Review: You Who Came from the Stars

So an alien-earthling love story is not exactly the most original plot line in the cosmos. SBS’s latest outing You Who Came From the Stars (별에서 온 그대) tread the same pseudo-scifi/romcom path as Secret Garden, and as both dramas proved, such a plotline provided a solid backbone for a hit series.

Korea’s concurrent sweetheart Kim Soo Hyun plays Do Min Joon, an alien who has been living on earth for 400 years, virtually trapped but is now only 3 months away from the arrival of the comet that will bring him home. Jun Ji Hyun (think My Sassy Girl on top of a myriad of other hits. OF COURSE you know her) plays the country’s celebrity-of-the-moment, spoiled, rich and famous. For now. If you think they will fall in love within that 3-month timeline/ticking bomb, then you have guessed the major plot dilemma. Add in a psychotic serial killer, a fall from grace, a couple of unrequited love lines, a flurry of bright lipsticks, designer clothes, winter fur, and lots of awesome alien super powers, and you’ve got an overflowing stew of drama goodness.

Definitely not perfect, but giant kudos to the director and writers for their ability to sew in all these plot lines into a tightly knit and fast-paced story. The technicalities of Min Joon’s alien-ness was not fully detailed (for one, wtf with that wormhole?), but I think it is precisely because that is not the story’s core. Sure it was fun to see the time freeze, the Superman speed and the telekinesis. Min Joon and Song Yi completely altered the definition of a ‘flying kiss.’ And the big budget special effects were impressive to see on the small screen.

But the drama, cheesy it may be, had love at its core, perfectly portrayed by its leads. Jun Ji Hyun has long defied both notions that pretty actors can’t be funny, and that it is impossible to cry pretty. She portrayed Song Yi’s childlike, likable impudence as a thinly veiled armor to her inner hurts. Kim Soo Hyun gave new meaning to the term ‘old soul’, carrying the weight of more than 400 years behind his high walls and pretty face. Despite the actors’ 7-year age gap, they had a natural, simmering chemistry that propelled the morale of the story:

Live in the moment. Love as if this is your last day together. It may as well be.

Photo and video credits to owners. If you wanted to see where the Soo Hyun-Ji Hyun chemistry first exploded, check out the Thieves. If pure romance is your thing, My Sassy Girl is always worth every giggle and every shed tear.