A Time Called You (2023)

October 15, 2023

Our Take: A complicated romance drama that plays with the concept of time.

A remake of the beloved Taiwanese series Someday or One Day, A Time Called You involves time traveling, body swapping, a love triangle, a criminal mystery, and more. In the present day, Han Jun Hee (Jeon Yeo Been) is a successful marketing executive in her 30s still mourning the sudden death of her fiancé, Koo Yeon Jun (Ahn Hyo Seop), who passed away from a plane crash a year prior. 

Simultaneously, in 1998, a quiet and timid high school girl, Kwon Min Ju (Jeon Yeo Been) — Jun Hee's doppelgänger — is working part-time at a records shop called 27 Record. She gets befriended by Nam Si Heon (Ahn Hyo Seop) — Yeon Jun's lookalike — and his best friend Jung In Gyu (Kang Hoon). School heartthrob Si Heon invites Min Ju to hang out with them so In Gyu can get closer to her. However, Min Ju falls for Si Heon instead, leading to tensions between the trio. When she returns home one night and finds her brother and mother missing, she runs off in a panic to search for them and gets hit by a car. 

Back in 2023, Jun Hee remains hopeful that Yeon Jun is still alive because his body was never recovered. She gets a glimmer of hope when she receives flowers on her birthday from a mysterious stranger. Later that day, she also gets a DM on Instagram from an anonymous sender with a picture of three high school students, two of whom resemble her and Yeon Jun. When she tries to find more information, she receives an old Walkman and cassette tape and falls asleep listening to Seo Ji Won's classic "With My Tears." When she wakes up, she's been transported back to 1998 and is lying in the hospital in Min Ju's body. 

Jeon Yeo Been does a fantastic job of portraying both Jun Hee and Min Ju. The stark contrast between the two characters is clear, and you can feel the difference in their journeys through Yeo Been. Min Ju has a meek and quiet demeanor that leads to others frequently taking advantage of her and mistreating her. Because she is reserved and struggles to connect with those around her, she easily fades into the background, forgotten by her family and peers. What she wants most is for others to see her and love her for who she is, yet she doesn't love herself. When she meets Jun Hee, she can't help but compare herself to Jun Hee, making her feel even lonelier and more depressed. 

Meanwhile, Jun Hee is cheery, upbeat, and independent. Her confidence and assertiveness cause Min Ju's family and classmates to get drawn to her, especially Si Heon. She is a social butterfly who studies hard and doesn't let anyone push her around — the complete opposite of Min Ju. 

As Yeon Jun and Si Heon, Ahn Hyo Seop struggles to portray the nuances between the two characters. There isn't a major distinction between them, so sometimes their characters almost feel like the same person. Still, Nam Si Heon is a loveable and mischievous character, while Yeon Jun is the perfect boyfriend. 

The differences between Min Ju and In Gyu's outlooks on life and their personalities underscore the importance of self-love and having a strong support system. As a child, In Gyu was frequently bullied for using a hearing aid. However, his life completely changes after meeting Si Heon. Even though In Gyu is an introvert and likes to keep to himself, Si Heon is always by his side, standing up for him and giving him strength. On the other hand, Min Ju didn't have any close friends before meeting the boys. 

Min Ju isn't a bad person, but her perception of herself as someone insignificant warps her reality and causes her to feel depressed and alone even though she has people who deeply cared about her by her side. When she finally seeks help, she begins learning how to love herself and not compare herself to Jun Hee or anyone else.

Min Ju and In Gyu's journeys serve as a reminder for us to be empathetic and consider how we treat others. Even simple gestures of kindness can make a huge difference in someone's life and change their life trajectory.

With so much happening in A Time Called You, the pacing sometimes feels uneven and leads to logical lapses in the plot. The time travel twists get more and more complex as the show goes on and the introduction of a serial killer dampens the overall mood of the main romance. Though everything mostly makes sense by the end, the journey to get there is long and windy. 

The finale leads to unanswered questions about the futures of the main characters in the new timeline. For instance, it's unclear what happens to the original Koo Yeon Jun and the gay subplot between him and Tae Ha (Rowoon). Unfortunately, because they get so little screen time, their love story and fate are left unresolved. Oh Chan Hee and Oh Chan Yeong (Min Jin Woong) play crucial roles and have a complex sibling relationship and dynamic with the rest of the characters. Yet, we don't get any details about their futures and where they end up. 

There are also no subtle hints about the dynamics between Kwon Min Ju, Han Jun Hee, Nam Si Heon, and Kang In Gyu. Given that the story's turning point hinges on Min Ju's self-realization, it's disappointing that we don't get to see her transformation into adulthood. We don't get much insight into Si Heon or In Gyu's lives as adults and what they have been up to either. Though we watched Joon Hee and Si Heon fall in love twice, it would have been nice to see how they reunite under different circumstances with a clean slate. 

Our Verdict

A Time Called You has plenty of unexpected and quirky twists and turns, but the plot quickly starts to feel like a maze. Certain aspects of the show, such as the addition of a serial killer and the romance between Yeon Jun and Tae Ha, are underdeveloped and don't exactly fit into the rest of the series. The ending also feels a bit abrupt as we are left to wonder what happens to everyone in the new timeline.