Our Unwritten Seoul Review: Park Bo-young delivers her best role yet with this comforting, healing K-Drama

Truly, Park Bo-young is one of the most underrated actresses in South Korean television. Beyond the kookiness of Strong Girl, Bo-young has taken on distinct, genre-defying roles—each refreshingly different from the last. Even when the plot was maddening like the confusing Abyss, which involved a body-soul switch drama, Bo-young held her own. She brought a fire and intensity to Doom at Your Service, a show where she courts Death (Seo In-guk), and she found a niche for herself in the quiet, healing power of Melo Movie. 

And now, it’s Our Unwritten Seoul. Here, she plays the dual role of twins, Yoo Mi Ji and Yoo Mi Rae, each carrying their baggage and trauma from the past. One’s a stickler for details and perfection, the other is a field athlete. Obviously, you can expect the usual switcheroo—but this time, it feels different, despite the seemingly formulaic arcs. With the help of subtle storytelling that doesn’t rely on exposition or heavy-handedness, we see the twins understanding each other’s lives, and understanding, that grass isn’t quite so green on the other side. Despondency and sadness persists. 

And for this reason, the show needs patience and time—and if you didn’t watch it as Netflix was releasing episodes, you will quickly realise it isn’t a usual binge. It’s warm, comforting and languidly paced, and yet, it’s laced with a heaviness that cannot be unseen. Moreover, the show tackles different aspects of common problems that regularly seep into our lives and drain us of energy, from workplace bullying, to stifling  emotions and bottling them to the point that it can almost break a person. And, both the romance stories are so quiet and mature, and again, different from the other. One couple is trapped in the grief and trying to help each other move forward, while the other, is soft and sweet. However, the only bone to pick with the drama is that the second couple are comparatively undercooked.

Meanwhile, Bo-young drives the show with a powerful maturity that radiates throughout, as she handles two completely different characters. It’s her show entirely, and as always, she knows where to twist the knife and where to heal you. 

Bo-young, can truly get you out of the K-Drama slump.