JacksDramaList

I started We Are All Trying Here partly because it was written by the same writer as My Mister, and I hoped it might give me some of that same quiet ache. Unfortunately, despite some genuinely lovely moments, it never really did.

The drama is very gentle and understated, which isn’t something I usually mind. But here the restraint often left the dramatic and emotional moments having surprisingly little impact on me. I even took a long break between starting and finishing it, which probably says something about how little urgency I felt to return.

My bigger problem was the lack of payoff. Dong-man’s story reaches something tangible with him finally making his movie, but I was left wanting considerably more from Eun-ah, Gyeong-se, Jin-man and Jeong-hee. There are suggestions of healing and closure, but much of it is left implied rather than something we’re actually allowed to experience with them.

There are some wonderfully tender scenes along the way, and the performances are good. But after spending so many hours with these characters, I wanted the ending to make that investment feel worthwhile. Instead, I reached the end feeling strangely unrewarded.