When life gives you Tangerines

Written by Lim Sang-choon & Directed by Kim Won-seok

Rating: ★★★★★

Well, here I am again, scribbling about a story before its final curtain falls—maybe because some tales bare their heart long before the end. When Life Gives You Tangerines has swept me off my feet in early 2025—a sweet-sour tale unfolding across spring, summer, fall, and winter, its 16 episodes dropping four by four on Netflix like seasons turning. Love and regret thread through it, traces I can’t let go, shaped by a contemplative, non-linear dance that feels deliberate and brilliant—a storyteller’s quiet genius.

And in that gentle unfolding, it reveals truths that settle deep—like one line I can’t shake: “Parents remember only what they regret, while children remember only their disappointments.” It’s a universal ache—families bound by love yet drifting in the weight of their own eyes. I see it in my own life—the apologies I never spoke, the silences I let grow. This drama holds those quiet distances up to the light, showing how fragile and beautiful our ties are.

That ache feels like the heartbeat of this story, which director Kim Won-seok calls “a tribute to the generations of grandmothers, grandfathers, fathers, and mothers who lived fiercely, and a song for the daughters and sons stepping into the world ahead.” It’s a hand on your shoulder, a whisper that life, in all its seasons, is worth holding close. Every choice here feels like poetry, subtle yet profound, and the characters bloom within it.

That poetic motion cradles the actors, too—like IU, whose understated grace glows brighter with every quiet shift. She doesn’t perform; she lives it, lingering long after the screen fades. And Park Bo-gum—ever since Reply 1988 and Love in the Moonlight, I’m hooked—brings a deeply human soul to life with such nuance. Their chemistry isn’t loud or staged; it’s real, effortless, a lived-in warmth I’ll turn to when the world feels heavy.

Now that I’ve walked this story to its end, I’m still caught in awe. Some tales don’t just flicker past—they sink into your bones, asking to be felt. When Life Gives You Tangerines is one of them—a quiet melody of seasons, carried by regular Joes like you and me. That’s what makes it hit different: these aren’t grand heroes, but familiar souls, old friends I’ll hold close. The screen’s gone dark, but the feeling hums on, soft and steady, a whisper of wonder I’m not ready to let go.

Image courtesy of Netflix

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