So Long, See You Tomorrow (2021)

"I just need to balance myself once, and I'll be safe forever"

This film shattered me in ways I cannot describe.

Absolutely breathtaking in every way and suffocatingly lovely with excellent cinematography, colours, script, and acting.

The English title of this film is linked to the novel of the same name that refers to the structure of the story. It tells the parallel time and space that the man encounters many years later (2020, autumn: daegu, seoul, and busan) and brings him many references and dialogues to stimulate his inner reflection, especially in every parallel time and space will be interspersed with the memories of the mother on the sickbed or the only friend he was in love in the past, but no matter what, the movie buries the most secrets or the big event between him and his first love, which caused the two to go their separate ways and meet again. Even decades later, this also caused the man to suffer from the mental torture of the incident and the repressed personality shaping in these decades.

What remains unchanged is the fact that his mother passed away and his sister suffered from cancer. He learned to accept the pain he must go through. The constant possibility and modified memory are intertwined together, bringing rich and unique meaning of the same nature, when pointing and is linked to the latest meeting from the last parting between the two, the man will finally take that step, rush to the person he loves, and go with him no matter what. He didn't want to hold back any more, that "see you tomorrow" was a long, long time.

A must watch for it tells us that you can just embrace the one you love, tap your nose with your fingertips, turn your wrist around and make a gesture of praise, even if all the stories end in the same way, the one you love will exist in every universe.

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A must see. A gem & they should all be very proud

A must watch. It's slow. It's quiet. It is superbly acted. The locations and sets are full of emotional jarring sound ever so quietly. What a gem. I cried out loud.

There are multiple POV's/versions of one man's moment in time. It is great story telling. It shows you how you never really know the whole story no matter how much you think you know the person.

This is about survival by more than one person. About how one person makes a difference. Both good and bad. How one decision changes your course.

Most of all,
My wish is one world where we can be at peace, happy and proud to love and be loved as our hearts and minds see fit.

Thank you to all those that made this film.

Please leave encouraging comments to the actors page. They read it!

Thank you.

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Better late than never!

I would like to be able to express in words the feelings and ideas this film evoked in me. Unfortunately, I am not skilled at all to do justice to this amazing film.

It is a story of a man who always regretted the wrong choice he made when he was young. He had a best friend, who was actually his first love and when that friend was going through difficult times, he could not muster up the courage to show him his support. Since he believed in parallel universes, we are shown three of those: what happened after that act of cowardice? His life followed three different roads but, surprisingly, all those road led him to the same place 25 years later: the hospital and his friend's novel. And the realization that his friend WAS his universe.

The film is inspired by three books: On The High Wire, by Philippe Petit (taking risks, balancing , trying to feel alive), Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (searching for your own sexuality, homophobia, love for another man) and So Long, See you Tomorrow by William Maxwell (friendship, betrayal, regret).

The actors are all extraordinary, particularly the main lead Shim Hee Sub all in subtlety, microexpression, holding back, hiding and vulnerability. An amazing actor! He is the focal point of this film. His young counterpart is almost as good, much more emotional, as befits a teen!

The writing is solid. The film is slow burn and sometimes the sequences are not evident: they do talk about parallel universes but from there to conclude they are showing us those, the road is a bit long and tortuous. Moreover, the titles of the parallel universes are not translated (so when the 2nd one showed up, I helped myself to Google Lens and then rewatched the film from the beginning)! Nevertheless, these two and a half hours went by in a flash (no FFW!). The film is beautifully shot, all in dark and brown tones, suitable for a story of regrets and depression.

This film takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions, makes you think about your own life and the regrets you carry. It gives you courage and strength to try to fight for what is important. And last, but not least, gives some great reading recommendations!

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An evocative study of individuality and amendment of loss through a queer lens

Pensively crafted and heartbreakingly depthful, "So Long, See You Tomorrow" offers a devastatingly honest reflection on reconciliation, identity and self-acceptance. The cinematography used to capture its interpretative scenes frames the depths of regret, an overall exposition of adulthood and looking back on the things that slip through our fingers. With numerous references to modern-day art, it draws inspiration from significant works in the literary world—notably "So Long, See You Tomorrow" by William Maxwell, "Giovanni’s Room" by James Baldwin, and "When I Think About Myself" by Maya Angelou. It recycles familiar themes that encircle human life, presenting them with a sci-fiesque touch that brings a sense of peculiarity and deep introspection to the ordinary life of the man explored.

The movie adapts a melancholic vibe from the start, presenting the main character’s teenage years through a gloomy atmosphere and embracing them with a nostalgic touch. Stained by the sorrow of tragic events, he is introduced in a way that evokes heartache and sympathy from viewers—he suffers from bullying, loses his Mom, and has a severed relationship with his Father. In a world of grays and sombre colours, the only rays of light that bathe his days in warmth come from the comfort his best friend provides him amidst his struggles. Rebellious and hopeful, Kang Hyun’s words show great contrast to Dong Joon’s, who longs to step out of his comfort zone and self-improve.

Kang Hyun’s goal to live as if always walking on a tightrope on the edge of life without fear of falling suggests a certain desire for recklessness and risk-taking. The hopefulness he emits embed their shared scenes with an optimistic feeling. "I like the idea of parallel universes. It feels dangerous somehow…like the man in the rope photo…" While it may seem as though Kang Hyun is more grounded because Dong Joon is the one who dreams of parallel universes, both are just as unhappy with their lives and have greatly flawed mindsets that bind them to future suffering. His friend is the one who ends up suffering the first great fall because of the amount of hope he had in the world that so quickly let him down. When combined with the rebellious outlook he adopted in a life where he vowed to always "live on the edge," this disillusionment he created quickly broke and fell to pieces. The delicate cinematography foreshadows this downfall of his through a particular scene; a tribute to the importancy that the camera holds on the frames where it chooses to linger.

The start of the movie, where the main character’s teenage years are showcased, branches off into multiple versions, starring him 20 years later in three parallel timelines. The film cleverly differentiates them from each other by changing the setting—from Daegu to Seoul, and lastly Busan. In each timeline, he meets new people who help him reflect on himself through different circumstances and makes realizations that contribute to his journey of affirming his identity while coming to terms with past regrets. Rather than the hardships he faces—whether it be past or present—what changes is his perspective and the way he goes about his life. Each version is built upon his younger self, with each experiencing the loss of touch with a friend due to not going after him. And yet, they all result in such different outcomes depending on his mindset and how he chooses to perceive his past and his own self.

In the first, Dong Joon is consumed by regret, marinating in it. His situation is devoid of hope; he is at a low he believes is the lowest. He mentally isolates himself from the rest of the world, shielding away from all means of contact that would reveal his true self, letting his fear of vulnerability deprive him of happiness. With an addiction to drinking, he is slowly rotting away, and his mental state reflects the deteriorating soul of a person suffocating from depression. He experiences no joy and has a distant look in his eyes, only bathing in old memories. The scenes that follow his uncertain entrance into Giovanni's gay bar—where he claims to have accidentally wandered in when questioned—showcase his efforts in hiding his sexuality. Through his eventual meetup with the online date he was supposed to meet there, viewers are shown the angry and untrusting side of him. His fury in becoming vulnerable and falling for what he perceived as a cruel trick disguised as love in the context of his failed meet-up mirrors the inner turmoil he has regarding his one-sided feelings for his first love.

In opposition to the first arc, the second presents a version of Dong Joon who looks ahead and focuses on his future rather than looking back, staying trapped in the past. Dealing with themes of self-awareness, it uses Maya Angelous’ poem "When I Think About Myself" to convey its message across. This piece of writing uses irony to cover various themes, such as self-awareness and the use of laughter as a way of covering deeper struggles. "I almost laugh myself to death. My life has been one great big joke. A dance that's walked, a song that's spoke. I laugh so hard I almost choke when I think about myself," is the passage most relevant to the film. Its author focuses on juxtaposition between what is expressed and innerly felt, using laughter to mask the pain—mirroring Dong Joon’s avoidance of his past. Unlike the first and last arc, there are no flashbacks to his past or his first love.

Confident, outgoing, social, more accepting of his queerness, and having been on the exchange trip he regretted not taking in the precedent arc, he may come off as more happy. However, the reality is that he is shielding his past away as if forgetting it. In fact, the only time we see a scene from his younger self with his past lover is at the very end, when transitioning into the final arc, but his past trauma is otherwise completely ignored. He has equally completely given up on the idea of parallel timelines, no longer wishing something magical would happen that would make him be him in another world. A strong clip to show this aversion to magic would be when he gets upset when David Copperfield is mentioned among his group and he strictly says that he wasn’t referring to the magician, but instead the one who is the protagonist of "David Copperfield", a novel about the every-day life of an orphan in the late eighteen-hundreds written by Charles Dickens.

In contrast to the first arc, where he attempts to detach himself from his true self using the idea of parallel universes, he is introduced to this concept much differently in the second. Instead of searching to become a different person himself, he bears witness to all the possibilities his life holds, manifesting themselves through those around him. For instance, the tables are turned: instead of being the one who wishes to have studied abroad like in the first, he now meets someone who boasts to him about how lucky he was to have had that experience. In a way, conversing with this particular student was as if he were talking to himself from the first arc—he has a daughter with the same name as Dong Joon’s niece in the precedent arc but struggles to find time to spend with her, just as he did, and he has also someone he's thankful but also sorry for, telling Dong Joon the following; "If I meet her again, i'd like to thank her instead of apologizing. You've once met someone like that too, right? Someone that you’re thankful for, but sorry to…"

The last arc explores the theme of acceptance—acceptance of the present day through Dong Joon’s son, and of the past through his first love. Viewers see him acknowledge his pain and come to terms with his regret. While he used to always wish he had stepped out of his comfort zone, the third arc sees him make the realization that balance is what’s most important. He shows his commitment to becoming an improved version of himself through his devotion to being a better father for his child, visiting his son in prison. This draws parallels to his past lover, whom he had last seen getting taken away by a police car, and who he regretted never making the effort of going after—even if they weren’t taken away for the same reason, they found themselves in similar circumstances. In fact, he reminisced about his past lover on his way to the police station. When he spoke to his son, insisting "it wasn’t a mistake," as if also referring to his love for his friend, his son told him he wanted to write about their father-son relationship.

The scene then cuts to Dong Joon visiting Kang Hyun, now older, who had written about their lost friendship after being inspired by "So Long, See You Tomorrow," a book that tells the story of two friends who could never reunite after having been abruptly separated when one shunned the other. Dong Joon meets Kang Hyun during his presentation of his book "Every Maybe is Pain," suggesting it is inspired by their story—just like how every "maybe" in his life is due to that regretful incident where he never made the effort to stay by Kang Hyun’s side. Instead of doing nothing but bathe in his memories as he does in the first arc, or choosing to completely ignore them in the second, he remembers a certain moment in the third—the most powerful one of all: their first kiss, which was the most painful as it was his happiest moment.

Both polar opposites, neither of the first two versions of himself achieved their happy ending on their own. In the third arc, Dong Joon comes to the realization that one must find a balance between all facets of oneself to avoid falling. Only after reaching this conclusion did he see both of his other selves from the previous arcs smile. "When I couldn’t hold it in anymore, I went up to a high place. I rebelled like he did—I rebelled against the tedium of daily life as if walking on a tightrope. (But) you’re going to fall, Dong-Joon. No. I just need to balance myself once, and I’ll be safe forever…" When they were young, people only regarded Kang Hyun’s mindset of living life as if always on a tightrope—inspired by how Philipe Petit achieved his dream of walking on a tightrope between the Twin Towers—as something that symbolized living on edge without fear. Once Dong Joon grew older, he realized the most important message underscored in this act: it was the balance that made Philippe Petit become that best version of himself and achieve his dream.

In the end, each version adapts through what he learned, and they come together to create one facet. He decides that he likes the idea of parallel universes and other timelines existing because he enjoys thinking that, in each one of them, there is another good teacher and father like him, going about his day and taking care of his son and students. He writes to his dad the following: "Think about it. It'll make you feel good." He no longer perceives this concept as a form of escapism as he did in the first arc, nor doesn’t he completely ignore the idea of parallel universes like in the second. Instead, he now uses it to reinforce his confidence and express his love and confidence in himself. No matter the outcome, he always had the same core memories and was put in the same position—all that changed was the outlook he had and how he chose to face life’s hurdles. With powerful acting performance, intricately woven storylines, and serene music, the movie conveys its message with great impact. If one is unhappy with oneself, they should strive to change the way they live and focus on what they do have control over.

The story ends beautifully, with Dong Joon returning to the childhood moment that started it all. However, he runs back as an adult, carrying the realizations and the acceptance that he likes him and wants to follow him. Their meeting, after he reaches the police car, shifts to them as adults—Dong Joon having gone after him with his new lessons learned. It is revealed that Kang Hyun had assured Dong Joon he would see him tomorrow before his eventual departure abroad, showing that both are to blame for their painful parting. A decade later, once they have both read the book "So Long, See You Tomorrow" in the time it took them to process and accept their separation, they reunite. Seeing each other again was like the day’s sun after a long and dark night, both matured and having found their own selves first. Even though it took time, it was the tomorrow they had promised to spend together. "It was as if we just bid each other farewell last night." In each arc; there was unavoidable pain faced by Dong Joon: his mother and his sister’s death. Despite their heartbreaking departure, the one person he felt truly stayed with him, when he felt everyone was abandoning him, was his first love, who shaped him into who he was and whose memory never left his side whether it be through smiles or tears. "No matter the parallel universe, he’d always be there. He is my universe."

2025-03-04

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