Love in the Big City (2024)

"If obsession isn't love, then I have never loved before"

The film stars Kim Go eun as Jae hee, a bold and free-spirited woman, and Noh Sang hyun as Heung soo, a young gay man struggling to accept his identity in conservative Seoul. The story revolves around Jae-hee and Heung soo, who form an unlikely friendship after Jae hee discovers Heung soo's secret. Despite the societal pressure and homophobic attitudes, they support each other and navigate through the complexities of love and acceptance. Jae hee, often misunderstood and judged by others, finds solace in Heung-soo's company, while Heung soo learns to embrace his true self with Jae hee's encouragement.

The film beautifully balances heavy themes with lighthearted moments, all thanks to the strong chemistry between the leads. One of the standout scenes is when Jae hee asks, "How can being yourself be a weakness?", encapsulating the film's message of self-acceptance and the power of friendship.

Comparing the movie to its series adaptation, both versions stay true to the core storyline but differ in their execution.

•The series, delves deeper into the characters' backstories and provides more screen time to explore their emotional journeys.
•The movie, on the other hand, condenses the narrative, focusing on the pivotal moments that highlight the characters' growth and their bond.
•The series shows his bold lifestyle and his journey towards love, heartbreak and acceptance, on the other hand the movie emphasizes one of his important part of life i.e Jae Hee and his friendship. We did see a bit part of her in the series but just because movie only revolves around them and their friendship, it was heart touching at times.

Both Lee Soo Kyung/Nam Yoon Su and Kim Go Eun/Noh Sang Hyun are different genre of same kind. Please don't try differentiate between the series and movie as both has its own charm. I enjoyed both of them very much.

Overall, it is a touching tale of friendship, self-discovery, and acceptance, making it a must-watch for fans of heartfelt romances.

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Don't Shy Away From Being Yourself ❤️

Life becomes a little easy - when you find people who accept and love you for who you truly are. This message is exceptionally narrated in this movie through the main leads who are deemed "different" by society but manage to hold on to each other and fight through prejudices/biases of society, friends, family and their own self to eventually loving and accepting themselves for who they truly are.

From the moment we're born, society judges us for our looks, height, skin color, skills, sexual orientation, behavior, and more. Biases and prejudices are ingrained in people’s minds upon first meeting us, and while some may change with understanding, many remain. Despite progress, there’s still a long way to go to eliminate these judgments in today's world. "Love in the Big City (2024)" is a commendable step in the right direction, and I applaud the cast, crew, and original novel creators for this remarkable film.

The movie powerfully portrays the challenges of "being different" through a heartfelt narrative that evokes a range of emotions—smiles, tears, and everything in between. The female lead is someone I've admired for a long time, but this was my first time seeing Steven Noh in action. Known from "Pachinko," his portrayal, even within a limited emotional range as his character demanded, showcased his immense talent. The main leads bond together on the common ground of being labelled outcasts and the movie progresses from their 20s to early 30s showing us how they fight the societal prejudices, missed chances at love, inner fear of showing their true self, facing their family, overcoming failed relationships to ultimately accepting their own true self, and being proud of it.

The line "How can being yourself be a weakness?" resonates as the film’s strongest message. Personally, as someone who has faced various judgments from young age from strangers/close relations alike movies like this offer a solace of sorts - a feel-good factor that reinforces the importance of learning to love your true self, before seeking it elsewhere.

The film does not come across as preachy - but rather resonates with me (and am sure others) because it does not shy away from showing the good/bad and ugly side of journey towards self-acceptance. Profound, Powerful, Engaging - from start to finish, would highly recommend it as a must watch ❤️

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Exceptional queer movie with realistic approach

Hi, I am late to the party, but I should write a review, because this is one of the exceptionell queer movies of 2024.
If you do expect a BL you will be disappointed, it's a queer movie and the romance of a BL is not the focus of this movie.

It's a story of gay man who struggles with the society he lives in and a girl who also had go through some hardships. They both meet at university and the grow closer together, overcome hardships together and accept each other for what they are. Both discover who they are and what they want.

Cinematography, direction, acting are also exceptionell.

This is one of the best queer movies ever made which does not focus on the gay aspect per se. It's part of the story but the main part is the development of a deep friendship between a gay man and a straight woman. Regardless if you are straight, bi, gay or inbetween or nothing of that, regardless which gender identity you have, it's a powerful story and a wonderful movie and you should watch it!

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Love Wins All

I really never expected. The producers of this film made this movie sharply. South Korea is now one step ahead of others. They are not only making BLs but also making so many unique dramas/ movies about LGBTQ+ society.

Firstly the actors just nailed their characters. As I already read the novel so I was worried at first but now all the thoughts of mine are gone .
The actor who played the male character expressed the emotions of his character completely. The sufferings, happiness, sadness everything will attack your heart directly. This drama tells us love has no boundaries.

Talking about the female lead , she is mature, strong and also supportive. She understands his emotions with her heart .

The story is funny and emotional at the same time . When the ml and fl fought with each other ( cat fight) , I really can't hold my laugh. Sometimes I felf they are lovers or besties . There is nothing which they couldn't do like throwing slang words to each other , kicking etc etc .

If you want to watch a good movie with your family members then don't hold yourself back . Definitely worth watching.

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A Different Perspective

This is exactly that, a different perspective but with the same ingredients. They meet in college. Weather the rumors as they move in together. Classed as a romance, this is definitely a drama with a very serious take on the prejudices of being different. In contrast with the later released 'in your feelings' series, this is the thinking version. With equal screen time, both sides of the relationship is revealed between a gay man and a fearless woman who refuses to cower to her male counterparts.

In both their relationships, at one time or another, they both deal with the consequences of not using a condom. In the pursuit of love and happiness, they both act unwisely. Their fierce bond tested from the fallout, they separate. One beaten by her jealous abusive lover, the other waking up too late to recognize what he had. They can only call each other. No one knows them as intimately as they know the other. Life has it's way, maturity comes and permanent choices are made.

This deserves the same level of awareness as the later released version. The acting is superb. On a smaller budget, the story is engaging, entertaining and very intense. His admission of losing an important love and the ensuing breakdown is felt. Had this been released much earlier, my belief is that this adaptation would have garnered more praise for the different perspective.

Good watch.

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ME ENCANTO DE INICIO A FIN!

Vi varios clips en tik tok y tenia tantas ganas de ver la película para saber porque tanto hype 👀

Me pareció atrevido el modo en que hicieron una historia de este tema siendo que sabemos que la sociedad Kr. no tiene avanzando del todo el ser gay abiertamente, los actores que salen al ser reconocidos hace que el peso del mensaje sea mucho mas alcanzable que si no lo fueran me encantó que ahora se atrevan a tomar estos papeles y que es parte de la sociedad igualmente 😊

AMO LA DINAMICA DE AMISTAD de ellos es tan REAL y bella que me quedo con ese mensaje muchas veces se habla del AMOR de pareja pero el AMOR de amigos es igualmente AMOR ☝️☝️☝️... en todas sus facetas y el mas incondicional que puedas tener si tienes una amistad como la de ellos.

Los amigos son la familia que uno elige y los lazos son tan fuertes cómo los mismo de sangre...

SUPER RECOMENDADA💯💯💯💯💯 al final ver cómo una amistad madura junto con ellos en todas las etapas de la vida de un adulto joven me parece tan adecuado que la volveria a ver sin dudarlo, los que tenemos la dicha que tener este tipo de amistades creo que van a amar esta pelicula tanto como lo hice yo.

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I cried.. I Laughed...Im Anxious

I'm watching this movie because of kim go eun (koo jae hui)... And Also i had waited for Noh Sang Hyun (jang heung su) other project after watching him at pachinko.... i didnt read the synopsis before watching it.. at first I thought that he felt for her... but he's A gay... then I thought I might stop watching .. but i kept on watching .. Noh sang hyun so attractive in this movie... their friendship made me envy so that I wish I had A Gay Friend like him... A complicated relationship of JH because of her personality so other took advantage of it... HS afraid to coming out because of society's view and his mother...
they help and support each other.... they fight but always be there for each other problem.... I cried just watching their friendship value... I Cried JH dance with HS at the end... although this is not some sad movie.. I hoped that Noh Sang Hyun got other project after this....

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REALISM AT ITS FINEST!

This movie brough me to tears.. I absolutely loved every aspect of it.

This is my first review because I just felt like this movie just deserves the best. The acting was amazing, the story too. I loved how the story tackled the harsh reality that a lot of people face in relationships where it be gay relationships or straight ones. I loved that this story focused more in the story aspect, the girl faced challenging stereotypes that society likes to place on people who are being themselves, society hates people being different.. Since Korea is a conservative country its good that this story showcased the struggles that many gay people face, where it be choosing to embrace themselves or please their parents.

This story hit a nerve especially when they showcased the homophobia and hate that the LGBTQ+ community faces, the scene where our main character was being hit by a group of mobs made my heart ache and I could feel the pain.. I also like the aspect of showing casing the difficulties of straight relationships and straight ones, the best friend, the girl (I don't remember their names) but she conveyed feelings of being naive and dumb, in the dating aspect.

The best friend showcased the hardships of dating in straight couples. We learned that she is actually a lover girl and has this tough exterior to protect herself. I also liked the fact they did not shy away from showing us the name calling and misogyny men do, they tend to name call women 'sluts' and playing women like a sport.

I liked how the ex of the main character did not end up with him, because I just think that its good that the main character learned the hard way and learned to, love himself and accept himself, and coming out to the world which I loved and finally being free. So its good that he ended up learning that love is not always going to wait for you to finally accept them, they will eventually seek it somewhere else. I thought it was touching when the main character finally bought gucci shoes for his ex, and I feel like the gucci shoes represented acceptance, closure and finally putting their romance behind them but still remembering it still happened.

Anyways this was a fantastic movie! I recommend this to everyone who wants to watch something that tackles real life problems.

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Contemporary & Cute

Love In The Big City is a contemporary coming of age flick, and its interests are decidedly commercial with an intent to shift audience perspectives. As a fan of the novel I had to switch my lens while watching this, and I think if youre one of those people that only wants to see what was on page put to screen it might be better to skip. Despite that, I quite enjoyed this movie. It was reminiscenf of those early 2010s office movies about characters struggling through their twenties and the filmmaking style was reminiscent of kdrama, even shooting flashbacks similarly. It has great performances, especially from Kim Goeun, and the central friendship was a beating heart that kept the story alive and from feeling too saccharine. It is still pretty over the top though, a film manufactured to be rewatched over and over on a laptop as you go about your day. In watching the movie I initially found it to be a bit generic in appeal, but that criticism seems a bit harsh as time passes. Its commerciality seems to work in tandem with the bitterness of the upcoming series, this movie works great when watched with friends and family in theaters, to help a closed off audience empathize and care for queer characters. Its not exactly revolutionary, but its ambitions lie in creating a feminist and queer narrative in a neat clean package. It wants to be a hit, and the promotion for it is insistent on it as Korea itself becomes increasingly polarized and unkind to women and minorities.

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Movie VS Series - A Case of Perspective!

Having watched the series earlier this year and now the movie, you can see that they come from the same source material, but there are stark differences between the two productions.

The series tells the story of the male lead and his struggles to find love in the big city. It takes us through his different encounters in the gay scene. It shows you his life and friendships in the city and it also takes you through his growth and development as a writer. It does this in detail, because it has 8 episodes and has the time and space for exploration, which the movie cannot do.

The movie tries to tell the same story, but places more focus on his friendship with the female lead, ending sweetly with her wedding. The series continued past her wedding and showed what happens with this friendship when she is now in her marriage era. I enjoyed seeing her husband’s character in the movie which I feel I missed in the series.

I also feel the audiences may have been different for the series vs the movie. The series was indeed a queer love story and was enjoyed and treasured by those who consume the media. As a fan of BL, I found the story was steeped in realism and didn’t have time for fluff, leaving many of us breathless.

Oops, I think I just gave myself away. I absolutely prefer the series. It gave me a glimpse into real gay lives which I deeply appreciated.

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