After so many dark, depressing, serious movies that seem to be the only thing available in Korean cinemas as of late, this movie was such a breath of fresh air for me! Although It’s Okay! premiered at the 2023 Busan International Film Festival, the movie only recently had its general release in South Korean cinemas this year.

It’s Okay! centres around the main female lead, In-yeong (played by Lee Re), a seemingly happy-go-lucky high school student who’s happiest when performing on stage. Unfortunately, she ends up in a difficult situation after losing her mother in a car accident and ends up living with Seol-ah (played by Jin Seo-yeon), the director of her arts troupe. Between dealing with the usual friendship dramas with the members of her arts troupe, including the main star Na-ri (played by Chung Soo-bin), and daily love confessions from her neighbourhood friend Do-yoon (played by Lee Jung-ha), In-yeong is just trying to get through life as a high schooler!

[WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD] 

The film begins with a very typical interaction between a high schooler and her mother, having a heated argument over the phone, with In-yeong accusing her mother of always prioritising her own work over her own daughter. She hangs up and gets ready for a performance with her arts troupe. We hear the percussion sounds of the arts troupe’s drumming performance juxtaposed against the scene of her mother driving on the roads… before… an accident happens. We see In-yeong’s mother die on her way to the hospital but before we get a chance to get emotional over this very tragic incident, the mood changes 360 as we are transported one year into the future with In-yeong getting ready for school, with a rather cheerful disposition.

I was confused because I was ready for the catharsis from the get-go, and ready to cry, but I guess the movie didn’t want to get there too quickly.

Then, it’s the usual high school drama. Girls being bitchy to one another, talking to each other about boys, badmouthing one another behind their backs. You know, typical high school drama. And of course, puppy love. Do-yoon is often hanging out with In-yeong who pretends not to feel anything for her neighbourhood friend but eventually admits that she does not NOT have feelings for the boy. It’s adorable!

For those of you wondering where Son Suk-ku is in this movie, he plays Dong-wook, an eccentric pharmacist who acts almost like a counsellor to In-yeong, prescribing her “miracle medicine” whenever she’s down, which is basically vitamins and sweets. Their relationship reminds me of the relationship between siblings, with playful banter but also warm words of comfort and advice.

In-yeong’s life soon gets more challenging as she is kicked out of her house, and ends up living in her arts troupe academy… before getting caught by the director, Seol-ah, who ends up bringing In-yeong to her house to stay with her momentarily while they figure out her options. But you can probably guess the ending to this arrangement right?

What I really liked about this film was the heartwarming message, and of course In-yeong’s infectious optimism towards anything and everything life threw at her. By the way, we did eventually get the emotional scene of In-yeong breaking down when she finds out about her mother, in a flashback somewhere towards the end of the film. But by then, I didn’t really feel like crying because that moment has passed! Maybe this was done on purpose so that people like me who cry easily won’t end up a bumbling mess barely 10 minutes into the film?

The film itself didn’t have fancy camerawork or amazing cinematography but there was just so much heart in the story that I really appreciate. Moments that I’m sure audiences would be able to relate to, especially with regard to family and friendships. This is something I often tell friends but personally, a good movie to me is one that makes me feel things. Whether it’s fear, hope, love, warmth, sadness… And well this movie made me feel so much warmth and hope. That no matter what happens in life, there will always be moments of hope and joy, and if you just keep living with that hope in your heart, somehow, things will turn out fine.

So whatever’s going on in your life today, just know that it’s okay, and it will be okay!