K-Drama

Many Netflix movies failed to impress viewers but “20 Century Girl” proved its power as soon as it was released

“20th Century Girl” led by Kim Yoo-jung has saved the pride of Netflix films. 

Netflix has continuously made large investments since it entered Korea in 2016, but could only create a sensation with K-dramas and not many of its movies have made box office success, except for the 2021 film “Space Sweepers” (directed by Cho Sung-hee), starring Song Joong-ki. “20th Century Girl” knocked on the door of global viewers with a love story that is easy to understand. The movie is full of romance clichés but has a familiar yet fresh sensibility with the setting in the 1990s.

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According to the OTT ranking website FlixPatrol on October 30th, “20th Century Girl” ranked 5th in Netflix Worldwide Movie Ranking. It fell 3 places after reaching No.2 on October 26th but still remained at the top. In addition, the film dominated 1st place in four countries, including Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Vietnam, and 2nd place in 10 other regions, including Japan, Bolivia, Ecuador, Honduras, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, Salvador, and Thailand.

20th Century Girl

Telling about 17-year-old girl Na Bo-ra (Kim Yoo-jung), who prioritizes friendship to love in 1999, becoming the love cupid to help make the first love of her best friend Kim Yeon-doo (Roh Yoon-seo) come true, “20th Century Girl” presents a familiar teen love story with a love triangle formed when Bo-ra got closer to Poong Un-ho (Byun Woo-seok), the best friend of Yeon-doo’s first love Baek Hyun-jin (Park Jung-woo).

20th Century Girl

You can feel the emotions of the 90s shown in the famous drama series “Reply” (2012-2015) and “Twenty-five, Twenty-one” (2022) in this work. “20th Century Girl” excited the viewers, who lived in that time, with the romantic scene of the main characters’ first encounter and brought back memories of their school days with details, such as the female pretending to be sick to go to the nurse’s office, and trying to join the broadcasting club. However, these experiences can be new to audiences born in the 1990s and 2000s.

kim yoo jung 20th century girl

Above all, Kim Yoo-jung set the center of the movie and led the whole story very well. Director Bang Woo-ri revealed that she wrote the scenario with her own experience and the ‘first love’ image of Kim Yoo-jung in mind. Kim Yoo-jung, who has been acting since her childhood and even after she became an adult, showed a more mature appearance in this work. She made the viewers feel comfortable watching even the cringe-worthy and embarrassing scenes. The special appearances of adult actors, such as Han Hyo-joo, Gong Myung, and Ong Seung-woo, also added more fun to the story. Despite many compliments, some people still pointed out the disappointing points in the acting of Byun Woo-seok and Park Jung-woo. However, Kim Yoo-jung’s outstanding performance was enough to help it out.

kim yoo jung 20th century girl

This year’s Netflix movies have failed one after another. From “Love and Leashes” to “Yacha,” “Carter,” and “Seoul Vibe”, they were all ignored with harsh criticism. However, “20th Century Girl”, which captivated the audience with the director’s delicate directing skills and beautiful scenes while following the box office formula of the romance genre, has saved Netflix’s sluggish performances in movies.

Source: daum

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