Consent, abuse, discrimination, self-acceptance and freedom to be love as you are.
I'm reviewing this as a BDSM'er, but the story is way more significant than this subject alone.I've been watching many movies that abuse the world of BDSM and profit from misinformation and porn. It has gotten so bad in the last ten years; BDSM is filled with people who think that domination is about abuse and forceful coercion while it's about just the exact opposite. The dom puts the sub's needs first before their desires. This is clearly shown in the movie with Jiwoo's behaviours and thoughts. She knows what gives him pleasure while she's discovered hers. She kept clear boundaries and put his consent above board in their relationship. When she did fall for him emotionally and breached that boundary even just a little, she felt guilty and ashamed. Jiwoo's friend meets someone to play consensually, and that person tries to assault her sexually. "Just because I'm a pervert, it doesn't give you the right to treat me badly" is such a clear message about consent. None of the BDSM movies I've seen so far has such a clear message about consent. In the age of #metoo, there should be more movies out there like this one to remind people what consent is. I love one BDSM mistress' definition of consent: "a completely mindful, willing, and uncoerced choice to say yes, and the ability to revoke that "yes" at any time without fear of repercussions."
This movie is a shining example of that definition.
Another critical point this movie raised is discrimination against people just because they're different. Just because they don't fall into society's norm, while their personal preferences don't hurt anyone, what right does anyone have in treating them poorly? People with preferences for BDSM are highlighted as that example in this movie, but it could be about anything, LGBTQ+? Autism? Physical/mental disability? I could go on. The stigma of being different is so overwhelming that these people can live with deep shame and lack of self-acceptance when the rest of the "normal" world gets to mistreat them. Ji-hoo's ex-girlfriend's behaviour towards him is a prime example of ordinary people being abusive towards those who are different.
This leads me to the last point; love is about the freedom to be accepted as you are. Why be an ugly duckling when you can hang out with beautiful swans of your kind? Why force yourself to be accepted by those who will never accept you? Do yourself a favour and hang with people who love you as you are. The message in this movie is very logical and mature! I always tell people who hide behind their kink profile with a mask: Own your kink! What is there for you to be ashamed of? Rapists should be ashamed, adulterers should be ashamed, and people who abuse other people emotionally and physically should be ashamed. What's in BDSM to be ashamed of when it's consensual and mutually satisfying without hurting anyone? Many psychological studies agreed that BDSM is healthy when practiced with a partner who respects your boundaries and trust.
I can't say enough about the acting of Lee Jun-Young. It's my first time watching him, and I'm a total fan. I own golden retrievers all my life, and I can say he embodied these dogs' spirit, energy, and gestures 100%. I'm also in awe of Seohyun's acting. She had become such a mature woman and inspiring in her role. In every scene, no small gesture or flinch of a facial expression is misplaced, overdone, or undertones underappreciated. These two should win an Oscar.
I love the music; it's so spiffy and fun! It never fails to fit in perfectly to set the mood from one scene to another.
I didn't know what to expect when I first watched it. I was thinking of 50 Shades or at least Secretary (2002), but this movie exceeded my expectations and surprised me. It has to rewatch value! It took a Korean movie to tackle such a sensitive subject and educate people on what healthy BDSM looks like. My opinion on 50 Shades and 365 days? Hollywood is disgusting for portraying abusive behaviours as love and conflating sexual boundaries violations with BDSM to make money. Ugh.
I'm recommending this movie to everyone who wants to know what BDSM is and who loves a good laugh.
Even for me, dog play is hilarious!
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This was not what I expected at all!!???
First and foremost I thought I was crazy for watching this because of how the cover looked. I definitely knew some stuff was bout to go down. I also really only watch this to see Junyoung act in something else again because I really liked his acting in Imitation. As I started watching the movie it took me a while to figure out why it was called Love and Leashes in the first place. A while later I would figure out why. I still thought I was crazy as I countinued to watch the movie but it got interesting and I started to really like it. When it came to the end I thought it was a great funny and cute ending. Overall it’s a good watch and if you wanna watch something interesting and outta the box this is the a good movie for that.Was this review helpful to you?
Light romantic comedy with a pinch of BDSM101
The curiosity led me to watch this movie and SeoHyun is here too sooooo I was excited. It's kind of a unique genre from what I usually watch so the story is kind of so-so for me. Here are the main things that you can expect in this movie (without spoiler)- SeoHyun's sexy side ♥
- Light comedy romance that's kind of predictable if you've watched a lot of romantic comedy before
- Mostly portrayal of BDSM on a simple and lighter way.
- No too much provocative scenes. It remained on the decent side (very unlike from 50 Shades trilogy movie)
If there's something that really stood out for me about this movie, it's the fact that it changed my ignorance about BDSM. I have always thought negatively about BDSM because I cannot understand why some people are into that however this movie made me realize that BDSM are merely self preference. It is not disgusting or strange. It's just that some people are really into that and we should respect that.
If you're a fan of SeoHyun, definitely watch it. If you're curious about BDSM, it's a beginner version with no too much skinship involved. If you're sensitive about seeing physical torture (mild) like being tied, slapped, stepped on, etc., you can skip this one. If you decided to watch it, I hope you liked it.
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Hours of Waiting for a 2 Hours disappointment.
This Review is going to be long, but please be patient and read it before watching.This movie was one long awaited movie for me and i have been waiting since the end of December for its release, since the original manhwa is badass in jokes, romance, friendship and maturity, but i was still doubtful over its quality since Netflix produces it, and my doubts were true, it was indeed crap and a disappointment to the Manhwa.
Basically they picked out the main leads story from the manhwa, and created a SM documentary out of it. And since i am a guy who hates documentaries, i had to skip through most of the movie to finish it.
Now this is my comparison of movie with its hundred times better manhwa. The manhwa had many great things which was lacking in the movie.
1. The manhwa was light hearted, no heavy SM, and each and every chapter was funny. No drama, no seriousness, but entirely mature was the best thing. But when it came to this Netflix movie, it was flipped over and the funny tone was switched off after first few minutes. Maturity was there, but the movie lost the tone of the manhwa, and it was frustrating.
2. Characters - Sure to crumple into that two hour slot, Netflix had to cut out many parts, but looks like Netflix had omitted the entire manhwa after adapting first few chapters and created their own story, and as Netflix goes, it was dark and bad. In the manhwa, there were great characters like Male Lead's friend, and a woman who works in the bar that male lead owns, the SM community that male lead is part of, second male lead and several others were omitted for the movie. If Netflix adapts a manhwa, it should do it properly, not like this, eating half a piece of cake and dumping the rest. Rather than all these good characters, they added few boring characters, and i couldn't even bother knowing it. If the movie slot was too small, they could have gone for a drama and did it good, but half assing would always be bad.
3. Basically this movie had swapped out comedy and bromance for darker concept. It's not like i discriminate dark SM, and to be honest i liked NANA TO KAORU, but here darker SM is not necessary, and comedy is only thing required. The swapping of genre made it dull and uninteresting. The relationships was dark and crap and the entire plot was dark.
4. The male Lead's character. This is another thing Netflix crapped it. Male lead in the manhwa is 100 times better than movie. In manhwa, male lead was strong willed, funny and always had a mature approach to relationships. But in the movie they followed the regular kdrama male lead with trauma concept. Why, why the hell should you do that??? Why should you swap good characterisation to cliche crap character.
Overall, this movie is a total disappointment. I am not a fan of those dark crap things Netflix makes, and looks like they won't come out of it soon. Either they make childish dramas similar to BOYS OVER FLOWERS, or very dark dramas like DARK DESIRE. They should learn to draw a middle line and make dramas in that line, where it will be more realistic to watch. For MDL users, i would recommend you read the manhwa rather than the movie. The movie is totally bad that i can't recommend anyone. Looks like WEBTOON picked this manhwa, but still if you want to read ahead, 121 chapters are already out.
Re-watch value - I missed this one. Watching it one time itself was a headache for me, so i don't think i will watch it again. This movie taught me that I should never believe Netflix with its adaptations.
And overall rating of 5.5 is generous from me, and i would have given it 5, but one extra for my manhwa.???
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Sexy yet Funny
I love the movie. Perfect to released during February. A new type of office romance and unexpected fantasy. They have shown BDSM in the most subtle way. I think they have taken over fifty shared of grey and shown that there is so much that you can do. There is no nudity and still covers all the part of SM. Both the actors of the movie have played the role well and they look so sexy together. The chemistry is mind-blowing and have swoon us away. I hope they bring part 2 ..... As I think there is more to it. I want to see them again on one screen.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Nothing much … after the first slightly raunchy part.
I came here after reading the reviews. The reviews were mainly positive. However, after the first slightly raunchy beginning which seemed to promise excitement, there was none.This movie was quite a disappointment IMO. I thought that it would be fast-paced and exciting. It was fairly interesting at first… and then, things quickly went ~ yawn ~. Why? There wasn’t much of a plot. There wasn’t much going on that was intriguing or suspenseful or interesting. Things were. I’d say, nothing much.
The acting didn’t really seem to require much finesse or show the actors’ and actresses’ depth or skill. I don’t know much about acting but I do know that I wasn’t impressed.
I yawned a couple of times and wished for the show to end.
I’d say the end is the ‘saving grace’ in that it stated that (and I rephrase) love comes in many forms and it’s what suits us.
That’s about it all, folks. A really ‘nothing much’ movie. There are better movies / dramas out there. You may want to skip this one! You aren’t missing much!
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Love and Leashes is an K-movie .
With adequate fun and sexy performances, Love and Leashes finds just the right amount of raunchy comedy to such delightful delights. But one could easily put forth the argument that one of the most obvious flaws of the movie is actually the light raunchy comedy outweighing its romance. Despite a handful of funny performances and set pieces, I would like to see more romance between the charming and eye candy leads. Lee Jun-young is the real creative force here, creating a heightened sense of timing for his role and Seohyun's irresistible character that is sure to gain a dedicated following of its own. Also, the movie is an eye opener and will certainly divide people. All in all, Love and Leashes is an unexpected K-movie offering of this year with an entertaining encapsulation of its theme.?Was this review helpful to you?
Wholesome Spice
The amount of times I paused to cackle like a maniac during this...oh man. What an experience.Heartfelt erotica is hard to come by folks, so grab some while you can! (although the 'erotic' scenes are tame, it's still well-done)
Usually, with movie-length rom-coms I find it hard to be invested. But within 15 minutes, Seohyun and Junyoung's chemistry yanked me by the leash. They maintained a nice undercurrent of tension throughout the story. It made even me squirm a bit and I ain't no spring chicken.
It's pretty good at delving into the perspectives of those that are part of the BDSM community but I feel like it has only scratched the surface. This kind of story would work better in a 12-16 episode format as other reviewers have pointed out. But the movie is an excellent springboard for a future drama with the same cast. Jtbc, tvn, any network gutsy enough to take this on, you know what to do!
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This review may contain spoilers
South Korea's answer to 50 Shades of Grey and I loved it!
Just saw this show on Netflix and personally loved it!A romantic comedy about two colleagues engaging in an erotic BDSM relationship. Despite its' erotic themes/tropes, it may be the most mild and tasteful movie I've ever seen on the subject. If you're a conservative/squeamish viewer, there's no explicit nudity, and almost no vulgarity.
While it's a movie, it feels like a K-Drama in it's pacing with each scene taking it's time and focused solely on Jun and Seohyun's chemistry, which was excellent. At just two hours, it left me wishing it was a K-Drama as I felt the story could have been longer and would have been interesting to follow these characters for a few hours more. I found it to be hilarious and I found myself laughing to tears at certain parts.
It's very well done and receives my highest recommendation!
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A BDSM movie done right!
Love and Leashes is a sexy, fresh and delightful movie! I didn’t know what to expect from this movie since it seems to have mixed reviews, but I ended up really loving this. This is actually a great movie to watch for introduction to BDSM… so do yourself a favor and watch this instead of the terrible 50 Shades of Grey. Love and Leashes actually tells how important consent is, about the HEALTHY way of BDSM, not the unhealthy way. I was surprised that Korea made such a daring, progressive and controversional movie, since as far I understand Korea is a conservative country. And also surprising is that this actually potrayed BDSM in a healthy way, since this might be the first BDSM korean movie or one of the first (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). And the third surprising thing is that the female lead and male lead is acted by a idols, Seo Hyun from Girls' Generation and Lee Jun Young from U-KISS! That’s very brave of both of them. The fourth surprising thing is that it’s the woman who is the dominatrix/master, especially since this is Korea’s first (or one of the first) BDSM movie. It feels feminist, like it breaks stereotypes about men and women, it tells that men doesn’t have to be macho/dominant, and that women doesn’t have to be sumbissive.This is generally a lighthearted and comedy movie, sometimes even silly, but deals with serious and disturbing subjects too… Anyways, this movie despite the theme is not very explicit, but still manages to be sexy! If you are looking for something explicit / almost p*rnish, then you might be dissapointed. The chemistry between Seo Hyun and Lee Jun Young is good. I like the fact that Ji Woo does lots of research about BDSM, which is not always the case when it comes to BDSM movies, and how respectful Ji Hoo is towards Ji Woo, he doesn’t force or nag at her when it comes to BDSM, he is not pushing her into anything… and I like the fact that Ji Woo actually likes to experience new things and is so open minded. She doesn’t judge people for their perferences.
It also deals with other people’s judgement when it comes to BDSM and How they think its just perverted and sick, and the movie wants to tackle those prejudices and tell there is nothing wrong with BDSM - as long as both parties wants it. I won’t lie, this movie is a bit predictable, sometimes I could tell what would happen. Also, the acting is okay but not the best… but other than that, everything was great, it also tacklas sexism at work, and movie wants to lift up How problematic it is. Ji Woo is a strong a character, she doesn’t take crap and is a very modern, liberal woman. Ji Hoo is a nice man who hides his kinky side, afraid to be looked down on, especially because of what happened in the past. The relationship between Ji Woo and Ji Hoo is of course not the typical kind of relationship, it’s pretty unique, of course. And of course they develop feelings for each other.
Some say this movie is very tame, but not for me. Sure there are BDSM movies out there that are a LOT more explicit, but I thought this is definitely not tame since Ji Hoo actually likes pain and we see his wounds after BDSM with Ji Woo, and some scenes are actually very darn sexy, and tastefully so… While not a very deep movie , its definitely not shallow. I give this 8.5/10 whips! ?
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Healthy rom-com
I was really worried that I wouldn't enjoy this because it's vastly different from what I usually watch — more slow-burn romances.But this was actually such a good rom-com. It tackled a lot of issues but did it with amazing subtlety, all while keeping the humorous tone really consistent. I thought this movie did an amazing job with showing what a healthy relationship looked like, and of portraying BDSM relationships. The characters were open and honest with each other, and they were just so refreshing to watch.
There are little tidbits of social commentary like about sexism in the workplace and insecurity/self-esteem that I thought were incorporated really nicely as well.
Overall, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel second-hand embarrassment at some scenes, but I'm happy to say that this was a movie that did its job really well and embraced the rom-com formula.
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Underwhelming
Love and Leashes is not for everyone. It is not for me at least.The premise is intriguing, but the execution is frustratingly underwhelming. This is one of those stories that spends a lot of time building momentum and then ends without having realized that momentum. While watching, I felt like something significant should happen any moment, but it never did.
Furthermore, the humor did not appeal to me – and you have to like the humor in a comedy to enjoy it.
The characters are likeable and easy to sympathize with. However, Lee Jun Young's acting is subpar, so I did not have fun watching him.
Overall, I consider this movie neither really bad, nor good. It is simply forgettable. If I were you, I would not waste my time on it, but who knows? You might enjoy it as the other reviewers did. To each his own.
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