In-Youn (Lee Re) belongs to a renowned dance group that is currently performing on the big stage in Seoul. At the same time, her mother has a fatal car accident in her home country.
A year later, In-Youn seems to have largely come to terms with her mother’s death. She continues to attend the dance group, where she has been exempted from paying membership fees since the incident, but this often leads to nasty remarks from the other girls in the dance group. However, In-Youn is not exactly a mouthful and knows how to use words well, so she effectively renders her “attackers” speechless.
However, she seems to have run out of money, because one day the landlord knocks on her door and demands the outstanding rent. As she can’t pay anything, she has to leave her apartment in no time at all. However, there is no sign of sadness, on the contrary, she continues to be inventive and sells everything in the apartment without further ado. Changes are also afoot at the dance school. The extremely conscientious Seol-ah (Jin Seo-yeo) is promoted from the management of the dance school and is given a free hand in designing a new program for a 60th anniversary performance. Seol-ah accepts the task and implements it with some rigor. Choreographies that have been planned for months are simply thrown overboard, the girls have to prove themselves individually and learn new things within a short space of time or they lose their positions. But as they are all very ambitious and certainly have a lot of honor behind them, they bow to the new pressure.
When In-Youn is not at dance school, she works together with Do-yoon (Lee Jung-ha) in a small supermarket (which are very common in South Korea). She also has a certain weakness for him, but she doesn’t want to admit it openly. Since eating is a great passion of hers, she is naturally at the right source. She keeps checking the clock in the supermarket until a certain time is reached, when some packaged ready meals are automatically declared as expired and therefore drop in price. However, this doesn’t always work out well, because nothing is worse than when a customer comes in at that exact moment and grabs the last pack she was actually looking at.
Incidentally, In-Youn chose the dance school as her new home after being kicked out. However, this comes to light after a week when Seol-ah is still on the premises one evening. She surprises the girl while she is eating. Of course Seol-ah can’t tolerate this, but she doesn’t seem to be as strict as one would have expected. After taking a quick look at the computer with In-Youn’s file, she obviously realizes what a difficult life situation the girl is in. Surprisingly, she offers to let In-Youn live in her apartment for a few days. An offer that In-Youn gratefully accepts. But before she can go to her new home, she first has to collect all her belongings, which she has discreetly hidden among all the other things in the dance school. On the way to the dance teacher’s house, In-Youn seems very excited and hardly spares a minute to talk. It will be one of the many moments when Seol-ah regrets what she has offered, because until now her life has been very civilized, perfectly organized and in absolute silence.
When they arrive at their destination, In-Youn is amazed. A villa where everything is in perfect order, the rooms are huge and there is a large rehearsal room. The girl is allowed to stay in the latter for the time being and so she makes herself comfortable there with a tent and blanket and the rest of her belongings.
It’s not quite the perfect start to the new day, however, because there are exactly two things in the fridge: Water and bottles of spinach green. Of course, In-Youn can’t leave it like this, so she gets SPAM meat and some fresh ingredients. From now on, she takes over the kitchen duties and surprises Seol-ah not only with a calorie-rich breakfast but also with a varied meal on her birthday. The fact that someone thinks of Seol-ah’s birthday is obviously also new to the teacher. She is also slowly getting used to the new eating habits.
In everyday life at the dance school, however, the two don’t let on that In-Youn is now living with the dance teacher. In-Youn is not given preferential treatment either, even though the teacher has noticed certain talents in the girl. The pressure in the girls’ group increases with every rehearsal and this is explosive for the growing frustration, especially when something goes wrong in rehearsals. The whole thing finally escalates at the individual auditions in front of an internal jury, where the previous top dancer loses her position to In-Youn. When the two meet again in the rehearsal room, an argument breaks out that ends in a big brawl and some broken instruments. After this incident, the question arises as to whether the anniversary performance should be canceled. An unimaginable thought for the girls, especially after all the hard rehearsals, and so in the end it is In-Youn who manages to turn the tide with her special manner.
Conclusion:
My weakness for films from South Korea should be familiar here by now. Films or series from this country have often made their way into our Western civilization, especially the series “Squid Game”, which has been the subject of much discussion. But now I’m drifting off a bit.
I’ts Okay can be described as something of a feel good movie, but fortunately not as exaggerated as we are used to from US productions. Despite the severity that prevails, especially in the dance school, or the blatant incident with the mother that turns the child into an orphan, the movie manages to lighten up the situation time and again. With well-placed scenes and pleasant dialog, the film is simply a joy to watch and always provides situations where you can’t help but laugh. It is a constant play with emotions, but always remains balanced.
Actors:
Lee Re (In-young)
Jin Seo-yeon (Seol-ah)
Chung Su-bin (Na-ri)
Son Suk-ku (Dong-wook)
Lee Jung-ha (Do-yoon)
Director:
Kim Hye-young
More about the movie
https://www.berlinale.de/en/2024/programme/202404801.html
