Seohyun, the former member of K-pop sensations Girls’ Generation and the first to go solo, has recently focused on acting. at love and leashes (Netflix), she co-starred with Lee Jun-young, who also transitioned into acting after debuting with boy group U-KISS and transitioning to the Korean reality competition series. Unit. When co-workers Ji-woo and Ji-hoo agree to explore their dominant and submissive impulses, will the romance end?
essence: “No relationship is completely equal,” Jung Ji-woo (Seohyun) said at the beginning. love and leashes. “When two people meet, power always passes to either of them.” As she contemplates the hidden desires that live within everyone, her eyes fall on Jung Ji Hoo (Lee Jun Young), who has just started working in her PR office. With smiles and awkward jokes on their similar names, there’s an instant connection. But Ji-Woo is wary of making a move. “Why can’t girls express how they feel first?” Complain to her mother. “Are we in 1920 or something?” Her mother laughs and says that this rule may still apply in 2220.
Frustrated with modern dating, and angry at her hateful boss who constantly degrades women in the office, Ji-woo is basically disgusted with the status quo. But she shocks her system when she accidentally opens a package meant for Ji-hoo. It is a leather dog collar, serrated, and size for the human neck. He freaks out – do you think he’s a pervert? quite the opposite; She is infatuated. And when Ji-woo shares with Ji-hoo her fears that people will see her as too bossy, he’s totally smitten. Ji Wu asked with a timid smile, “Will you be my master?”
After researching BDSM online, especially the typical relationship between a dom and sub, Ji-woo agrees to be Ji-hoo’s master, and the two sign a three-month contract with terms of mutual security and consent. She tends to him. Buckled collar. Use the leash. orders. rewards. And when he presents her with a pair of beautiful red high heels, she knows what the submissive wants. “Thank you for the shoe. Do you want me to step on you?”
Their intimacy develops as the play sessions progress. But she exists outside of romantic relationships, and this causes confusion for Ji-woo. Her feelings for Ji-hoo have deviated from his requirements as a submissive, while a bad breakup from his past continues to shock his romantic present. Can these two crazy kids move past their problems and all those of society and companies, find a balance, and build a mutually rewarding relationship?
What movies will remind you of it? Netflix has a few movies on its international slate that trade in the eccentricity and sophistication of contemporary romance. In French Comedy Dear momTurmoil surrounds a married man’s confrontation with Oedipus issues, while more fun From Spain, he follows five scattered stories of people looking for love and excitement.
A performance worth watching: Lee El, also from the Korean Netflix Original blackawesome in handlebars As Ji Woo’s outspoken girlfriend He Mi, a dog cafe owner looking for an elusive flavor of love.
An unforgettable conversation: Months have passed since the DS contract, and Ji-woo’s feelings for Ji-hoo are increasingly confused. “The more I enjoyed it, the more confused I was about our relationship outside of it. Is it normal for you to play this hard without having sex?”
Gender and skin: Dog collars, leashes, whips, feathers, and muzzles, but no sex. It’s not about that, you see?
Our advice: love and leashes He takes a refreshingly open stance on BDSM. In film, it is often a subject that is reduced to a visual gag. You know, your vinyl clothes, and handcuffs, and whips, and torture chambers lit up red. There is even a tendency to reduce its practitioners to one dimension, which is exactly the fear Ji-hoo feels. He’s terrified that society will kick him out if his submissive nature is discovered, and it doesn’t help that his ex called him a pervert when she found out. But handlebars He allows his specific desires within his romantic comedy setting, gently presenting a dog collar with the classic case of handing a wrong package and respecting Ji-hoo’s agency as he brings up the topic of domination and surrender with Ji-woo. Their cute initial experience and the result the hotel-related dog and master experience is a fun spin on the typical romantic comedy sequence, normalizing each character’s roles.
love and leashes It also rises when you expand the circle of dating in the modern world. Ji-woo’s girlfriend, Hye Mi, is also looking for love, but her online personal ad attracts only a crawl, to the point where she almost gets assaulted on a blind date. With the help of Ji-woo and Ji-hoo, she puts her attacker in place. “Just because I’m a pervert, doesn’t mean you can treat me like shit.” And they lament the toxicity with which BDSM is treated in culture. It’s another interesting wrinkle of a movie that’s pretty ordinary rom-com on its surface, with the usual cast of leads and supporting actors with real chemistry and a series of mishaps and misfortunes that all lead them to a sense of universal truth. And here’s Mi getting the last word. “D, S, S, or M, we are all looking for someone who can accept our true selves under the mask.”
Our call: stream it. love and leashes He cleverly spoils the rom-com formula even as he pulls the genre line, giving him a streak of unpredictability to match his kind message of love in the modern world.
Johnny Loftus is a freelance writer and editor who lives at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: Tweet embed
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