Graceful Friends (2020)

SLICE OF LIFE

It was such a pleasure to watch this drama. At its heart, it is a story about life and is incredibly rich in emotions, with the murder mystery serving as the icing on the cake. The story revolves around people in their 40s who are doing their best to navigate the struggles of everyday life while still trying to find happiness and a sense of purpose along the way.

What I particularly loved was how the drama gave attention to everyone’s life, including its many supporting characters. Rather than using them merely to move the main plot forward, it gave them their own stories, struggles, relationships, and moments. This made the drama feel much more complete and relatable to me. It truly feels like a collection of different lives and stories woven together, and we get to see enough of each character’s journey to become invested in them.

Although the “crime” is not treated as the most important element of the drama and isn’t one of those major plotlines that constantly drives the story, it does disrupt the seemingly perfect life of Ahn Goong Cheol and Nam Jung Hae and sets several things in motion.

The actors did an incredible job portraying the emotions of their characters. I could genuinely feel the intensity of their sorrow, love, jealousy, anger, and hatred. I even found myself crying when other characters were crying, which is unusual for me because I rarely cry while watching dramas. That’s how emotionally invested I became in their stories.

I especially enjoyed the storyline of the group of friends who had been there for one another for more than 20 years. I also loved seeing the friendships between the other characters, including the female leads. Every character felt relatable and had a certain depth to them. I found myself rooting for every couple in this drama, and Ji Wook was especially precious. I absolutely loved him!

I was able to predict the mystery surrounding the crime fairly early on, so it wasn’t particularly mysterious for me. However, watching everything unfold was still interesting, especially because of how the characters reacted and the choices they made. The same can be said for the individual stories—the character development and the way their lives unfolded were what kept me invested.

Overall, this is a really good watch for anyone looking for well-written characters, meaningful relationships, and a slice-of-life story filled with raw emotions. It may not be a crime drama in the traditional sense, but its real strength lies in its portrayal of people, their struggles, relationships, and the little things that make life worth living. :)

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Great Slice of Life Drama/ Eye-Opening Diversity of Character Stories

I started this drama thinking it was the next "World of the Married" (which I didn't watch, but wanted to jump on board before I was behind). I was very pleasantly surprised.

I personally think that most of this drama was quite plausible. It tells a story of a group of friends who have been together since their university years, now in the 40s and experience a whole new type of crisis. Each friend has a unique personality. Goong Chul is righteous, hardworking and fights to protect his loved ones. Jae Hoon is rich and competent. Choonbok is older but friendly and loveable. Manshik is thoughtful and shy. Last but no least, Hyungwoo is the pervert one but is the baby of the group. This drama tells of each of their lives, their families and the complicated ways people intertwine.

Don't mistake this drama for just any slice of life drama thats about a whole bunch of people! This drama still has a core element that ties it all together: the line between love, devotion and obsession. Surrounding this group of friends is a scammer, who has been taking advantage of their weaknesses, as well as 2 murders (one of which a cold case from their 20s which comes to light due to recent events).

My favourite part is however, is that this shows opens your eyes to various different lifestyles. A psychologist, a office worker working for a restaurant chain, an porn director, a porn actress, a professional golfer, a stay-at-home mom, a bar owner, etc. Each character has unique relationships, either that be with their child, spouse, parents -- no one like the other but each one a pain and suffering of their own. Yet, they all seem to have common struggles that come with a mid-life crisis: you worry about your family, about how you are going to protect them, how you will burden them, how you will care for them, what they think of you, if they are happy, if you've made a mistake... regrets, secrets, scars and laughter.

This drama, being rated 19+ also has various themes that make it more realistic. They mention rape, crime, prostitution, loans, corruption, fertility, etc. It makes the story heavier but I think with all due good reason.

I highly recommend this drama to anyone who is willing to watch a slice of life drama. The casts are all pretty well known actors in Korea, maybe not necessarily internationally. The only downfall is the repetitive use of OSTs but it does become entertaining at the same time.

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