REVIEW: ‘My Name Is Loh Kiwan’ Cuts Above Its Melodrama

Written and directed by Kim Hee Jin with writing by Hae Ji Cho, My Name is Loh Kiwan (Ro Gi Wan) is a Netflix Original Korena-language romantic drama. Loh Kiwan (Song Joong-ki) and his mother defected from North Korea and escaped to China. But the police are after them, and when a tragedy leaves Kiwan on his own, his mother’s dying wish is for him to escape at all costs and make a better life for himself. A year later, he makes it to Belgium. But life for somebody seeking refugee status is terribly difficult. He doesn’t speak the language. He doesn’t look like everyone else. And work and shelter are basically impossible to come by.

On a particularly terrible night, shortly after arriving in Belgium, Kiwan is robbed by Marie (Choi Sung-eun). She steals his wallet, the only thing he has remaining of his mother’s. Kiwan will not abide by this. But in trying to get back his wallet, he learns that perhaps Marie is broken just like him. She’s in trouble with some shady people and has a strained relationship with her father (Jo Han-chul). The former keeps her in constant trouble, while the latter only wants to help keep her out of it.

My Name is Loh Kiwan is at its best when it’s focused on the main plot, the main relationship, and the moments where either character is growing emotionally, which is the majority of the movie. Kiwan’s escape from North Korea is central to the entire movie. It’s the reason for his dire circumstances and his strange vernacular. It also drives the A plot as he fights to gain refugee status against a system clearly designed to keep it from him. But this A plot manages never to feel overplayed. It results in a handful of good jokes and doesn’t overstay its welcome.

The B plot, however, is a bit less well-constructed. Marie’s dangerous occupation and the men who have her entrapped in their employment certainly color her character. But the actual plot, where she is forced to earn them money by winning shooting range contests, isn’t completely enthralling. The final action sequence has a tiny payoff, but it hardly warrants spending all this screen time with her employers. Mostly because they’re the least interesting and flattest characters. They’re just bad people taking advantage of a vulnerable woman.

The side characters Kiwan encounters, namely Seon-ju (Lee Sang-hee), have depth. She steals whole scenes, even when Song and Choi are both together charming you. When her plot’s emotional climax arrives, it’s as powerful as anything the main two characters deliver.

The same goes for Jo Han-chu, who does an excellent job delivering a grieving, loving father who only wants to connect with Marie. What Song and Choi deliver as Kiwan and Marie is also pretty strong. Kiwan, of course, goes through the rounds between his refugee case and his fits of passion. Meanwhile, Marie has several opportunities to shine through her demons, her relationship with her father, and her budding romance with Kiwan.

Unfortunately, not enough of the movie is shining brightly enough, literally. The lighting in every dim room or nighttime scene is too dark to see on standard screens. It’s especially frustrating in the two scenes where the romance and the action each hit their peaks, respectively.

There is plenty of swooning in My Name is Loh Kiwan, but the single moment of intimacy is very dark. The final action sequence has a similar challenge. It attempts to ameliorate itself with some neon lights and blue shading, but neither is enough to brighten up the scene. It’s not quite as distracting as the poor lighting in the romance scene, though, since the sudden turn to graphic violence is so jarring that you almost forget you can barely see it.

Even if melodrama isn’t your favorite type of storytelling, there’s something about the kinship Kiwan and Marie find through their brokenness that makes them click. There’s not much in their physicality that indicates their romance, but how you can see the connection they find is more than enough to make them feel like a satisfying couple. From the first moment they meet, there’s a sense that these two people share more than they know, even if their circumstances are vastly different.

And thankfully, the movie never tries to equivocate their difficulties either. It simply lets Kiwan be a refugee and Marie be a recovering drug addict. They talk about these things and empathize with each other but never compare themselves. It’s what makes the way My Name is Loh Kiwan ultimately addresses either issue feel impactful.

My Name is Loh Kiwan stumbles by trying to have too many plots simultaneously. But it succeeds with its central plot and romance. It’s easy to feel invested in both Kiwan and Marie as individuals and as a couple with so much to overcome together.

My Name is Loh Kiwan is streaming exclusively on Netflix.