The First Ride

Thrill Ride

This movie kept me hooked from start to finish, and every time I thought I knew what was happening? Nah it took another turn.
I watched it in theatres in Korea, having seen a 30 second intro clip, intermediate Korean skills, and barely knowing what I bought a ticket for. But I had so much fun I'll probably rewatch once its on streaming

The plot kept me guessing, and if you pay close attention things will connect, but while watching I had no idea what was coming next. Although it could be jarring, almost everything connected. Plus, the timing was fast and comedic, almost never catching a break, it kept the movie upbeat and us on our toes.

The cast's chemistry was amazing, the friendship of the characters was so funny, and the theatre kept laughing as they ran into disaster after disaster. Their acting plus the music really added to the atmosphere, and even the funniest ending scene, but damn could they pull a gut-wrenching sob.

I won't reveal direct spoilers, but throughout its runtime, The First Ride slowly starts to piece together a heart-wrenching movie about friendship, mental health, and the bittersweet idea of "다음" ("Next time"). In Korea, it's normal to say "next time" and pushing it to later - but really never. Although keeping it light, there are moments I had to sit and reflect on that idea. "When is next time? What if next time never comes?"

Overall, the movie was a lot of fun, though sometimes it felt a bit all over the place, the action matched the energy of the characters. I'd really recommend checking out this movie, it's such a ride.
p.s. Although definitely a lead, Cha Eunwoo doesn't appear as much in the movie as the others. //And his doll is absolutely hilarious, legit every scene killed me//

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Fun story that doesn't reinvent the wheel but has a great kick to it

I also had a chance to watch this in theaters in Korea (like the other reviewer up now). Contrary to that reviewer, I did see what was coming pretty steadily. Some of the details of how were less clear, but the core emotional issue that is brought up later in the film was pretty clear to me within about 15-20 minutes.

THAT SAID, a great film doesn't have to be shocking or surprising constantly, and that's how I felt about this. The acting and cinematography were solid, and even with my very lacking Korean skills and no subtitles, I found it funny and the characters highly relatable, if a bit cartoonish (that seemed to be the point, though, so it's not a knock).

It made me want to watch other things by this writer/director, and turns out I've seen Homme Fatale, too, which I also really enjoyed!

Mildly spoilery take below:





((And, honestly, I think you can guess that "core emotional issue" just based on reading the synopsis and looking at the casting, particularly the ages.))

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