agmtw logo
search
Destined with You

Destined with You

TV-MA

A modern-day fantasy romance K-drama driven by a mysterious curse

7.0

TV Show

South Korea
Korean
Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
2023
NAM KI-HOON
Ha Jun, Jo Bo-ah, Lee Pil-mo
65 min

TLDR

Reminder to read the warnings BEFORE unleashing a spell created centuries ago.

What it's about

Plagued with a family curse, successful lawyer Jang Shin-yu (Rowoon) finds a wooden box that might help cure his illness… if only low-level civil servant Lee Hong-jo (Jo Bo-ah) could help him open it.

The take

Many fantasy K-dramas stick to the serious side, but Destined with You feels more lighthearted as it starts off with a light jab at the handsome grim reaper trope with SF9’s Rowoon. The show honors many of modern-day fated love tropes, and sometimes makes fun of it, but the series does it in a way that’s grounded in its characters and setting. The show first introduces the main duo as individual people, specifically, characters working with and for the public at large. Because of their jobs, Destined with You acknowledges the modern-day systems we use to deal with day-to-day injustices, but also provides the fantasy of having a second recourse in witchcraft. With the show’s pairing, there’s a hope that one way or another, the two could meet halfway.

What stands out

On the outside, Destined with You is a modern-day fantasy romance, but with its premise, it naturally also has some courtroom drama, awful workplace dynamics, and, of course, wacky hijinks because of witchcraft. Because of this, the show shifts between tones rapidly. A serious scene of lawyers dealing with client harassment is followed by a lighthearted sequence of two civil servants handling a complaint. A funny sequence re-meeting a boss that you alienated gets followed by a horror-esque scene where a bloody spirit hand caresses a cursed man. While at times it can feel like a bit of a whiplash, the tonal shifts can feel distracting, but ultimately it doesn’t detract from the show’s overall mystery and excitement towards upcoming episodes.

Comments

Add a comment

Your name

Your comment

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

More like this in

Ethos

A level of attention to aesthetics usually reserved for the most elaborate films, mixed with a complex and relevant story, make this series from Turkey unmatched in its quality

9.9

Caliphate

A psychological thriller that provides insight on what drove so many young people to ISIS.

8.9

Pretend it’s a City

A wildly entertaining series of interviews with a New York legend

9.2

Occupied

Norway's most expensive show ever is a timely thrill ride with a grim geopolitical premise.

8.7

Escape at Dannemora

Based on a true prison escape story, this slow-burn suspense thriller features once-in-a-lifetime performances by a star-studded cast

9.3

Unorthodox

A well-acted fact-based thriller about untangling the grip of a close-knit community

8.5

The Looming Tower

A well-written thriller miniseries about the rivalry between the CIA and the FBI and how they failed to prevent 9/11.

8.1

The Good Fight

Like Suits or The Good Wife, but sharper

9.1

Unbelievable

Critics lauded the angle and feminist edge of this grim true crime miniseries.

8.8

Sex Education

Already a future classic, Sex Education is an explicit but endlessly charming teen comedy that will also teach adults a thing or two.

8.9

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2024 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.