A still from ‘Love Next Door’
Yeo-reum, the 28-year-old protagonist of the 2022 K-Drama Summer Strike, decides to take a break from her toxic workplace and her equally toxic boyfriend and boards a bus to nowhere. She sticks her head out of the window, inhales the scent from a canopy of cherry blossom trees, and squeals in delight when she spots the sea. “From this moment on, I’m not doing anything. I’m going on a strike from life,” she declares.
Have you ever wanted to quit your job and move to the countryside? Sometimes, just be rid of worrying about where your career is heading, how non-existent your love life is, and escape the burnout and stress that seems to be all-consuming?
Korean dramas, in the last few years, seem to have perfected this as a genre — healing dramas, that centre around protagonists desperately in need of a break from everything. Years ago, we revelled in Julia Roberts’ travel escapades in Eat Pray Love. In her quest for a life of more meaning and significance, we travelled with her to Italy, India, and Bali, as she nourished her mind, body and soul. Closer home, in a yearning for freedom and some fresh air, three women of a household take off on an impromptu road trip in the Tamil web series Sweet Kaaram Coffee.
A still from ‘Summer Strike‘
In Summer Strike, however, escape is just a short bus ride away. Yeo-reum keeps it simple, and wholesome — she picks a small town to settle in for the sole reason that it has a charming library. What better way than to nourish the heart and soul than through books, and a potential romantic interest in the form of a sweet librarian?
In the currently airing Love Next Door, a weary, visibly exhausted Seok-ryu tells her glowering mother who is angry about her quitting her job, that she is looking forward to turning off her alarm and sleeping. To escape the chaos and stress of the everyday in a big tech company abroad, she goes back home — to the familiarity of her overbearing parents, and a slow, peaceful life. We follow her through the next few days — as she creates an unemployment schedule, lazes around, devours comic books, hangs out with her childhood friends, and makes herself delicious green onion pancakes.
Are decisions to take a break away from the chaos of reality easy? No, especially when your achievements are unfortunately the only source of pride and joy for your parents. This is the chief source of frustration for our female protagonist in Doctor Slump whose mother refuses to acknowledge her depression, burnout, and dire need for a break.
A still from ‘Doctor Slump‘
Thankfully, these shows move on fast enough, and there is something truly heartwarming about watching the subsequent healing journeys unfold on screen — often in a place that is far removed from the cities we inhabit, and through days that are starkly different from the lives we lead. In Hometown Cha Cha Cha, our protagonist moves to a quaint seaside village after a massive career failure and while we don’t see much of his journey on screen, we see the place, its people and its charms envelop the woman he loves.
Escapist shows have been a much loved part of binge watching, over the last few years. And while these shows might seem aspirational, and even a little too idealistic in the times we live in, the scent of the cherry blossoms and a spray of sea water, even onscreen, is refreshing enough, and makes for a great healing break of an episode.
From The Hindu cinema team, a fortnightly column recommending films and shows tied to a mood, theme, or pop cultural event.
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