Call It Love (2023) Movie Review

Presenting the latest Korean drama content, Disney+ Hotstar has finally released the title Call It Love. This K-Drama starring Kim Young-kwang (Somebody, On Your Wedding Day) as the lonely CEO Han Dongjin as well as Lee Sung-kyung (Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo, The Doctors) as Sim Woo-joo.

Apart from being played by popular actors and actresses, Call It Love also brings a touching story full of meaning about love and life.

This romantic melodrama depicts the story of a man and a woman who are exhausted by harsh realities, until the two of them start to fall in love with each other.

Call It Love (2023) Synopsis

A romantic melodrama, Call It Love depicts the story of a man and a woman who are exhausted by their harsh reality. The two begin to understand each other and find a change in themselves.

The life of Sim Woo-joo (Lee Sung-kyung) becomes miserable because of his father and his lover. After his father’s death, Sim Woo-joo was kicked out of his own home by the woman.

Therefore, Woo-joo decides to take revenge. He also approached Han Dong-jin (Kim Young-kwang), who was the son of his father’s ex-girlfriend. Unfortunately, everything changed when the two felt different things. What was his original revenge plan?

Call It Love Movie Review

Unique story and great cinematography

A journey full of drama Call It Love presents a unique, interesting, and unusual story. Instead of falling in love with a best friend, sworn enemy, or boss at work, this series actually brings a pretty crazy love story.

It all started with a feeling of wanting revenge against his father’s mistress. Since Woo-joo can’t touch the woman, he starts seeing another target – Dong-jin. Unfortunately, the feeling of revenge turned to concern and love.

Even though there are many scenes that should be fun to watch, the director still gives a gloomy and sad impression throughout the episode. As if wanting to tell the audience, that their happiness is just an illusion. The two definitely couldn’t be together. Therefore, we must always prepare tissues.

Not only that, the feeling of sadness and shortness of breath is supported by the gray tone of the film.
Even so, the director is smart enough to make every scene interesting and not boring through slick cinematography techniques. Beautiful visuals are always displayed throughout the episode, starting from a quiet office, cheerful campsite, city at night, to the appearance of a noodle shop and an appetizing array of food.

Messages about the struggle of life

Another interesting thing in K-Drama Call It Love, namely how this series is full of meaning about life. Woo-joo’s character, has been carrying a huge burden after being abandoned by his father. He and his family live with feelings of hatred that cannot be controlled. What’s worse, Woo-joo always carries this feeling of loneliness, hurt, and anger alone.

Unlike his brother and sister, Woo-joo doesn’t believe in love. Therefore, he became a figure that is cold and too honest. While his older brother takes out all his anger by frequently changing partners – typical who is not afraid to seek true love, Woo-joo actually drowns in a sea of ​​anger that he cannot channel. There is also his younger brother – who doesn’t know much about the affair scandal, lives in the shadow of his two older sisters.

If there’s a big problem, Woo-joo just keeps on eating without stopping. He often eats food more than three times, because he feels stressed due to certain problems. Despite growing up as if he had no motivation, Woo-joo kept going for the sake of his family.

Meanwhile, Dong-jin isn’t as cheerful as Woo-joo thought. Just like himself, Dong-jin turns out to live a miserable, lonely, and certainly unhappy life. He grew up in an uncertain environment, where his mother always went out with new men and left him.

When they met, Dong-jin and Woo-joo actually seemed to complement each other. They try to survive, even though the problems keep coming. As a result, the two also strengthen each other and give new meaning to love.

New picture of family

The concept of family in drama Call It Love maybe a little foreign and somewhat different from the usual dramas. Starting from the character Yoon Jun (Sung Joon), who lives independently without family constraints. Even so, his father and mother only tried to interfere in love matters. They realize that their children are different, don’t want to stay in confinement and like a life full of drama. So, the friendship with Woo-joo is perfect for Jun.

On the other hand, there is Dong-jin who only considers the one most important person to be his father. He felt ashamed of his mother’s treatment, so he distanced himself from her. Dong-jin doesn’t even call ‘mother’ like a normal child anymore.

According to Dong-jin, he has lost that figure and does not hesitate to give distance to things that will stress him out. Even though he lives in the dark shadows, he tries hard not to fall into the trap of being like his parents.

There is also our main family, the Woo-joo family. Living together without the presence of normal parents, these three brothers express their affection in an unusual way. They are more often indifferent, silent, and fight each other.

Even so, the three of them still care for each other. Different ways to make the audience may be exasperated. There is great affection in silence, invisible concern when they fight, and mutual dependence when they are not together. That’s family. There’s not much to show, but even broken families can continue to grow and love one another.

Call It Love (2023) Conclusion

For Cilers who want light impressions full of joy, then Call It Love maybe not the best choice. Throughout the episode, this K-Drama is filled with feelings of loneliness, anger, and the search for reasons to survive. Of course there are fun scenes, but that doesn’t mean the audience isn’t reminded of their forbidden love story.

Cinematography, story, and scoring are the main values Call It Love. Running normally with 16 episodes and a duration of about one hour each, it feels good to pack up various conflicts and their solutions. Therefore, this K-Drama will be a shame to miss.