[비즈한국] Disney Plus’s ‘Light Shop’ is a rather unfriendly drama. To be precise, even when the original webtoon of the same name was serialized, its cryptic progression sparked much debate. Usually, the first and second episodes serve as the engine to pull in viewers, but with ‘Light Shop,’ you might find yourself thinking, “What is this?” during those first two episodes. In other words, you need a degree of patience to get through the beginning. Of course, if you can endure that little bit of patience, you will be rewarded with satisfying results.
‘Light Shop’ features strange people. There is Ji-young (Seolhyun), a woman who drags a suitcase and waits for someone at a bus stop every night; Hyun-joo (Shin Eun-soo), a student who is with her friends but cannot converse with anyone; Sun-hae (Kim Min-ha), a woman trapped in an old house unable to leave, staying with someone; a male student (Kim Ki-hae) who passes through the dark alley every night singing Kim Kwang-seok’s ‘Where the Wind Blows’; Seung-won (Park Hyuk-kwon), a man roaming the dark alley while soaked to the bone; Sang-hoon (Kim Dae-myung), a man whose eyes turn like a cat's when exposed to bright light; and a detective (Bae Sung-woo) who persistently chases him, while his own eyes also change strangely from time to time. These strange people either brush past or visit the light shop located at the end of the neighborhood's dark alley, and sometimes they cross paths there. The shop owner, Won-young (Ju Ji-hoon), who wears sunglasses inside his brightly lit shop, is just as mysterious.
These strange people are even more grotesque if you look closely. Some have fingernails growing on their fingers, dirt constantly flowing from their ears, or body fluids and tears flooding an elevator; others have shadows that reveal a much older appearance than what is seen on the surface. Won-young urges Hyun-joo, a regular visitor, to pretend she doesn't see these strange people and to act as if she hasn't noticed anything odd, but because these strange people are mixed in with ordinary people, it is not easy to distinguish them without close observation.
Because the stories of several characters intersect in fragmented ways, it is not easy to grasp what their individual backstories are or how they are connected. Due to the large number of mysterious characters with grotesque traits, the early parts feel strongly like a horror show. As you watch, particularly through the story of Young-ji (Park Bo-young), a nurse in the intensive care unit of a large hospital, you begin to realize that this is a story about people standing on the boundary between life and death, and about the willpower of those patients. For those who haven't seen the original work, there is a shocking twist revealed in episodes 5-6, released on December 11, that explains exactly how these mysterious characters are linked. In this process, the emotion that started as chilling horror slowly shifts into something poignant and moving. That is never an easy feat, but ‘Light Shop’ is pulling it off.
Compared to the webtoon, which had an extremely unfriendly narrative, the drama's adaptation is much smoother and easier to immerse yourself in. It seems this was possible because the original author, Kang Full, took on the script himself, just as he did for 'Moving.' The star-studded cast—including Ju Ji-hoon, Park Bo-young, Seolhyun, Bae Sung-woo, Uhm Tae-goo, Lee Jung-eun, Kim Min-ha, Park Hyuk-kwon, and Kim Dae-myung—is another reason to watch 'Light Shop.' The joys of watching the performances are significant: the quiet gravitas projected by Ju Ji-hoon (who is set as being of an indeterminate age, unlike the elderly character in the original), the expressive face of Lee Jung-eun who conveys volumes with almost no dialogue, the bold expressions of Kim Min-ha who is poised to capture the world's attention again after 'Pachinko,' and Seolhyun’s difficult performance capturing both horror and longing.
The project attracted attention even before it aired because it is the directorial debut of actor Kim Hee-won, who played homeroom teacher Choi Il-hwan in 'Moving.' Despite the complex genre and difficult narrative structure, the direction is neither rough nor jarring. There is a delicacy in the direction, including the long-take scene in the hospital ward in episode 4—which garnered a heated response—and several other scenes where the actors' emotions are maximized. Actor Kim Hee-won was great, but this is a point that makes me even more excited for director Kim Hee-won in the future.
Disney Plus, which showcased ‘Korean-style fantasy’ to the world with Kang Full’s ‘Moving,’ is signaling another hit with his ‘Light Shop.’ As of December 8, the first week of its release, ‘Light Shop’ reached number 3 globally on Disney Plus (based on FlixPatrol) and took the top spot in Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. It is unfortunate that, perhaps due to being released during such a turbulent time, it feels like it is being buried in the domestic market. Since it concludes on December 18, binge-watching it might be a good idea.
Who is writer Jung Soo-jin?
I have worked across various magazines, covering and writing about movies, travel, and popular culture. I don't want to fall behind trends, but I've become an old-school person who predicts obvious clichés in the next scene while watching the latest dramas. I am currently trying to regain my edge while drifting through the vast world of OTT, and my current wish is for a unified OTT subscription plan.