Yonder (2022)

Uncanny in all the best ways. Painful in the most beautiful ways.

Not gonna lie - the whole show made me feel extremely uncomfortable more than once. Escapism in the purest and scariest form. Heaven never sounded more like hell. The truth is, happiness only exists in contrast to sadness. You can only cherish what will eventually cease to exist.

Sci-fi is a genre that’s extremely hard to ace. You either don’t get enough information to understand it and get immersed in the created world, or the creators overexplain everything, and it seems like a wikipedia page. Yonder managed to keep the balance from start till the end. They gave enough exposition through dialogues to make sense of the sci-fi elements, but they also used a lot of visuals and simple storytelling to explain and expand the rest.

The core of the show though is its philosophical theme centering around happiness, grief and meaning of existence. My brain hurts after watching it. It invites you to dwell on so many complex issues that are hard to grasp just by watching - it made me want to think about them more, even after the episodes ended. What is happiness? How can we achieve it? What gives life meaning? How to deal with grief? Can one get prepared for death? Not to mention the whole ethical side of exploiting people’s pain dressed up as compassion and the selfish and egocentric side of humans.

On the storytelling side - they did an amazing job with pacing. Each scene was meaningful, nothing was dragged, almost nothing felt rushed (on that “almost” under spoiler comment below). The show just flows so well. I would say, it seems better as a binge watch, treating it like a long movie. The breaks between episodes might slightly take one out of the immersion. I honestly regret starting it right when it aired, instead of watching it all when it finished.

Performances - from phenomenal to not memorable. That said, some characters were not exactly written with much depth, and only served a purpose of pushing the plot forward (mostly Hacker Park and the doctor working with them).

Shin Ha Kyun… This man. How is this even possible for him to keep surprising me with his skill? Where’s the limit to his talent? No words to describe his delivery of the character.

The choice of the songs perfectly elevated all the scenes. Did I cry? Yes, many times.

Production value was top notch. Yonder is like a beautiful art piece. Loved everything - the angles, the lighting and use of colors, the proper use of close up and slow motion, the camera rotation that were never overused. The subtle and well designed special effects.

There was one element of the conclusion/reveal by the end that I did not exactly like. It was well written and integrated to the story - it was just my personal preference for the show not to include it. I like when the shows that create an existential crisis in me keep things more open and vague - left to my own personal interpretation. But what I’ve got was a more solid answer to one question, that somehow felt like a contradiction.

Overall, I truly loved it. It’s for sure a show that needs to be analyzed and watched with brain on. Not because it’s so complex plot wise, or hard to understand. Rather, because it tackles many serious issues and questions that are worth asking yourself, and finding out what is your answer.

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"Why not design your death?"

jumping into this without expectations, i was pleasantly surprised. 'yonder' does not shy away from exploring a person's grief. however, in this drama, it wasn't an overboard melancholic take but instead, we're taken into a world of mystery and uncaniness.

a futuristic world in which people can create an almost replica of their dead loved ones is quite scary to think about. besides this thought being scary, it is sad. imagine if people are not able to move on with their lives and stuck in this sort of delusional reality. as long as they feed on their delusions and the desperate need to hold on to their loved ones, there might be cases where some will think it is 'real'. once they believe in their 'reality', it leads to unfortunate circumstances. with how our own world is ever-growing and innovating, we're not far off from this to happen. that's what makes this drama uncanny and terrifying.

"The reason beautiful moments are precious is because that moment can never return" - Kim Jae Hyun

some scenes speak to you; whether it be emotional or not. it takes you to an indescribable time wherein you're longing for something. there were no long inner monologues to reveal something or too much 'show' than 'tell'. yet, i was absolutely captivated. with a stellar cast, 'yonder' truly made its mark on being nearly perfect.

this was a drama in which each episode was 30 minutes. i was worried about the pacing at first because the themes are a bit complex. was the pacing bad? not at all! in fact, the drama did well in creating suspense and keeping its viewers hooked to the story.

although this drama is almost perfect for me, the second half was not as good as the first. i feel as though it sort of fell flat when jae hyun out of no where took an unexpected decision. despite the second half almost lacking, it managed to pick up its pace but underwhelmed me when it was over.

in the first half, it didn't rely much on music making it even more eerily atmospheric. when there is music in some scenes, the scene becomes even more breathtakingly beautiful or hauntingly real. however, i feel like the second half didn't need that much music in it.

to conclude, this is definitely how you utilise sci-fi and futuristic themes without making it seem super flashy. instead of trying so hard, focus on the details and importance of a story.

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Yonder made me Ponder... (sorry, I could not resist)

If you are looking for an exiting sci-fi future type thing move on there is really nothing for you to see here, as this has very little excitement in it and is pretty much guaranteed not to keep you on your toes. There is not a lot of heart fluttering moments as I would say about 90% of the mimics are listless and full of death... Sure there are a few fluffy flash backs here and there and some pretty gorgeous scenery but if illness and death had a face this would be it. Slow, depressing and pretty much eventless, yet eventful all at once.

I do not know if I am making any sense, and I am not really sure what this series is actually trying to tell us. I honestly think this is a bit like a good piece of art, up to the person watching to figure out what it truly is about, and how they feel about it. As things are never simple and always come with unforeseen consequences.

Are they trying to warn people from selling their soul to google?
Are they showing the us how cults work? And warning us against mass suicide?
Is it a story about religion vs. science and mans wish to believe in a life after death?
Is this a blue vs. red pill situation (Matrix but without the action)
Is it a depiction of the truly depressed mind?
Is it truly just a solution to the overpopulated earth?
A warning against euthanasia?

Or is it just some person trying to exploit the weak to make money?

The beauty of this show is that it had me thinking all these thoughts and more at at one point or another while showering me with beautiful cinematography. As well as with some well fitted humour, or at least scenes and dialog that I found funny, but that could be my dark and twisted humour that caught it, as this is definitely not a comedy, at all.

I have one complaint and that is that I ddi not get to see enough of Han Ji Min in this as she is listed as a main but is clearly a support.

So for those of you in the mood for pondering and watching something depressing, this is definitely a good place to find it, just make sure you are up for it.

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Good Enough

Korean Drama " Yonder " is a sci fi, dystopian story about loss, death and memory.

The drama has short length, but does a great job presenting the story and giving it a proper ending. It is also well paced, as well as well acted, as all the actors and actresses of the cast did a great job with their characters, but the main lead's performances were outstanding.

The story, also, gives a lot of food for thought and it tuckles many sensitive and as well as existencial metters.

The cinematography, finally, is beautiful.

However, it would have been nice if they had explained the world of the drama more.

So, overall, seven out of ten.

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As a Beyond Evil refugee, I am compelled to check out anything by Shin Ha Kyun, and I finally got around to watching this last night.

The premise was undoubtedly good, and this short series tackled on some interesting and moving themes of love, grief, memories, fear of death and loss, and the hope of finding a small light of knowledge (that is supposed to bring us comfort and peace) in the unknown, with the help of science. All of this, with the use of our current technological progress (think Virtual Reality and Neuralink) and some sci fi, to take it a step further and imagine an uncanny near–future where our own brains, feelings and memories are turned into a commodity.

Yonder, in English, means 'at a great distance away'. Something you can see but can't quite reach yet. It was a really clever name not only for this series but also for the supposed promised heaven to anyone willing to euthanize themselves and insert a small biochip in their neck. Our main character lived staring right ahead at death as his wife's health slowly declined and withered, until she finally reached that place just yonder. And then, beyond that—once again—he finds something new, something yonder, someplace he struggles to accept but eventually makes the final leap to reach, just to reunite with his wife.

Looking at it from this perspective, it is a beautifully heartbreaking story that touches something deep within us and makes us confront our humanity. It's in the execution where it falls short. I feel like this series could have done so much better with its limited runtime. Yet, even with less than half the episode length of a typical kdrama, it still feels drawn out with unnecessary plot points. And I could have ignored my moments of cringe at the hacking genius trope and could have enjoyed this more with a suspension of disbelief (the time spent showing the main character's interactions with other grieving families could have either developed them better, or been used to expand a little bit on how and why the organ donor lady joined our main duo. Both these could have done so much for this work.) if this series didn't make me stop at each point to wonder if this was just plain lazy writing or I'm expecting too much. I understand this is not an easy genre so I don't want to be too critical and deter someone else from experiencing this because it does have moments where it shines.

There was a special and small moment where I felt like I was thrown into The Good Place again, a series very dear to me, so just for that, I would say this was worth my time and attention. But otherwise, I could not help but skip 5 second per 5 second and I don't feel like I missed anything significant. The screenwriters could have used their time to really dig into what they wanted to say and delve more into the characters, instead of focusing on a plot that seems to give prominence to their weakness in writing.

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Is There Life After Death?

Yonder (2022)

Spoilers alert. The drama opened an interesting and controversial topic to discuss and debate on, which is about life after death. Or specifically, designing your own death.

Likes
1. From ep 1 i already knew the potential danger that may happen with the premise. By N By was exploiting people's grief and manipulating them thru religion and science to follow their dead relatives. I think they should be arrested for inciting mass murder/suicide. But the story was left open and didnt have closure.
2. I thought the people who chose Yonder were very selfish. Instead of wanting their family and friends to move on, they are also encouraging them to join them in "heaven". And a lot of them did with false hopes of happiness.
3. I feel bad for those who wanted to grieve, and were led on by By N By. I was disappointed with the sudden change of Jaehyun from a non believer upto ep 4 to suddenly joining his wife in ep 5. But am glad he was able to "wake up" and let go and also have friends who were able to bring him back to life.
4. The visuals were gorgeous, like the drama was supposed to be a movie.
5. I personally favor euthanasia but would rather that memories remain in my heart and not create a new life after death. Like Jaehyun said, "The reason beautiful moments are precious is because that moment can never return". And the memories were built from data that maybe real but are remade for illusions.

Dislikes:
Wish it were 1 episode longer to explain where Yonder is and what happens after and to everyone else. I'm surprised people were not able to find out where the metaverse is located, and raid the company.

Rating: 8.5

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Yonkers

Amidst all those full length dramas out there, this short series really stood out by packing a serious punch in just a handful of episodes. The concise storytelling allowed for a focused exploration of its central theme, providing a satisfying narrative arc without unnecessary filler. Both main leads were well characterized and provided a solid performance. However, the other characters weren't on the same level, you can notice the gap. The pacing was brisk yet effective, keeping the viewers engaged from without feeling rushed. I wish it had an extra episode to have a better introduction/first episode. The drama also had a decent cinematography and production value. One last thing, I didn't understand why they based the drama in the 2030s. It was such a big stretch, they went overboard with the sci-fi elements for something set in 2030s. There was no real reason to specify the date, so why not set it further into the future, like the 2060s?

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