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Previously on December 20, Korea’s leading film magazine, Cine21, published its comprehensive review of the Korean cinematic scene for 2024, along with expectations for 2025.
In this review, the picks of Cine21’s critics for the most overrated and underrated K-drama of 2024 were revealed.
Most Underrated
Among those, the most underrated K-drama was “A Virtuous Business”, which features actress Kim So-yeon and is a remake of the British TV series “Brief Encounters”. It boasts a rather unique topic – the sales of adult toys in a historical rural setting, yet at the same time tackle complex societal and character-related issues.
According to critic Kim Hye-ri, “A Virtuous Business” doesn’t isolate the topic of sexuality but connects it to societal issues of power and culture, making for an intriguing approach. Meanwhile, critic Nam Sun-woo found the K-drama to be “both progressive and charming”, while still vividly addressing the core of its subject matter.
Finally, critic Bok Gil commented, “The story of ‘A Virtuous Business’ revolves around married women without children, divorced women, and single mothers selling adult toys in a small village in the early 1990s. By setting it as a historical film, it avoids unnecessary criticism while skillfully embedding timeless feminist issues into a relatable narrative, providing subtle enjoyment for female audiences.”
Most Overrated
On the other hand, the work Cine21 considers most overrated is “Queen of Tears”, despite the series’ massive success and title as the “most buzzworthy” K-drama of the year.
According to critic Kim Sun-young, this K-drama “excessively relies on clichéd K-Drama tropes, drawing comparisons to ‘The Clinic for Married Couples: Love and War’.”
“The Clinic for Married Couples: Love and War” is a KBS program. Season 1 aired from 1999 to 2009, and Season 2 from 2011 to 2014, focusing on couples on the brink of divorce due to family conflicts.
Meanwhile, critic Bok Gil criticized that in this work of screenwriter Park Ji-eun, “class and status still wield absolute power”, and critici Park Hyun-joo agrees, stating that the series faced heavy criticism for its “poor plot that lacks any meaningful social commentary”.
Finally, critic Jin Myung-hyun described “Queen of Tears”s handling of humorous situations as something that “has significantly deteriorated.”
On the other hand, TIME Magazine shared a similar perspective, describing the series as having two contrasting halves. While the first half showed creativity within the K-Romance genre, the latter half devolved into chaos, recycling familiar clichés of other K-Dramas. However, the latter part of the series was deemed lackluster, filled with implausible and mundane developments.
This leads to “Queen of Tears” ultimately not making TIME’s list for “The 10 Best K-Dramas of 2024”.
