Everyone is going through something, it's okay to feel.
I rarely write reviews for any media I consume, but watching this drama pushed me to write one. Firstly, I would like to give a huge bow to the writers. What a beautifully done piece. It made me feel so many things. The director and actors seemed to perfectly understand what the project was and what it was meant to convey. I'm personally going through a lot right now, and watching this drama made me sit with all the emotions I was feeling and work through them along with the characters. The struggle depicted in this drama is so relatable; it hits very close to home. I do not know how to write a proper review, but I would like to urge everyone who comes across this drama to give it a watch. You won't be disheartened and will take away something or the other from the story.Was this review helpful to you?
We all Are Really Trying Here
This drama really feels like a story about people who are just trying to figure their lives out. Hwang Dongman is an aspiring director who spent 20 years trying to make his first successful movie while watching everyone around him achieve their dreams. His insecurity and arrogance made his character feel pretty real nglWhat I really like about this drama is how it shows failure, jealousy, self doubt and trying to find your own worth Every character has their own problems and struggles, and seeing how their lives connect makes the story feel pretty personal. The chemistry between Dongman and Eun ah was also handled very well, both of them have their own emotional baggage but slowly start understanding each other
It was a pretty emotional ride for me Sometimes funny, sometimes depressing, sometimes just relatable. I really liked how it shows that success isn't the same for everyone and sometimes you just need to keep trying even when everyone else seems ahead of you
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K-drama worth watching
Never forget your dreams, even if nobody believes in you. Don’t give up. It doesn't matter if you spend 20 years waiting—in the end, you will always make it.Something Hwang Dong Man’s brother said:
"Every story is a cry that says 'I exist.' I exist in the midst of this pain, I exist in the midst of this sadness, I exist in the midst of this misery, I exist in the midst of this laughter. We will live for a hundred years, just a hundred years, and then we will be gone. Does that which is disappearing truly exist? To dispel those doubts, we frantically write stories. If you need to write new stories while you are alive, at least make them funny."
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Best Drama
Some dramas entertain you for a moment, but some stay with you long after they end. “We’re All Trying Here” is one of those dramas.No wonder I loved this drama — it’s written by the same writer behind My Mister & My Liberation Notes.
It feels quiet and simple on the surface, yet emotionally heavy underneath. The kind of drama that understands loneliness, exhaustion, and the feeling of trying your best while life keeps testing you.
I love how realistic the characters are — imperfect, tired, lost, yet still somehow moving forward. No unnecessary exaggeration, just raw emotions and human struggles that feel painfully real.
Every episode felt comforting and heartbreaking at the same time. Like a reminder that everyone is quietly fighting their own battles 🤍
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If you want to empathise with people around you, JUST WATCH IT
After so long, i get to watch a kdrama like this, full of emotions and the true representation of human vulnerability. This drama also motivated me to try my best in my particular field. After "When life gives you tangerines", this drama brought out my emotions. I also wondered why this drama didn't get the global popularity it truly deserved like "Perfect Crown". The story, overall plot, and the acting was way too realistic. Character "Hwang Do Man" was my favourite, the actor Koo Kyo Hwan nailed it, other than him, i liked the character of Byeon Eun A, and also Park Gyeong Se, the true representation of "don't judge a book by it's cover", at start i didn't liked him but as the story progressed i started empathising with him, actually not with him solely, but i started empathise with every character involved in this story. Also one character is underrated "Lee Jun Hwan", the friend of Hwang Dong Man who didn't leave him and judged him like others, he stayed with him from the start to end, i liked this quality of his character. Seeing Park Hae Joon as Hwang Jin Man, after "When Life Gives You Tangerines" with him given a deep character in this drama truly made my mood.Was this review helpful to you?
Life in the most raw form
This drama by far is the best thing I've watched in a while, I was attached to the story and to my screen not wanting to skip a second of it.It felt like reading a very good novel, you could easily be immersed in it and easily relate to the characters, You like each one of them yet you dislike them all simply because they are humans just like us and you'll definitely find a moment that it'll like it's exactly written for you.
The first two episodes were fine but then came episode 3 and boom it was majestic, Hwang Jin Man the moment you find out who he is was my first awaking in this drama, then each story and each line continued to touch the deepest spot in my soul, I would find myself just tearing up randomly.
It is raw and touching, it's life with all it's struggles from family to work to friendship to ambitions till you go to love and peace.
It was amazing watching this from a directors lens when it's talking about directors and writers and there work environment, it shows you how much the director is important in a work for it to be great.
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This review may contain spoilers
What is your goal in life?
This is an exceptionally human drama, and I loved it from beginning to end. What impressed me most was how deeply developed the characters were by the end! You can actually feel the momentum of their growth as the story progresses, and that’s something surprisingly rare. Every character changes, struggles, and learns, and those transformations feel completely earned.At its core, the drama is about friendship, ambition, life goals, and the dreams we spend years chasing. Dong-man is such a profoundly human character. He is flawed, desperate, insecure, and often lost, but that is exactly what makes him so relatable. He carries a deep inferiority complex and constantly wants to be seen as an equal to those around him. In his own unorthodox way, he keeps trying to prove his worth, even when his methods are questionable. You can feel how desperately he wants to make a movie and prove himself. Through his journey, the drama explores a truth many people experience: we often believe that achieving a certain goal will finally make us happy, only to discover that reality is more complicated. The accomplishment feels good, but it is not exactly what we imagined. What matters most is the person we become in the process. By the end, Dong-man has truly found himself and finally overcomes many of the insecurities that have defined him for so long.
One of my favorite aspects of the drama was Dong-man’s relationship with Park Yeong-sae. Their friendship feels painfully real. They were best friends when they stood on equal ground, but once one of them became successful while the other was seen as a failure, everything changed. They became competitors as much as friends. They judged each other, compared themselves constantly, and gradually lost parts of the people they used to be. It is an uncomfortable but honest portrayal of how relationships can be affected by success, failure, and insecurity.
His relationship with Euna is also worth mentioning. He genuinely cares about her, relates to her in many ways, and often wants to be her protector. Euna carries her own trauma surrounding abandonment, and it is heartbreaking to watch how much she struggles with her sense of self. Despite her pain, she remains a voice of kindness and empathy. She instinctively understands the feelings of others, even though she has spent much of her life cutting through people’s stories and emotions with harsh honesty—a trait that was even considered a talent in her profession.
As the drama progresses, she becomes increasingly aware of how deeply words can wound others, and there is a visible discomfort whenever she is forced to do that again. At the same time, she struggles to understand her own emotions. She is deeply sensitive and easily hurt by criticism, rejection, and the inhumanity she encounters in others. Her journey is one of self-discovery and emotional awareness. By the end of the drama, her growth is remarkable: she is finally able to recognize, understand, and name her feelings instead of expressing them only through physical symptoms. Her character development is subtle, realistic, and incredibly moving.
The drama understands that life is messy. We all have goals. We all carry trauma. We compare ourselves to others, even when we know we shouldn’t. We are hurt by people’s words, and yet we keep trying. Every character in this story is fighting for something, and every struggle feels meaningful.
The relationship between Dong-man and his older brother was particularly moving. The two brothers are almost opposites. While Dong-man still clings to dreams and possibilities, his brother is focused entirely on survival. His desperation is heartbreaking. He works endlessly just to fill the gaps in his life and keep going. He doesn’t live to enjoy life anymore; he lives simply to endure it. Their contrast feels very true to the experience of many siblings. The older one often carries burdens that are different from those of the younger one, but both are trying in their own way. That simple act of continuing to try becomes one of the drama’s most powerful themes.
If I were rating purely based on rewatch value, I would probably give it a 5/10. Not because it isn’t excellent, but because it is such a heavy and emotionally exhausting watch. You can feel the characters’ desperation, disappointment, and hopes as if they were your own. It activates your empathy in a way few dramas manage to do. I genuinely don’t know if I’ll be able to rewatch it, because it hurts in a way that feels almost too real. 🥲
Ultimately, this is a drama about people trying their best despite failure, disappointment, and uncertainty. It is deeply human, deeply compassionate, and unforgettable. I don’t know if I’ll ever rewatch it, but I know I won’t forget it. Few dramas have made me empathize so deeply with every character’s struggles, failures, and hopes. It hurt, but in the best possible way.
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Emotionally satisfying
This is story where you finish each stage of it feeling satisfied , satisfied with how the characters behave, feel, converse, fight, try hard, etcTho it’s sad and makes you teary sometimes but it comes with satisfaction which is something genius for a writer to do
this is by far the writer best work in terms of storytelling, content, characters depth
not too much gloomy and not too rom comy ..,
and choosing the entertainment industry as the profession of the characters is what sets it apart tbh
because it is a place where you can dive into and see the many faces of people
the try harder, the jealous , the hard worker, the talented, the hypocritical etc
we want more stories that try to expose human nature and its difficulties
The story should have been at least 16 episodes tbh but because I am totally immersed by it I give it a 10
“too good”
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Captures Humanity In All Its Honesty
Truly a masterpiece. Honestly I don’t know how the writer was able to come up with such a story. The script was so brilliant, the characters, the watch they use - it was all so brilliant. It felt so real and so relatable. I truly felt seen whilst watching this show. In the same vain as My Liberation Notes, it’s a healing drama. Very well acted, very well directed. I cannot think of one single flaw. Each character has their own problems and their ways of dealing with it. Seeing their relationships with one another really felt like it captures true humanity. This may just be my favourite show ever.Was this review helpful to you?
Never Knew a Drama Could Heal My Soul
Not a single boring episode!Not gonna lie, I cried a couple of times watching this.
Watching your friends climbing to the top while you're still standing at the starting point? Damn, sounds like my life story.
Watching your brother drown himself in alcohol? God damn, my heart was torn into pieces.
The downside is that: why there are only 12 episodes???? I NEED MOREEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
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Absolutely cinema
It’s not a drama made for K-drama lovers—it’s a drama made for movie lovers.This wasn’t an easy watch for me because of how heavy and demanding it is. The weight of the story is immense. I genuinely think that if you combined the dialogue from dozens of K-dramas, it still wouldn’t match the sheer amount of conversation packed into this series. It’s so dialogue-driven that I often found myself fully focused on reading and understanding every subtitle just to keep up with the nuances of the conversations.
"We Are All Trying Here" is the perfect title. We're all trying our best, but not everyone succeeds. Feeling jealous of someone else's success is part of human nature—it doesn't automatically mean we hate them. The drama captures that idea beautifully and with remarkable honesty.
The acting across the board is insanely good. Every performance feels authentic, and the opening OST is still stuck in my head.
A masterpiece. Not for everyone, but if you love cinema, character studies, and thoughtful storytelling, this is a must-watch.
Highly recommended.
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just wow
the vibes & feeling of the first few episodes were so strong they just sucked me inthe characters were all just so human & complex but understandable & I loved watching them understand themselves better & learn & grow & change each other
the acting was amazing! the cinematography beautiful! the pacing was great! & I loved the ost!
I’d been wanting to watch this since it was airing but I like to binge so was waiting & then forgot about it for ages😭 but I think I watched it at the right time~ :)
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