Kdrama Review: It's Okay to Not Be Okay

 Drama: It's Okay to Not Be Okay (It's on Netflix!)

Genre: melodrama

Starring: Kim Soo Hyun, Seo Ye Ji, Oh Jung Se

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

This is the highly anticipated return to the drama scene by beloved actor Kim Soo Hyun after his military enlistment. And it was a brilliant return indeed and he made us all remember why we love him so much! Wow.

It's a drama that deals with a disturbing subject matter, namely mental illness, but done in such a way as to leave viewers happy and hopeful. Our main guy is a caretaker at a mental hospital, and also a caretaker of his older autistic brother. He is so good with everyone, but he neglects himself. And he's starting to realize that neglecting himself is not such a good thing. He's starting to realize that he needs his own life in order to function.

Our girl is a famous picture book author. She is very caustic and selfish and mean. On the outside. On the inside she is lonely, hurting and suffering. She was raised by abusive parents, and treated like an object to be molded and fitted to their wishes. Her fairy tales are dark and twisted, reflecting both of these sides of her. 

The autistic brother is a massive fan of this author and one day when they are attending her signing, their stories converge. The author is instantly enthralled by the gorgeous younger brother and she wants to acquire him... to possess him. He is enthralled by her because she simply enthralls him. And because there is of course a connection to his past.

And then he finds out the connection is even worse than he realized.

Being a family means taking a family portrait, right?

And so the story goes, with these three characters becoming very involved with each other, coming to rely on each other, and love and trust each other. The stories of several patients at the hospital are weaved into it, along with the terrible back story. We learn about human nature and what people crave in life. We learn about the importance of family, and what makes a family a family. We learn how to laugh in the face of despair. 

Wow, but it's a good one. It's filled with many teary moments, and many out loud laughing moments. The relationship of the brothers is crazy good. The acting of these two actors playing the brothers is crazy good. The music is crazy good. The weaving of dark and twisted fairy tale stories in and among the "real life" stories is crazy good. 

This one will be on my list of favorite dramas this year for sure. And I am completely besotted by Kim Soo Hyun yet again. 

Here's a trailer:

And I absolutely fell in love with this song, and have a new favorite singer to add to my list:

So many good songs from this drama!