‘Yonder’ Wonders If Love Is Really About Letting Go

The sci-fi k-drama Yonder is set in the year 2032. Not only is euthanasia legal in this future version of South Korea, but technological developments enable the act to be recorded remotely, so those processing organ donations can arrive promptly. There are digital options to create memorials of the dearly departed, which can include memories, photos and videos. None of that makes grieving any easier.

Kim Jae-hyun and Cha Yi-hoo have a happy marriage, complete with barefoot walks in the woods and camping by a lake. So, Jae-hyun, played by Shin Ha-kyun, is inconsolable when he learns that Yi-hoo, played by Han Ji-min, has terminal cancer. He does everything he can to prepare for her death. He dutifully schedules the euthanasia and uploads memories. His wife will be impossible to forget, but there’s no arguing with fate. He does the best he can.

What he doesn’t know is that his wife signed a contract that allows her to return to him, in a way that is more tangible than a memory, photos or videos. The contract enables her to contact him from the other side. Where she contacts him from is not heaven. It’s not hell. It’s one of the places where they were happy. She invites him to experience her new reality.

The drama also stars Lee Jung-eun as Seiren, a representative for the company that sells this key to the afterlife. The company’s motto is, if you can design your life, why not design your death. When Jae-hyun experiences images of Yi-hoo that are more tangible than a dream, he wonders what’s happening. Is it real? Is it fake?

Believing in what you see will make it real, says Seiren. All you need to do is believe. But whether or not you believe, is living in your memories a good thing? If those who grieve look back, will they ever be able to move on? Is it a betrayal if the bereaved opts out? The possibility of an after-life contract raises many ethical and philosophical questions.

Shin Ha-kyun conveys a world of emotions with his facial expressions, easily drawing viewers into the love he feels for his wife and his misery at losing her. The talented actor has appeared in dozens of movies, including Insperable Bros, Extreme Job, What A Man Wants and Room No. 7. In 2021 he won a Best Actor award at the Baeksang Arts Awards for his mesmerizing performance in the TV drama Beyond Evil.

Han Ji-min delivers a solid performance as the wistful but resolute Yi-hoo. The actress previously appeared in the film Josée and won a Best Actress Award at the Baeksang Arts Awards for her role in the film Ms. Baek. She also starred in the popular TV dramas Our Blues and One Spring Night.

Lee Jung-eun appeared in the k-dramas Juvenile Justice, Our Blues and Missing: The Other Side: 2 as well as the films Parasite and Book of Fish. The cast also includes Jung Jin-young, Cha Soon-bae, Yoon Yi-re, Shin Soo-jung, Bae Yoo-ram, Choi Duk-moon and Joo Bo-bi.

Directed by Lee Jong-ik, Yonder is the first Korean series co-produced by TVING and Paramount+ under the recent partnership between CJ ENM and Paramount Global. The six-episode drama aired in Oct. 2022 on TVING in South Korea and can be seen on Paramount+ in the US.