A Week Before I Die (2025)

Heart-wrenchingly beautiful but with a dose of humor

This short 6-episode drama hits me with so many different emotions. It’s the perfect length to tell the story of Ram U (ML) and Hui Wan (FL). Their story was told with a combination of flashbacks of happy times (for the most part) and the present-day timeline of grief, guilt and depression.

I’ve only seen Kim Min Ha in “Pachinko”, and she’s excellent in it. It was quite refreshing to see her as an outgoing and boisterous teenage girl. It’s hard to imagine she’s 29 years old, yet can play the role of a teenager and a depressed college student so well. Gong Myung has this baby face that’s so adorable as a teenage boy, and he’s actually 30 years old. They both acted beautifully and really toy with my emotions.

This drama reminded me of the best part of “Seasons of Blossom”. A similar story of grief and depression that was beautifully done. But in “Way Back Love”, the focus is just on them. They make me laugh, cringe, and cry. If you really think about it, the plot isn’t very unique. Just as I said it reminded me of “Seasons of Blossom”, it also reminded me of similar K-dramas when a Grim Reaper is involved. But the storytelling, the acting, the cinematography and the OST all work harmoniously together.

Maybe because I am in a mini K-drama slump, and this beautiful drama pulls me out of it, for that it deserves a high 9.0 rating. If you are in the mood for something heart-wrenching but beautiful, I recommend “Way Back Love”. With only 6 episodes, the pacing is great and you don’t feel it drags when its tone changes to be more melodramatic.


Completed: 4/20/2025 - Review #568

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Perfectly Balanced Heartbreaker That Never Lets You Fully Break

This drama is like a friend who tells you a sad story. They know you might cry, they know you might feel guilty, so they throw in a random joke to make you feel better.

To say this drama was a big surprise to me is like saying nothing. When I first found out it existed, I thought it was just one of those short romance dramas, nice to watch, but forgettable after a week.

Way Back Love is anything but what I just described. It's a beautiful story about love, friendship, and learning to accept the guilt you carry from the past. It's definitely a hopeful yet sad journey, but it never felt overwhelming. It never made me feel too hopeful, and never too sad. The director balances all kinds of emotions, and somehow, it just worked for me every single time.

They kept jumping between past and present timelines, but it never felt random. Whenever something heavy happened in one timeline, I was taken to the other in a way that made me feel okay again. It always felt connected. When a character did something in the present that they had also done in the past, I was taken right back there with them to also experience it. The pacing here was great, it never felt boring.

So yeah, you can probably tell by how I described it, the directing here is chef's kiss. One moment the scenography is colorful and full of life, and the next it's bleak and heavy, and every time, the music fits the mood perfectly. Nothing felt out of place.

The performances? Absolutely amazing. I'd only seen both leads briefly in other projects, so maybe that's why I was so surprised. They were both great, but I really have to mention Kim Min Ha, she was just on a completely different level. Her acting felt so natural it honestly didn't feel like acting. It was like someone just said, "Be Jeong Hee Wan," and she just was. Also, shoutout to Jung Gun Joo, really, really good performance too.

Overall, a truly amazing watch. One could say, after reading the synopsis, that this is a story already told many times, and I would even agree. But the key is the execution, and the execution here made it feel really special.

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