during a long weekend I spent watching a lot of films and was pleasantly surprised by how I felt about this. The story was captivating and had a very powerful message from my point of view. I liked how I could relate to both of the main characters (the mother and the friend) during the journey. I almost expected this ind of ending and yet I was again pleasantly surprised that it did not end 100% the way I thought it would.
I have to say that if you're coming to this film for steamy BL scenes, you'd be disappointed. BUT if you're looking for a film with a strong family message and family-doesn't-have-to-related-be-a-family story you've found your film.

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