‘I was completely fooled’ IU and Park Bo-gum, taking the world by storm
The Netflix drama ‘Cheated on You’ starring the two has been well-received not only in Korea but also overseas, kicking off its global box office run.
‘Cheated on You’, which means ‘Thank you for your hard work’ in the Jeju dialect, is a drama that compares the adventurous lives of Ae-soon (IU), who was born in Jeju in the 1950s, and Gwan-sik (Park Bo-gum), who is as strong as iron and silent, to the four seasons.
Writer Im Sang-choon, who wrote the dramas ‘Fight for My Way’ ‘When the Camellia Blooms’, and director Kim Won-seok, who created ‘Misaeng’ and ‘My Mister’, have joined forces to present 4 episodes every Friday, for a total of 16 episodes over the course of a month.
Since the 4th episode, ‘Spring’, was released on the 7th, signs of box office success have been showing up here and there.
It does not stop at simply mixing the story of innocent youth into the genre of period drama, but also densely depicts the turbulent lives of the parents‘ generation in the 1950s, conveying emotion and a long aftertaste.
The spring-scented rape flower fields of Jeju Island and the pure love story of Gwan-sik toward Ae-soon are heartwarming, but the heartbreaking narrative of the mother and daughter centered around Ae-soon is also a point that is drawing a favorable response.
On various social media platforms and online bulletin boards, reactions such as “a kind of “tribute and cheering song” to the ‘older generation’ who fiercely lived through difficult and trying times” and “a heartbreaking story of parents trying to give their children a better life” are pouring in.
Famous lines that can only be seen in popular dramas were also created one after another.
“Just give me Baekhwan every day, so I don’t waste any material money and just live looking after my child”, “People all end up as orphans anyway. Even if both parents die first, the children will survive”, “Parents only feel sorry, and children only feel sad”, “Their spring is not a season to dream, but a season to crush dreams. So willingly”, etc. are spreading through various social media platforms.
Thanks to this, the drama received favorable reviews and immediately rose to first place in the domestic topicality index and OTT rankings. According to FlixPatrol, an online video service ranking site, the drama ranked first in the Netflix TV show category and sixth in the worldwide TV show category in 12 countries including Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Indonesia.
It also had an overwhelming advantage in topicality. In the TV/OTT topicality drama category announced by Good Data Corporation, ‘BokSsakDasuda’ started off in first place, and the lead actors IU and Park Bo-gum also took first and second place in the topicality actor category.
Reporter Lee Jeong-yeon annjoy@donga.com
This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.
