Lost in Starlight Review: Netflix’s First Korean Animation Boasts Stunning Visuals in a Familiar Sci-Fi Romance
Lost in Starlight made its mark as Netflix’s first Korean animation feature film. But is it any good? Well, one thing is for sure: it’s visually stunning. Credits go to Han Ji-Won and his team of animators for bringing this animated feature to vivid life. It’s hard not to fall in love with the details, regardless of the background, the lighting and the characters, especially their movements and the expressions, are all beautifully animated. I equally love the sight of the city that takes place in the daylight and nighttime, and the same also goes for the interior settings.
Ji-Won, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Kang Hyun-Joo, sets their story in the future. Year 2050, to be exact, in Seoul, but despite the far-off advanced years from where we are in our current timeline, the overall technology within the world of Lost in Starlight is largely grounded in today’s reality. The futuristic city itself isn’t the usual template kind populated by the likes of neon-drenched dystopia from Blade Runner or Ghost in the Shell. Nothing that signifies cold, ominous or a sense of despair, but rather a city filled with warmth and bittersweet vibes, which reflects the movie’s story proper surrounding Nan-Young (voiced by Kim Tae-Ri) and Jay (Hong Kyung).
The former is an aspiring astronaut determined to follow in her late mother’s footsteps. We learn that her mother was unfortunately killed in a tragedy along with her crew during a pivotal mission to Mars. That will be the goal for Nan-Young, hoping she will be selected by NASA as one of the astronauts to join the next space expedition to Mars. Then, one day, a meet-cute moment takes place when she accidentally bumps into a stranger, causing her mother’s old record player to fall out of her grip and smash onto the ground.
The stranger in question is Jay, once a promising musician, but he chooses to quit for a reason that you will find out in the movie. He insists on getting the old record player fixed, and their awkward meeting soon blossoms into a romance as they eventually fall for each other. Ji-Won captures the sweet and tender moments of this young couple in love.
But at the same time, I just can’t help but feel the romance angle is too clichéd and brings nothing new to the table. It’s as predictable as it gets, and if you are familiar enough with this kind of romance drama, you will more or less know where this is going. It’s simply a matter of time before the conflict occurs and their relationship is ultimately tested. This is especially true after Nan-Young is finally happy that she’s being chosen to join the crew for the mission to Mars. The inevitable disagreement ensues when Jay finds out about it for a reason revealed in the movie.
But Nan-Young has been longing for this, and here is where Ji-Won wanted to incorporate the story of fulfilling one’s dream into reality. We see Nan-Young is persistent in chasing her dream, no matter the circumstances. The death of Nan-Young’s mother has scarred her deeply, and the only way to heal her emotional wound is to realise her mother’s unfulfilled dreams of completing the Mars expedition.
Jay, on the other hand, has been living in denial, and all he cares the most is being with her at all times. He has a talent for singing, where Nan-Young even praises him at one point after listening to his song. All that was left for him to do was to overcome whatever bad past and get back to singing. Will he succeed in his musical career? And more importantly, will Nan-Young’s mission to Mars end in a disaster or success? The voice acting, including Kim Tae-Ri and Hong Kyung, is top-notch, and so are the songs in the movie (best to watch this in the original Korean version rather than the dubbed one in English).
Lost in Starlight is currently streaming on Netflix.
