“Photos are all about memories.“
That’s the motto of Genie TV/ENA’s The Midnight Studio, a 16-episode romance-fantasy show that aired its last episode on May 6th. Directed by Song Hyun-wook (from KBS2’s The King’s Affection) and written by Kim Yi-rang (from jTBC’s Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency), The Midnight Studio is an adaptation of the screenwriter’s novel of the same name.
The premise is quite simple: cursed through generations, Seo Ki-joo (Joo Won)’s family is tasked with photographing the dead’s very last memory. With the help of two friendly ghosts, Assistant Manager Go (Yoo In-soo) and Detective Baek Nam-goo (Eum Moon-suk), Ki-joo runs the “Midnight Photo Studioโ. He’s bound to die at the age of 35, just like all his ancestors. His fate seems to be set in stone until he meets Han Bom (Kwon Na-ra), a determined and fair lawyer who might just change the flow of his destiny.
This review contains mild spoilers. Read at your own risk. You can also pin our (spoiler-free) summary at the bottom!
The Midnight Studio as a Standard Three-Act Ghost Story
The Midnight Studio is a straightforward tale which follows a standard three-act structure. The first act is all about getting to know this universe, its rules, and the main characters. You end up falling in love with Ki-joo, Assistant Manager Go, and Detective Nam-goo, thanks to their shenanigans as they cross paths with different ghosts that need their help to find peace. It’s a heartwarming โ as well as a heartbreaking โ period in which the script seems to be quite episodic. You can’t help but wonder who they’re going to meet next. I obviously cried at the end of every single episode as this arc progressed, heartbroken that those people were treated unfairly and/or died way too young.
The First Act: An Evening Turning Into Night
This first act is very satisfying: the characters have a problem, they work hard to solve it, and you usually get your “happy ending” (as “happy” as death can be, I guess). Guest roles include the one and only Kim Young-ok (King The Land) as Bom’s pragmatic grandmother, the tiny Seo Woo-jin (Hi, Bye Mama), who absolutely nailed his role(s) despite his young age, and Seo Ji-hoon (My Lovely Liar), who once again moves us to tears with his performance.
The Second Act: The Darker Side of Midnight
As the second act starts, the story seems to get darker, and our attention shifts from individual cases to the “big bad” that links Ki-joo and Bom’s fate. The great thing about The Midnight Studio is that its universe has very clear rules. And this is key when it comes to storytelling. Why? The way to get your audience to believe your universe is by creating rules and making sure that the events and characters in it respect them. That’s why we can get immersed in a fantasy show, no matter how impossible everything seems to be. And I’d say that Kim Yi-rang does this very well here.
Does that mean that absolutely everything makes perfect sense? No. Some moments feel a tad forced, especially the ones with Lee Seon-ho (Ahn Chang-hwan). However, it’s just so entertaining to see Ki-joo, Nam-goo, and Go find the solutions together that you can’t help but keep watching.
All the knots start to untangle, and even when all problems seem to be insurmountable, Ki-joo and his gang work their way through them. Once again, you’ve got a rewarding arc.
The Third-Act: The Dawn
The end of the second act, with what we call a “false victory”, does leave a few open questions, and you start to wonder how certain things came to be. The good thing is that all your questions are clearly answered in the third act. The final three episodes have really intense dramatic beats, as sacrifices are made, problems are sorted, and storylines find closure.
The script, despite being fairly simple, is consistent and never promises more than it can deliver. The plot might have been a tad tighter had it been 12 episodes long, but you still enjoy the ride. What really makes The Midnight Studio a good watch is the idea that permeates it: that this very moment is precious and that love is much more than its popular “romantic” facet. Add to that a group of characters that are just adorable, and you’ve got a show that is pure entertainment.
The Heart of The Midnight Studio: Love Beyond Its Romantic Aspect
Love is as much platonic as it is romantic in The Midnight Studio. It’s a bond that you see through the ghosts that Ki-joo meets, through Ki-joo’s relationship with Assistant Manager Go and Detective Nam-goo, and through Bom’s relationship with her grandmother and her friend Ji-won (Lee Bom-sori). It’s an emotion that depends on trust, communication, willingness to sacrifice, support, and forgiveness. The strength of this story lies in these little moments of connection between strangers who care infinitely about each other, of kindness between kindred spirits, of attachment between family members that even death can’t erase.
Ki-joo and The Midnight Studio Gang
“Found families” are a common trope, but when done well, they can be eternally endearing. One of the greatest advantages of The Midnight Studio is the bond between Ki-joo, Nam-goo, and Go. These three make you laugh and cry, and the faith and care they have for each other are tangible throughout the show.
Joo Won, In-soo, and Moon-suk balance each other’s performances graciously. Their dynamic is a joy to watch, and you can’t help but look forward to witnessing how they’re going to find unconventional solutions to their woes.
This circle expands as the story progresses and encompasses Bom and Ji-won as well. It’s the five of them that definitely give a special charm to The Midnight Studio.
Ki-Joo and Bom
Of course, romantic love plays a big part in this tale, but it takes different forms and shapes. Joo Won and Na-ra have solid chemistry, and their relationship, which starts with moments that definitely give you the butterflies, establishes itself as a healthy partnership. They get angry, worried, and they fail to read each other’s behaviour, just like any good couple does. Some moments with them are hilarious, some others are intense. Even though Bom, on her own, isn’t that strong a female lead, Ki-joo carries the weight of the male lead well (Joo Won, being the resourceful actor he is, can handle any scene). Their connection gives more depth to Bom’s character and, together, they weave the main narrative โ with a lot of help from Go and Nam-goo.
Detective Nam-goo
Detective Nam-goo’s relationship is a bit trickier. His love, despite being very much present, is never fully conveyed to his wife, and he only realises that after death. This relationship gives love another facet, a darker, more complicated one. Eum Moon-suk manages to play both the tough guy and the heartbroken one very well. In addition to that, his chemistry with both Joo Won and Yoo In-soo is perfect.
Assistant Manager Go
Now, to my favourite character: Assistant Manager Go’s story is the one that tugs at the heartstrings the most. Go died incredibly young due to overwork. Abused by his boss and determined to become a Deputy, he never got to meet, face-to-face, the love of his life, a girl that he’d met online and with whom he’d constantly exchanged text messages. Yoo In-soo’s delivery helps create a well-rounded character: Go is naive, hopeful, and sweet. A romantic, in all senses of the word. But he also wants to be better, stronger, and more savvy.
In-soo’s performance on its own is incredibly charming, but his chemistry with Lee Bom-sori is astronomical. Bom-sori’s Ji-won starts as a background character that doesn’t seem to be very relevant to the story. As the plot progresses, she becomes more present, and her role turns out to be much bigger than expected. Bom-sori gives personality to Ji-won, and she carries much of the soul of the show.
Assistant Manager Go’s love story is the purest one: not a common tale like Ki-joo’s, not problematic like Nam-goo’s. His story embraces the transcendent side of love, a love that goes beyond physical appearance, beyond place and time. This second couple manages to be as strong (and sometimes even more charming) as the main one.
What else? Should I watch The Midnight Studio?
Song Hyun-wook gives a classic tone to his direction, and the cinematography here follows K-drama standards. As you can imagine, The Midnight Studio is a show that relies quite a bit on special effects. Although they did work hard on it, VFX isn’t that smooth all the time, and it ends up being one of the weak links of the production.
Highlights from the OST are Elaine’s beautiful “I Wonder Why” (Elaine is always fantastic, so nothing new here), BEN’s “Your Traces” and the incredibly moving “Superstitions” by Lee Sung-eun.
All in all, The Midnight Studio might not be an extraordinary fantasy show, but it’s definitely an enjoyable one. Ki-joo and his gang are the adorable found family you need on a rainy day. Moving, sweet, and simple, The Midnight Studio made me think about the love I share with the ones around me, about my own present, and about how important it is to cherish every second. I have a feeling some of these characters will stay with me for quite some time, and I might revisit some episodes here and there.
No time to read the entire review? Looking for the spoiler-free version? So why don’t you pin our summary? Just click it to pin it!
If you want to watch a show that won’t stress the life out of you and that helps you have a good cry at the end of a long day, The Midnight Studio might just fit the bill. You can catch it on:
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