‘Love Next Door’ Review: Rom-Com That Forgets How to Deliver Either

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Korean drama ‘Love Next Door’ (it’s on Netflix) starts off with four ajummas (aunties) talking about their kids, plastic surgeries, while one of them constantly farts away to glory. It’s an adequately fun start for a romantic-comedy series spanning sixteen episodes about a Tom-and-Jerry like couple. But come episode eight, and the entire tone of the series changes and becomes surprisingly serious… and it will some viewers wonder if they should continue watching ‘Love Next Door’ at all! Not after the unexpected but extremely disappointing twist the creators throw into the story.  Let’s discuss plot first.

16 episodes long, ‘Love Next Door’ follows the comedic romance between childhood friends and neighbours Choi Seung-hyo (Jung Hae-in) and Bae Seok-ryoo (Jung So-min), who are either having fun together or fighting each other like cats and dogs. Their moms are longtime friends, who are always competing over whose child is more accomplished, so when Seok-ryoo returns to Seoul after quitting her cushy job in the U.S, her mom (Park Ji Young) is infuriated and extremely disappointed. Choi Seung-hyo on the other hand is still Mr Perfect, with his own architecture firm in Seoul that’s been winning awards. But his calm and perfect life gets chaotic when neighbor Seok-ryoo gets back in town. She is always finding ways to hang out with him or annoy him. Little does Seok-ryoo know that her childhood best-friend has a huge crush on her since forever.

Jung Hae-in and Jung So-min are quite cute together as Seung-hyo and Seok-ryoo, a lot of their friendly banter is hilarious, especially when they are bickering over little things, without any awkward tension (mostly) between them. However, their childish antics soon gets repetitive and tiring, and Seok-ryoo’s cluelessness about Seung-hyo’s feelings are ridiculous. Besides, their romance moves at a snail-pace, which is standard for Korean dramas like these, but the chemistry is not crackling, they feel more like friends than lovers. The child actors who play younger Seung-hyo and Seok-ryoo are adorable though and there’s a generous amount of flashback scenes in ‘Love Next Door’ to establish their childhood bond. Kim Ji Eun plays secondary lead Jung Mo Eum, who is also the lead couple’s childhood friend, however, her romantic sub-plot wasn’t interesting at all.

The first few episodes made “Love Next Door” seem like a refreshing ‘friends to lovers’ tale which encompasses a slightly less-explored theme – a seemingly successful expat returning to their country due to work-exhaustion and other disappointments on foreign soil. Bae Seok-ryoo’s character will resonate with anybody who is struggling to adapt themselves to a new country for their job and feel burdened by the growing expectations of their family. Not just that, she also must figure the biggest puzzle of adult life after one is jilted with their career – What Next?

But despite these fresh elements, “Love Next Door” also checks the same old boring boxes –

Leads who childishly cannot see that the other person is romantically interested in themParents who unfairly try to force their own dreams and expectations on their childrenScenes where the leads accidentally fall over each other to facilitate ‘touchy’ momentsA love rival/ex swooping in and interrupting a crucial conversation just when one of them is about to confess their feelings or well, to complicate thingsExcessive reliance on scenes where a character is hitting someone else for laughs

“Love Next Door” was cute, breezy, funny, and all that really changes at the end of episode eight, where a serious-dramatic twist is introduced, and the story simply begins to drag from there on. Except for Bae Seok-ryoo’s decision to change careers, which was a great sub-plot, everything else about this series in the second half is just a rehashed and bland version of things we’ve already seen. Most of the characters behave like kids, and even towards the last few episodes, the romance is barely there and even the jokes run completely dry. For a show advertised as ‘romantic comedy’, the humour is way outdated.

While the lead couple’s parents are shown to be friendly neighbours, with their moms hanging out regularly, despite the silly rivalry between them, the last few episodes play up the ‘enmity’ between to moms to act as a hurdle for their love. Bae Seok-ryoo’s mom starts out as comedic in the beginning and slowly becomes a mean mother, who is excessively harsh, and mean towards her daughter. I feel like the secondary couple could’ve been more likable if they weren’t treated as ‘they are just here to be cute’ and given more character depth.

Thanks to the episode eight twist, I was expecting a ridiculous twist towards the end of ‘Love Next Door’ too, but thankfully, it ends on a light, sweet, happy, and childish note. Watch the show if you’re looking for a family themed romantic drama with a cute lead pair.

Rating: 5.5 on 10. ‘Love Next Door’ is on Netflix.

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