Doona! (2023)

November 5, 2023

Our Take: Bae Suzy shines as a K-pop sensation who falls for the boy next door.

Doona! follows Lee Doo Na (Bae Suzy), the lead singer of the popular girl group Dream Sweet. Following a traumatic on-stage accident where she can't sing and feels like she is drowning, she takes a career hiatus and ends up living in a shared house in Seoul. A fallen star, Doo Na struggles to acclimate to her new environment, spending her days chain-smoking gold-foil-tipped cigarettes and lounging at home alone. She seeks support from her manager, P (Lee Jin Wook). However, he ignores her calls and texts.

While sitting at the entrance of the home one day, she meets 20-year-old freshman Lee Won Joon (Yang Se Jong). After his sister gets released from the hospital, Won Joon decides to move to Seoul so he doesn't have to commute from the suburbs anymore. His best friend runs a seafood business and is a big fan of Dream Sweet. When Won Joon moves into the shared house sporting a Dream Sweet hoodie, Doo Na mistakes him for being a Sasaeng fan. However, Won Joon initially does not recognize her. 

Doo Na accuses Won Joon of being a stalker, leading to a misunderstanding between the two. But after he takes her to the hospital when he finds her lying in the snow, she warms up to him and begins pestering him to spend time with her. As they get to know each other better, Won Joon learns that Doo Na has no concept of life outside of being a celebrity. Over time, the two gradually develop a mutual attraction for each other while navigating friendships, family drama, and their careers.

Like many K-pop idols, Doo Na started training from a young age before debuting as a teenager. Because she doesn't have the best relationship with her family and the other members of Dream Sweet, she becomes codependent on her agent, who handpicked her off the streets and groomed her to become an idol. 

As a celebrity, P managed all aspects of Doo Na's life, including what she ate, her training schedule, touring, social life, etc. Since she did not have a normal life, she lacks emotional intelligence and struggles to control her temper. The pressure to perform eventually leads her to break down. 

During her hiatus, she finally has free time to do whatever she wants. Despite the freedom, Doo Na seems lost and unhappy. It's clear that Doo Na yearns for love and affection from others even though she appears outwardly aloof and coldhearted. When she's alone, she frequently has mental breakdowns and seems like a shell of a person. While she's a beloved star, Doo Na has no real friends or support system. That is until she meets Won Joon.

When Doo Na spends time with Won Joon, she seems more carefree and at ease. He allows her to be an ordinary person and do everything she wasn't able to do before, including eating whatever she wants, drinking with friends, and going on vacation. Through her relationship with Won Joon, Doo Na's walls gradually come down, and she's able to heal her loneliness and despair.

Unlike Doo Na, Won Joon is acutely aware of his emotions and has high emotional intelligence. He's innocent and naive but takes great care of the people he loves and expresses his feelings openly. Won Joon accepts all of Doo Na's flaws and gives her the courage to get back up again. 

While their love story is imperfect, it's also realistic and relatable. When we contrast Won Joon's relationship with Doo Na versus his first love, Kim Jin Joo (Ha Young), we can see how much he's grown up. Jin Joo and Won Joon were high school sweethearts who had mutual feelings for each other, but things didn't work out. A year later, Jin Joo reenters Won Joon's life and wants to give their relationship another chance, but their timing has already passed. In a way, Jin Joo symbolizes his past, while Doo Na represents his present and future. 

Doo Na brings out a different side to Won Joon, allowing him to ask for what he wants without fear of repercussions. On the other hand, Jin Joo felt that she had to hide her family problems from Won Joon and pretend to be happy even when she was struggling. 

Similarly, Doo Na has a complicated relationship with her manager. In the past, P frequently acted like a father figure to Doo Na, helping her navigate her career and setting everything up for her. Because Doo Na became a K-pop sensation under P's guidance, she mistakes his actions as romantic when he was simply using her to get promoted and make money. When Doo Na couldn't handle the idol life anymore, he distanced himself from her and practically abandoned her to teach her a lesson. 

The K-pop industry is notorious for being cutthroat and competitive. Trainees are groomed from an early age to become a star and many do not make it. The ones that do are subject to potential career-ending scandals, strict regulations, and a plethora of mental health issues due to their management team and the public's expectations.

As a former idol herself, Bae Suzy captures the raw feelings and emotions of what being a celebrity is really like. Oftentimes, we forget that celebrities are people too and want love and acceptance just like everyone else. Despite the fame and money, they have their own struggles and internal battles.

A central theme throughout Doona! is resilience and love. Doo Na and Won Joon come from very different backgrounds, yet they work hard to be together and pursue their careers. In the end, they both end up doing exactly what they set out to accomplish, choosing to put themselves first. The open ending reflects the beauty of life — everything ebbs and flows. As we change and grow up, our priorities shift and we gain more experience to become better people. Though some people interpret the ending as a heartbreaking one, really, it's an unwritten chapter in each character's life to come. 

Our Verdict

Doona! has its shortcomings in terms of the complexity of the characters and the overarching storyline. However, the show perfectly captures the journeys of Lee Doo Na, Lee Won Joon, and their friends from their early 20s into adulthood. We're reminded that our stories are ongoing and there's more to come if we choose to embrace the unknown.