REVIEW: ‘Even If This Love Disappears Tonight’ Speaks To The Fragility Of First Love

There is a fragility to a first love, so precious and pure. Yet, like anything else in life, there’s an underlying awareness that this moment is fleeting, that this love might be (and more often than not is) temporary.  It is this feeling that Even If This Love Disappears Tonight (Oneul bam, segyeeseo i sarangi sarajinda haedo) carries from the beginning to the end, with the reminder that tomorrow is not guaranteed, for life, for love, for anyone; it is in the now that we truly live, and we need to cherish those moments in the present.

Even If This Love Disappears Tonight (2025) focuses on Seo Yoon (Shin Si-ah), a high school student with anterograde amnesia. Every night since an accident, Seo Yoon loses her memory. The only person who knows is her best friend, Ji Min (Jo Yoo-jung). Each day, Seo Yoon records her routine in a notebook as a reminder to her “tomorrow-self,” but for the most part, she lives her life pretty normally and predictably. That is, until she meets Jae Won (Choo Young-woo).

Jae Won is an ordinary high school student, spending his time flitting between school and home, where he takes care of his still grieving widower father. After a dare, he asks Seo Yoon out, and she readily agrees, surprising him and the students around him. There are conditions, though, for their being together. Their conversations must be kept short; they can only really talk to each other after school, and, most importantly, they cannot catch feelings for each other. Of course, rules were meant to be broken, and there’s no restricting young love.

Without Jae Won, Seo Yoon can’t grow. 

Directed by Kim Hye-young, Even If This Love Disappears Tonight (2025) is a gently weaving waltz of a slow burn as romance sparks between two teens. For the more solemn Jae Won, Seo Yoon’s presence in his life is a tugging lure. He can’t help but be drawn to her, even if initially, he prefers to watch from afar. Without the push from the bully-turned-friend Tae Hoon (Jin Ho-eun), he likely would have kept watching, choosing to stay in place rather than move forward in his life.

Moving forward and living life, regardless of what we believe to be certain, is a looming (and sometimes overt) presence in Even If This Love Disappears Tonight (2025). Jae Won and Seo Yoon are constrained by their fixed circumstances, and at the beginning of the film, they seem stuck in a loop, neither living nor feeling comfortable enough to step outside their comfort zones. It isn’t until they start interacting with one another, though, that things begin to change and heal.

Jae Won’s gradual transformation from reserved to positively beaming warmth is gradual and well-earned. It is in the slow beats of his daily life, in the micro expressions actor Choo Young-woo shows on his face and in his eyes, that we see how Seo Yoon is giving him something to look forward to. For Seo Yoon, her changes are less visible, with her memories creating a natural barrier and challenge for Shin Si-ah to navigate in her performance.

Even If This Love Disappears Tonight urges us to cherish life’s intricacies.

Yet, Shin Si-ah doesn’t have much to worry about. She imbues Seo Yoon with a charismatically natural bubbliness that easily draws the viewer (and Jae Won) into her presence. In her desire to cherish the everyday moments, she rubs off on Jae Won, inspiring him not only to look forward to each day but also to find ways to make her happier in the process.

Even with the reality of her amnesia issues hanging over things, it never feels like a gimmick. Instead, what ultimately captures the attention is the heartwarming relationship that builds on screen. It’s why, when Even If This Love Disappears Tonight (2025) drops a major bombshell twist in the final third of the film, everything grinds to a halt, devastating everything in its wake. It’s impactful, though, not entirely finessed into the storyline. Still, it delivers the final reminder of how excruciatingly fragile everything is, and how it can slip away.

Even If This Love Disappears Tonight (2025) is the kind of film that pleasantly surprises upon completion. It’s naturally slow building romance, and the genuine chemistry Shin Si-ah and Choo Young-woo have onscreen easily lures you in, with the promise of heartwarming sweetness carrying you through. Yet, nothing lasts forever. Not our memories, our relationships, and especially not our lives, and the final act reminds us to cherish every single moment before it slips through our fingers. 

Even If This Love Disappears Tonight (2025) is streaming now on Netflix.