The Dream Life of Mr. Kim (2025)

An Underrated Dramedy

This is a shout out to the makers and cast of this drama series. The current rating of 7.5 on MDL is , in my opinion, too low. Set in present-day South Korea, this story is a poignant depiction of issues faced by societies that are rooted in traditional Asian values yet experiencing the inevitable cultural effects of globalisation that come with economic development and technological advancement.

Themes such as young versus old, modern versus traditional, gender roles, Eastern versus Western values are explored within a central family and in each of the family members' lives outside of it. All this may sound serious, but the screenwriter skillfully drizzles the dialogue with humour and gives the viewer the hope that love and resilience can conquer all.

Special mention must be made of the actor, Ryu Seung Ryong, who is so good at playing the protagonist, Kim Nak Su. His physical comedy is stellar and adds hilarity to an unbending and stern character.

If you love social dramas, this one might be just the one for you. A heads up: This series might start with a slow pace, but it gains momentum from Episode 2.

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“That fence led you to the middle of nowhere, made you suffer, pushed you out.”

Kim Nak Su has followed “The Plan” regarding his business and family life, supremely confident he has taken all the right steps. When his life starts crumbling apart, The Dream Life of Mr. Kim begins to resemble a nightmare.

Manager Kim Nak Su is up for an executive position at ACT and has no doubt his dream is about to come true. He knows very little about his team and hasn’t kept up on the newest developments but he covers his boss’ behind and does what needs to be done, even if it means skipping his own son’s graduation. He treats his wife and son more like employees than beloved family members and always has a critical word ready. When the company needs a scapegoat, the 55-year-old employee who has never worked anywhere else, makes the perfect patsy.

If there is a reason to watch this drama it is for Ryu Seung Ryong. He gave an amazing performance as the complicated and flawed Mr. Kim. He utilized his body, face, and voice for an optimal portrayal of a man brought low who must finally face himself and be brutally honest with what he wants and why he has been so driven.

Full disclosure, redemption and reconciliation dramas/films are my favorite genre. This drama should have been perfect for me, but I struggled with every episode of it. For eleven episodes, Mr. Kim was prideful and made bad (sometimes horrible) decisions one after the other. His treatment of his wife, leaving her out of key moments was frustrating. As she said, “Do you even consider me a part of this family?” He claimed to have worked to protect his family, yet everything came down to what made him look good and his reputation. Just past the midway in the drama, he committed a selfless act which seemed completely out of character and unearned. For the most part, Kim failed to take responsibility, was vain, refused good advice, showed little respect for family members and friends, and was completely ego driven.

The Dream Life of Mr. Kim showed the perilous nature of corporate work, especially for aging workers who become expendable. Companies were reluctant to hire older people for a variety of reasons which made starting over difficult to impossible. Middle management men found themselves to not be as valuable as they believed themselves to be. Nearly everyone in the family fell victim to a scam at one time or the other. For me, it was difficult to root for a character who was largely insufferable through most of the drama. When the ultimate cathartic moment came, it was still unsatisfying.*

"You don't know how to be grateful. You think you got this far on your own."

4 July 2026

Not Buying It Note: In a flashback from 25 years earlier, they merely painted on more makeup, but the actors went from looking 55 to 52. Just have younger actors play the characters in flashbacks.

With Family Like These, Who Needs Enemies Note: Ha Jin’s sister and brother-in-law were awful.

Good Son Award Note: Su Gyeom made a mistake but worked like crazy to make up for it, never blaming anyone else. He showed his father more grace than what he'd earned.




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* While the carwash business was “hard on the body, easy on the mind”, Kim was already getting older. For whatever reason Koreans always say they’ll live to 100 but the average life span for men is closer to 80. After 60, the body is not always so compliant to manual labor. I hope he was a brilliant businessman and could figure out how to expand the business with younger labor. If he died of a heart attack or became sick/injured, he’d saddled his wife with enormous debt unless the sale of their apartment helped pay it off. Ha Jin was also struggling to find work. I still can’t believe he used every penny they had saved and also borrowed a small fortune while unemployed WITHOUT consulting his wife who was in real estate and ignoring the advice of a friend who was in real estate. The sheer lack of respect for his wife’s opinion and not including her in major life decisions made me dislike him all the more. I’m always thrilled when a character turns their life around but 11 episodes of his selfish behavior were hard to wade through. I normally binge dramas, but it took me two weeks to finish this one.

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