Review | Netflix K-drama review: Love to Hate You – Kim Ok-vin, Yoo Teo in pleasing romcom that works best when it embraces the stereotypes it seeks to lampoon
- Most Korean drama romances start out on the wrong foot, and Love to Hate You is no exception – a man-hating lawyer and an actor allergic to women become an item
- The Netflix series makes a big show of sticking it to the patriarchy early on but, ironically, improves once it relaxes into old-fashioned romcom stereotypes
3/5 stars
Someone once said, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Clearly this person has never watched Korean dramas.
Characters in K-drama romances always get off on the wrong foot. But time, and a litany of contrivances, conspire to turn those first impressions around as enemies steadily turn into lovers.
This bubbly romance series hews exceptionally close to the formula. So close in fact, that over the first few episodes some aggressive pantomime and a rather grating theme song may give viewers a bad impression.
Stick with it, though, and eventually you will be won over by Love to Hate You.
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Directed by Kim Jeong-kwon, who is known for the classic big-screen romance Ditto, and written by Choi Soo-young (ID: Gangnam Beauty), the series initially presents itself as a twist on K-drama stereotypes.
Kim’s character Yeo Mi-ran hates men and rails against the patriarchy, but she’s also indulging in what seems to be an endless streak of one-night stands.
On the other hand, Yoo’s popular actor Nam Gang-ho doesn’t date at all, but that’s because the mere touch of a woman makes him retch. He needs to take medication before filming his famous kissing scenes.
Mi-ran first notices Gang-ho when she visits a resort to help a client out of a bind – he is there filming a project. She happens to overhear a conversation between Gang-ho and his manager and best friend Do Won-jun (Kim Ji-hoon) in which he complains about his prima donna co-star Hwang Ji-hye (Song Ji-woo), whose tantrum has just shut down production.
Venting to his friend, Gang-ho accuses Ji-hye of being a gold-digger, among other things, and Mi-ran takes an instant dislike to him.
The next time they meet is when Mi-ran is waiting for a job interview in the halls of the Gilmu Law Firm, which specialises in entertainment law and counts veteran actress Choi Soo-jin (Kim Sung-ryung) among its clients. Soo-jin wants to switch to a female lawyer, but being the boys’ club that it is, Gilmu has none and is forced to hire one.
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Gang-ho, also a Gilmu client, drops by to visit one day, and Mi-ran instinctively sticks out her foot to trip him up as he walks past.
Several more awkward meetings and some outright confrontations follow, but Mi-ran winds up representing Gang-ho, to the great surprise of Do-won, who has never seen him get along with a woman.
After seeing Mi-ran in action, Gang-ho asks her to help him train for his dream role in a new action noir film.
Love to Hate You makes a big show of sticking it to the patriarchy early on but, ironically, the series improves once it relaxes into old-fashioned romcom stereotypes.
In that regard, the show is reminiscent of the recent film Samjin Company English Class, which presented itself as a story about women’s solidarity in the workplace. In that film, the men all start out as villains – until the film does an about-face and turns them into patriots when scheming foreigners are revealed to be the true villains.
Though nowhere near as problematic as Samjin Company English Class, the initial anti-patriarchy message in Love to Hate You is similarly insincere. It feels like a facade designed to make it seem socially relevant.
Having said that, going in most viewers will be expecting a stylish and traditional romance, and on that count the show delivers in spades.
Some of the series’ most enjoyable segments feature her on the set of Gang-ho’s action noir film as an extremely enthusiastic and capable stunt double.
Suave and sensitive, Yoo fits very nicely as Gang-ho, and his pleasant camaraderie with Won-jun drives the early part of his portion of the show.
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Together, at least once they lower their defences, Kim and Yoo make a good on-screen couple and you’ll soon forgot the show was trying to make any other statements earlier on – until, that is, it returns to those ideas at the very end, when it utterly contradicts them.
In the show’s finale, female empowerment turns out to be a mere illusion.
Rather than it being a modern spin on an old formula, if you go into Love to Hate You expecting a colourful romcom in the vein of Secret Garden, with several enjoyable entertainment world vignettes, you won’t be disappointed.
Love to Hate You is streaming on Netflix.
