''Nothing Serious'' () is a 2021 South Korean

romantic film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

, written and directed by Jeong Ga-young for

CJ ENM CJ ENM (, CJ Entertainment aNd Merchandising) is a South Korean entertainment and retail company founded in 2018. CJ ENM was established as a result of the merger of two CJ Group subsidiaries, CJ E&M and CJ O Shopping respectively, in July 20 ...

. Starring

Jeon Jong-seo Jeon Jong-seo (born July 5, 1994), also known as Rachel Jun, is a South Korean actress. She rose to fame with the role of Hae-mi in the 2018 acclaimed South Korean thriller '' Burning'', and has won Best Actress at the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards ...

and Son Seok-ku, the film revolves around 32 years old Woo-ri (Son Seok-gu) and 28 years old Ja-young (Jeon Jong-seo), who hate being alone but have anxieties when it comes to dating. They meet with each other through a dating app. It was theatrically released on November 24, 2021. On box office it is at 9th place among all the Korean films released in 2021 with 604,672 admission and US$5.15 million gross.

Synopsis

The film is about relationships in the digital age, fuses elements of traditional rom-coms with modern-day technology. The story follows two people of opposite sex who hate dating but feel lonely. It depicts their meeting with each other through a dating app.

Cast

as Ham Ja-young * Son Suk-ku as Park Woo-ri * Gong Min-jeung as Seon-bin *

Kim Seul-gi Kim Seul-ki also known as Kim Seul-gi (born October 10, 1991) is a South Korean actress who starred in many critically acclaimed dramas including '' Oh My Ghost'' (2015), '' Splash Love'' (2015), and '' The Guardians'' (2017). She is also a form ...

as Seon-bin's friend * Kim Young-ok as Ja-young's grandmother *

Kim Jae-hwa Kim Jae-hwa (born September 1, 1980) is a South Korean actress. Career Kim made her acting debut in 2009 in the film '' Harmony'' and she started to gain recognition following her role as Deng Yaping, Chinese champion of table tennis comp ...

as editor-in-chief of a magazine *

Bae Yoo-ram Bae Yoo-ram ( ko, 배유람; born August 22, 1986), is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Rob ...

as Ja-young's best friend * Im Sung-jae

Special appearance

* Kim Kwang-gyu as Ja-young's father

Production

In September 2020

and

Son Seok-gu Son Suk-ku (; born February 7, 1983), also spelled as Son Seok-koo, is a South Korean actor. He gained recognition for his roles in the television series ''Matrimonial Chaos'' (2018), '' Designated Survivor: 60 Days'' (2019), '' D.P.'' (2021), a ...

were confirmed to play lead roles in the romance film to be written and directed by Jeong Ga-young.

Release

The film was released theatrically on November 24, 2021. On November 2, 2021, the director Jeong Ga-young released a parody video of a trailer on the global video platform

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version o ...

. It became popular for its witty makeup and facial expressions. This unique way of promotion of the film attracted the Generation Z. In July 2022, it was invited at the

21st New York Asian Film Festival The 21st New York Asian Film Festival began in New York from 15 July with the opening film of the festival '' Fast and Feel Love'', a Thai film by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit. The 21st edition was celebrated as 20th anniversary of the festival a ...

, where it was screened at Lila Acheson Wallace Auditorium, Asia Society on July 31 for its New York premiere.

Home media

The film was made available for streaming on

IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded med ...

(Olleh TV, B TV, LG U+ TV),

TVING TVING () is a South Korean online streaming service operated by TVING Corporation, a joint venture of CJ E&M (CJ Group), Naver and JTBC. It is a platform that streams dramas, entertainment shows, exclusive television films and specials. Hist ...

Naver TV Naver TV (; formerly Naver TV Cast) is a South Korean online video streaming and video sharing service developed and operated by Naver. The service primarily distributes web dramas and entertainment shows. Original programming Dramas 2013 * ...

GOM Player GOM Player is a media player for Windows, developed by GOM & Company. With more than 100 million downloads, it is also known as the most used player in South Korea. Its main features include the ability to play some broken media files and find ...

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating sy ...

, One Store, and KakaoPage from December 17, 2021.

Original soundtrack

Songs not featured on the official soundtrack: * ''To My Boyfriend (내 남자친구에게)'' by

Fin.K.L Fin.K.L ( ko, 핑클) is a South Korean girl group formed by DSP Media in 1998 consisting of members Lee Hyori, Ock Joo-hyun, Lee Jin, and Sung Yu-ri. Fin.K.L was one of the most popular K-pop groups of the late 1990s and early 2000s, alongs ...

* ''Some (썸)'' by

Soyou Kang Ji-hyun (born February 12, 1992), known professionally as Soyou, is a South Korean singer. She is best known as a former member of the South Korean girl group Sistar. Life and career 1992–2010: Early life and career beginnings Soyou ...

and

Junggigo Go Jung-gi (born September 5, 1980), better known by his stage name Junggigo, is a South Korean singer. Discography Studio albums Tribute albums Extended plays Singles as lead artist Collaborative singles Soundtrack appearanc ...

featuring

Lil Boi Oh Seung-taek (born June 7, 1991), better known by the stage name Lil Boi (stylised as lIlBOI), is a South Korean rapper. He is member of hip-hop duo Geeks. In 2020, he won Show Me the Money 9 The ninth season of the series ''Show Me the Mone ...

Reception

Box office

The film was released on 965 screens on November 24, 2021. As per Korean Film Council (Kofic) integrated computer network, the film ranks third on the Korean box office with 209,065 admissions on opening weekend. In its reverse run the film topped the Korean box office in its 3rd week of release garnering 529,469 admissions by 3rd weekend. it is at 9th place among all the Korean films released in the year 2021, with gross of US$5.15 million and 604,672 admissions.

Critical response

Heo Min-nyeong of Newsen wrote that in the film "there is no room for boredom," in spite of the main leads hogging 80% of screen time. Heo stated that some sequences made him feel like "I'm watching the heyday of 'Sex and the City'." Kim Nara writing for My Daily praised the chemistry between lead pair

and Son Suk-ku. She stated that the film gave satisfaction for performance as the actors have "acting ability and bouncing energy, which is enough to breathe life into the character and admire it." Kim appreciated the flow of narrative, as she said, "with the honesty and quirkyness of peeling off a single layer of wrapping paper without repeating the common romantic comedy, it 'hook' deeply to the emotional line beyond the hot stimulus." Kang Hyo-jin reviewing for Sports TV News wrote, "The film's strengths are its blatant honesty and provocative and witty lines." Praising the casting Kang stated, "The free-spirited and unstoppable images of Jeon Jong-seo and Son Seok-gu fit perfectly with the film's precarious love story". Concluding her review she opined, "It is the birth of a masterpiece of romance that combines character, humor, and trend reflection in a short time. ''Romance Without Love'' will be a work that is going to be talked about for a long time as a reference for a romance that empathizes with reality.

Accolades

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{Daum movie, 144054 2021 films CJ Entertainment films 2020s Korean-language films Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic South Korean romantic comedy films Films about journalists Films about online dating Films about social media 2021 romance films