Essays on TV and film — exploring stories, characters, and the choices behind them.
Our Sticky Love is the number two show in the world on Netflix right now, part of a steady run of Korean series climbing the global charts. It is the kind of title that ranking tends to reward: a warm, low-stakes romance you can sink into after a long day. A prosecutor, Go Eun-sae, … Read more
In the early hours of December 21, 2024, the palace burned down. A fire swept through a production facility in Yeoncheon County, South Korea, taking the main set buildings and a warehouse of lighting equipment with it. The set was empty and nobody was hurt. What burned was the home of The East Palace, … Read more
The premise lands like a provocation, which is exactly what it is meant to do. In a near-future Korea where classroom violence has spiraled and teachers have lost all authority, the government creates a new agency: the Educational Rights Protection Bureau. Its inspectors are granted legal permission to use physical force against delinquent students. … Read more