Movie Review: On Your Wedding Day (2018)

Released in the second half of 2018, On Your Wedding Day was the most-watched romance film of that year. And it’s no surprise because leading the movie was one of Chungmuro’s A-list queens Park Bo-young. It’s the perfect summer movie for all ages – and tickles your memory of a young love that created the biggest impact on your life. On Your Wedding Day had a narrative plot and its characters will leave you remembering your innocence and passion—a romantic comedy from the beginning then turned into a melodrama towards the end.

The film tells the story of 10 years of a bitter, cardiac first love. Hwan Seung-hee (Park Bo-young) and Hwang Woo-yeon (Kim Young-kwang) explore and build on the ingenious relationship that they had established from high school to adult life. The high school student Woo-yeon is never interested in learning. He spends his days fighting those who bullied him when he was shortly after his growth spurt. All of this changed when he met Seung-hee, the new transfer student, and fell in love with her head over heels.

Woo-yeon even stops fighting for Seung-hee; she finally thaws at him when she sees that she is determined to live up to his promise. Nevertheless, Seung-hee has to leave and break out of contact with several events, and their budding romance abruptly stops.

After seeing the photographs of Seung-hee on a university brochure, Woo-yeon works very hard and manages to go into the same university. However, it’s a battle of expectation vs reality as their reunion contradicts what’s supposed to be happy and long-awaited. Although Woo-yeon’s love for Seung-hee does not change, a number of bad circumstances continue to keep them apart as they mature and grow up both in college and their adult years.

I liked that some sub-plots had been somewhat darker, as the humorous and comic tones from the other sub-plots offered an interesting contrast. I thought Seung-hee had an interesting history from her alcoholic father and watched it so nicely. Who would have believed that the nice and perfect little Seung-hee was unhappy and had her own demons to deal with?

Similarly, the scene at the end when Woo-yeon fished with his friends and looked at Seung-hee’s drawing was beautiful. The few times that he sat in silence, looking in the room, contemplating whether or not to go to the wedding, was so well-done and heartwarming. Woo-yeon did not want to go to the wedding because that would wake him up finally realizing that he would not end up with Seung-hee. However, the only opportunity left for Seung-hee to know how he really felt about her was to attend the wedding. The simple and persuasive plot is easy to tell, and characters have natural forces and weaknesses that make them pleasant, and it becomes natural to sympathize with them as they go through the heights and heaps of life. There are several lighthearted moments in the film, interspersed with scenes of diverse tensions and disputes. Even if it had been a few seconds literal, Woo-yeon’s scene still managed to give a chilling effect when he was deciding on his next move.

While the film might appear somewhat cliché, Woo-yeon’s growth and ultimate realization really put the whole story in perspective and made it worth the journey. It is not the results, as they say, that matter, but the journey that lead to the results – or in this case, the last epiphany moment for Woo-yeon. The spectacular depiction of Woo-yeon by Kim Young-kwang through his happiness, tears, and suffering has been commendable and makes his charm more pleasant.

G’s Alley

👰 Only Park Bo-young and Kim Young-kwang can rock highschool uniforms without being awkward!