appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Pierce Conran

Lead cast: Kim Hye-ja, Son Suk-ku, Han Ji-min
Latest Nielsen rating: 6.1 per cent
In the fantasy romance Heavenly Ever After, Korean screen icon Kim Hye-ja (Mother) plays a woman who reunites with her husband in the afterlife – but with a catch.
This is the latest series from veteran writer Lee Nam-kyu, who recently drew acclaim for the mental-health-focused Netflix series Daily Dose of Sunshine.


Heavenly Ever After is pitched somewhere between the British classic A Matter of Life and Death and the more recent US television comedy The Good Place – both of which also imagine administrative snafus in the afterlife – but with a heavy side of K-drama schmaltz.
Kim plays tough, elderly loan shark Lee Hae-sook. By day, she prowls her local market collecting debts with the help of her assistant Lee Young-ae (Lee Jung-eun, Parasite); by night, she tenderly takes care of her husband Ko Nak-joon (Park Woong), who has spent several decades paralysed in bed following an accident in his youth.
Nak-joon peacefully dies one afternoon. After teaching Young-ae the tricks of the trade, Hae-sook follows not too long after that.
A Grim Reaper (a cameo by Jo Woo-jin of Narco-Saints) puts her on a train to the afterlife filled with nervous souls unsure of where it is taking them.

First stop: hell. The doors open and half the occupants of the carriage are sucked out into an inky void. Moments later, the remaining passengers alight in the bright glow of heaven – Hae-sook among them.
The pearly gates are a row of metal detectors – no one can bring any earthly possessions with them. While waiting in line, Hae-sook is treated to several displays of people emotionally refusing to part with their possessions.
These include a firefighter holding on to the oxygen mask he was using to try to save a young girl in the blaze that claimed his life. She suddenly appears at his side, and they tearfully enter heaven together.
Next up is a brief interview to check who you will live with in heaven and what age you would like to appear as. Fortunately, Nak-joon is waiting for Hae-sook, so she knows where she is going but she surprises her interviewer by stating that she will enter heaven at her current age: 80.

She does so because not long before Nak-joon’s death, he told her she had become more beautiful over the years. Hae-sook takes him at his word, but she is in for a surprise.
After arriving at the idyllic lakeside home that Nak-joon has prepared for them, Hae-sook is greeted by a much younger version of her husband, played by Son Suk-ku (A Killer Paradox), who now looks the way he did before he lost the use of his legs.
It quickly becomes apparent that Hae-sook is seen as an anomaly everywhere she goes, as the happy denizens of paradise are all much younger. She is particularly surprised when a little girl she coos at responds to her in an older woman’s voice.
This cues another saccharine flashback, in which an elderly mother-in-law cares for her terminally ill daughter-in-law, telling her to get better and divorce her good-for-nothing son. The daughter-in-law wanted to pay the older woman back by taking care of her as if she were a little girl, and in heaven she has got her wish.

The early part of the show focuses on Hae-sook getting used to heaven and coming to terms with the age gap she now shares with her husband.
So-mi, a new character played by Han Ji-min (Love Scout) who pops up at the end of the first week’s episodes, is delighted to see Nak-joon, but it is not immediately clear if he knows who she is. Regardless, this adds another woe to Hae-sook and Nak-joon’s already sensitive afterlife relationship.
Heavenly Ever After is helmed by Kim Suk-yoon, who directed Son Suk-ku in the rapturously received My Liberation Notes. Kim and writer Lee previously collaborated on five prior K-dramas, starting with Old Miss Diary in 2004, and on all three of the Detective K period action-comedy films.

Although the show veers into sentimentality early and often – in addition to the aforementioned interludes, there is a lengthy sequence that culminates in people being reunited with their pets, who, rather confusingly, sometimes take on human form – there is no denying that the veterans in front of and behind the camera are dab hands at tugging at our heartstrings.
But just how much can the heart take?
Heavenly Ever After is streaming on Netflix.


Netflix K-drama Teach You a Lesson: corporal punishment for bullies in alarming school show

Disney+ K-drama Doctor on the Edge: Lee Jae-wook, Shin Ye-eun lead island medical romcom

K-drama Reborn Rookie: Lee Jun-young’s corporate body-swap fantasy hums with melodrama

HBO Max K-drama Fifties Professionals: Shin Ha-kyun action comedy revisits hits of old

Korean drama reviews

Netflix K-drama Heavenly Ever After: Kim Hye-ja, Son Suk-ku lead afterlife fantasy romcom

Son Suk-ku (left) and Kim Hye-ja in a still from Heavenly Ever After, a new fantasy romance Korean drama on Netflix exploring life after death.

Kim Hye-ja (left) and Lee Jung-eun in a still from Heavenly Ever After.

Son Suk-ku in a still from Heavenly Ever After.

Han Ji-min in a still from Heavenly Ever After.

Kim Hye-ja in a still from Heavenly Ever After.

7 of the best new K-dramas to watch in April 2025, including Netflix thriller series Karma

Shin Min-a as Lee Ju-yeon in a still from Karma. Photo: Jihyeong Seo/Netflix

Shin Min-a as Lee Ju-yeon in a still from Karma, a limited series debuting on Netflix in April 2025. Photo: Jihyeong Seo/Netflix

K-drama Way Back Love review: Kim Min-ha, Gong Myung shine in fantasy high school drama

Kim Min-ha (left) and Gong Myung in a still from Way Back Love.

Kim Min-ha in a still from Way Back Love.

Gong Myung (left) and Kim Min-ha in a still from Way Back Love.

Gong Myung in a still from Way Back Love.

Netflix K-drama Friendly Rivalry review: Lee Hye-ri in edgy high school mystery thriller

Lee Hye-ri as popular student Yu Je-yi in a still from Netflix K-drama Friendly Rivalry.

Chung Su-bin as transfer student Woo Seul-gi in a still from Friendly Rivalry.

Oh Woo-ri as the studious Choi Kyung (left) and Kang Hye-won as the materialistic Joo Ye-ri  in a still from Friendly Rivalry.

Chung Su-bin in a still from Friendly Rivalry.

Lee Hye-ri in a still from Friendly Rivalry.

The 13 most anticipated K-drama series of 2025 ranked, from Squid Game 3 to Tempest

Jisoo in a still from Newtopia.

Kim Min-ha in a still from Way Back Love, which debuted at the 2024 Busan International Film Festival to rave reviews and is one of 13 K-dramas to look forward to in 2025. Photo: TVing

The main cast of Can This Love Be Translated? a K-drama from the Hong Sisters.

The main cast members of Two Women.

The main cast of The Price of Confession.

The main cast of When Life Gives You Tangerines.

Kim Da-mi (left) and Son Suk-ku in a still from Nine Puzzles.

Gong Myung (left) and Kim Min-ha in a still from Way Back Love. Photo: TVing

Jun Ji-hyun in a still from Tempest.

Squid Game season 3 follows shortly after season 2, which was in effect half a series.

Lifestyle

K-drama

K-Pop

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

Starring Kim Hye-ja, Son Suk-ku and Han Ji-min, Heavenly Ever After sees a husband and wife reunite in the afterlife – with a twist


Starring Kim Hye-ja, Son Suk-ku and Han Ji-min, Heavenly Ever After sees a husband and wife reunite in the afterlife – with a twist.


Netflix K-drama Heavenly Ever After: Kim Hye-ja, Son Suk-ku lead afterlife fantasy romcom

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Starring Kim Hye-ja, Son Suk-ku and Han Ji-min, Heavenly Ever After sees a husband and wife reunite in the afterlife – with a twist

Starring Kim Hye-ja, Son Suk-ku and Han Ji-min, Heavenly Ever After sees a husband and wife reunite in the afterlife – with a twist