To My Lonely Sister (Dec. 2024) is a very poignant short story drama special about how one family copes (not always perfectly) with a family member who has severe depression. The acting of the lead actress Oh Ye Ju, a relative newcomer to K-drama, was especially touching and noteworthy. That's one of the best aspects of these one hour drama specials -- they often give an opportunity for newer thespians to shine in lead roles for the first time in their aspiring careers. I have no doubt that beautiful Oh Ye Ju is going to be a big star someday; her acting was phenomenal in a very difficult role.

Two of the other younger actors in the cast were new to me as well, actor Kim Kang Min playing a boy who likes Oh Ye Ju's character, and total newcomer actress Yang Ui Jin playing the lonely depressed sister (whom we rarely see till nearer the end of the story). The only actor who I knew very well was character actor Park Ho San from some of my most favorite Korean dramas such as My Mister, Goodbye Earth, Lawless Lawyer, Dinner Mate, Would You Like A Cup Of Coffee?, Twinkling Watermelon, and Maestra. 

The Story:

High school student Yoo Ha Neul (Oh Ye Ju) has a very difficult home life. She lives with her single Dad Yoo Cheol Yung (Park Ho San) who is gone long hours for his work in construction, and her clinically depressed sister who had attempted suicide after being bullied, named Yoo No Eul (Yang Ui Jin). Ever since her attempted suicide she has hidden in her bedroom, refusing to come out unless both her sister Ha Neul and Dad are gone from the apartment at the same time. To communicate with No Eul her sister has to knock on the bedroom door and talk to her, but No Eul never responds vocally.

At one point their Dad has to move to another part of town to be closer to work and they need to change apartments. During the drive No Eul has a box placed over her head so no one has to look at her, and she sits in the back of Dad's trunk on the floor so not even a passerby can look in and see her! When they arrive at their new place Dad informs Ha Neul that he will be gone for work for several weeks and she will be in full charge of everything. He hands her keys to the apartment and his credit card and tells her to make do as best she can. Poor Ha Neul! This is a heavy burden to place on a girl still in high school! (And I thought very unfair as well -- get a job with better hours, Daddy, so you can be home more! Egad!).

Ha Neul's only consolations in her difficult life are a local boy at school who likes her, named Kim Yang (Kim Kang Min), and a dear female friend who had moved to Jeju Island, whom she keeps in touch with via cell phone, named Cha Hyun Ji (Oh Seh Eun). Kim Yang lives closer to her now that she has moved (I swear that house they moved to looked like the same house that was featured in Rooftop Prince back in 2012!!).

Her diary also gives Ha Neul consolation and sometimes she reads her notes to her sister through her closed bedroom door. Still not a sound coming from that bedroom! Ha Neul herself appears to be nearing a major depression of her own, having to deal with a sister who seems dead to the world, who won't even talk back to her. Ha Neul only knows No Eul is not dead because the food she places on the floor outside the closed door is removed when Ha Neul comes home from school.

Then her friend in Jeju invites Ha Neul to come visit her and have a nice vacation and Ha Neul loses whatever patience she has left dealing with her sister. She has a tantrum and finally we are able to see silent No Eul's pained expressions behind the closed door. She doesn't want her sister to desert her! Will she finally come out of her shell and react with her sister face to face? Will this family finally experience a miracle of healing, or yet another tragic set-back?

I believe it was quite daring and different for KBS2 to create an hour long drama special on the topic of clinical depression, and how a family can cope with it on a day to day basis. It's not exactly romantic or fluffy or humorous in nature, the way so many other longer Korean dramas are, and at times this particular script seemed quite poetic in nature. I always feel kind of sorry for so many Korean drama fans who don't give these hour long drama specials any attention. They have no idea what they are missing! These drama specials are almost always excellent and varied in content. Sometimes one can even learn things from them. Wow, entertainment as educational .... who knew???

If you'd like to give To My Lonely Sister a try you can currently watch it on Viki at THIS LINK. Be brave ... and Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

HOME TO KOREAN DRAMA REVIEWS

~~~~~~~~~~~