Set in 1999, the story revolves around Na Bo-ra (Kim Yoo-jung), a seventeen-year-old high school student with a bright personality. Bo-ra's best friend, Yeon-du (Roh Yoon-seo), who has been preparing to visit the US for heart surgery, suddenly declares that she cannot leave as she has fallen in love with a boy from their school whose name she knows as Baek Hyun-jin (Park Jung-woo). Bo-ra promises that she will follow Baek Hyun-jin, find out everything about him, and email what she discovers. Reassured, Yeon-du departs.
At school, Bo-ra starts to follow Hyun-jin. One day, she overhears that Hyun-jin and his best friend Poong Woon-ho (Byeon Woo-seok) will join the broadcasting club at school, so she successfully auditions to join the club. While Woon-ho joins the club, Hyun-jin does not. Bo-ra tries to get close to Woon-ho in order to observe Hyun-jin.
Hyun-jin, mistaken that Bo-ra is interested in him, asks her to date him only to be rejected by her. Meanwhile, Bo-ra realizes that she has fallen in love with Woon-ho, who has developed feelings for her as well.
When Yeon-du returns to Korea after successful heart surgery, they realize that Bo-ra has been following the wrong boy, and that the real 'Baek Hyun-jin' whom Yeon-du loves is actually Poong Woon-ho, a confusion caused by the boy wearing his friend's school jacket bearing his name tag. Loyal to her friend, and protective because of her health condition, Bo-ra conceals that she loves the same Woon-ho. Then Bo-ra starts to avoid Woon-ho so that their blossoming relationship will end, but through Hyun-jin, Yeon-du learns that Woon-ho and Bo-ra like each other. A tearful Yeon-du tells Bo-ra that she can give up Woon-ho for the sake of their friendship, that Bo-ra is the most cherished person for her. Yeon-du is disappointed that Bo-ra was not honest with her and hid her feelings for Woon-ho.
Meanwhile, Woon-ho prepares to move back to New Zealand to resume life with his mother and younger brother. On the day of his departure, with the help of Yeon-du and Hyun-jin, Bo-ra arrives at the train station just in time for them to confess their feelings before separating. They maintain contact while Woon-ho plans to attend university in Seoul. Without explanation, Woon-ho stops answering Bo-ra's emails; she never hears from him again. Heartbroken, confused, and angry, Bo-ra tries to get over him.
Time passes as Bo-ra attends university and matures. In 2019, she receives an invitation to an art exhibition from a person named Joseph, who turns out to be Woon-ho's younger brother, from whom she learns that Woon-ho died in an accident all those years ago. Joseph thanks Bo-ra for remembering Woon-ho and says that the happiest moments in Woon-ho's short life were spent in her company. As the film ends, Bo-ra views a heartwarming, yet heartbreaking, video made by Woon-ho that depicts their time together.
Director Bang Woo-ri wrote the script based on her personal experience of exchanging diaries with her friend. The film is set in Cheongju, the director's hometown.[14]
The film was invited to 27th Busan International Film Festival and premiered at 'Korean Cinema Today - Special Premiere' section on October 6, 2022.[17][18] It was released on Netflix on October 21, 2022.[19]
Reception
Viewership
A day later after its release, 20th Century Girl ranked 7th globally on Netflix's movie category.[20][21] Subsequently, on 24 October, it ranked 5th in the same category.[22] Within three days of its release, it debuted at 2 on Netflix's global chart of Top 10 non-English movie category for the week of October 17 to 23, with eight million hours viewed.[23]
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 86% based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10.Claire Lee, reviewing for Variety, praised the director for capturing "the feeling of devoted teenage friendships ... while acknowledging how they are inevitably meant to change ... as time goes on," as well as Kim Yoo-jung's portrayal as convincing and delightful Bo-ra, but stated, "the film leaves some of its key characters surprisingly unexplored, despite its two-hour running time." Lee concluded, "Though its potential is not fully realized, '20th Century Girl' does manage to add to the timeworn theme of first love by providing a moving examination of what makes certain moments and certain people unforgettable."[24]
In his review in South China Morning Post, James Marsh praised the performance of Kim Yoo-jung as a "dazzling central turn," and described the movie as a "genuinely heartwarming comedy of youthful errors." Giving 3 stars out of 5, Marsh criticized the appearance of adult Bo-ra, stating "[it] gives the film a heavy-handed and wholly unnecessary tragic coda, somewhat takes the wind out of the sails of what is for the most part a genuinely heartwarming comedy of youthful errors."[25] Writing for India Today, Bhavna Agarwal gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, praising Bang Woo-ri's use elements of the 90s to successfully teleports the audience to the last century, her screenplay which keeps the audience hooked, and the charismatic screen presence of Kim Yoo-jung and Byeon Woo-seok.[26]
Kim Kyung-hee of MBC appreciated Kim Yoo-jung's portrayal of Na Bo-ra, which undergirds the cute narrative and comic elements without ruining the overall romantic atmosphere. She stated, "this work has a charm that makes you smile as if it were a memory of your own first love," and [the film] "will be imprinted on the audience as "Korea's representative first love movie."[27]
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^Hwang So-young (October 28, 2022). 전혜원, '20세기 소녀'·'슈룹' 세기 오가는 신스틸러 ['Jeon Hye-won, a scene stealer from '20th Century Girl' and 'Queen's Umbrella']. JTBC (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 28, 2022 – via Naver.
^ abcKim Na-yeon (October 19, 2022). 20세기 소녀' 김유정 "한효주와 세번째 인연, 신기해..너무 고맙고 아낀다 [20th Century Girl' Kim Yoo-jung "The third relationship with Han Hyo-joo is amazing. Thank you so much and I love you]. OSEN [ko] (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 19, 2022. Retrieved October 19, 2022 – via Naver.
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^Choi Beom-gyu (October 8, 2021). "'20세기 소녀' 등 촬영 청주 상당구 일부 도로 12~15일 부분 통제" [Partial control of some roads in Cheongju, Sangdang District, from the 12th to the 15th of the filming of 'Girl of the 20th Century']. No Cut News (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 25, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2022 – via Naver.
^Jeon Chang-hae (December 12, 2021). [청주소식] 14일 충북대 일대 통제…'20세기 소녀' 촬영 [[Cheongju News] On the 14th, the whole area of Chungbuk National University was controlled... Filming of '20th Century Girl']. Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 21, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2022 – via Naver.
^Lee Ja-young (August 31, 2022). 3년 만의 정상 개최 부산국제영화제, 새 섹션 '지석' 등 첫 선 [Busan International Film Festival held at the summit for the first time in 3 years, new section 'Jiseok' debuted] (in Korean). Busan Ilbo. Archived from the original on August 31, 2022. Retrieved August 31, 2022 – via Naver.
^Kim Da-eun (September 26, 2022). 김유정X노윤서 '20세기 소녀' 10월 21일 공개 확정 [Kim Yoo-jung X Noh Yun-seo's '20th Century Girl' to be released on October 21st]. Daily Sports (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 29, 2022. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
^Kang Bo-ra (October 22, 2022). 김유정·변우석 '20세기 소녀', 넷 플릭스 7위...36개국 차트인 [Kim Yoo-jung and Byun Woo seok '20th Century Girl', Netflix 7th... Charts in 36 countries]. Single List (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
^Kim Na-yeon (October 23, 2022). 김유정X변우석 '20세기 소녀', 넷플릭스 글로벌 5위..韓·日서 1위 [Kim Yoo-jung X Byun Woo-seok '20th Century Girl', Netflix Global 5th... 1st in Korea and Japan]. Star News (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022 – via Naver.
^Kim Kyung-hee (October 10, 2022). [애프터스크리닝] '20세기 소녀' 대표적인 첫사랑 영화의 간판 갈아치울 이름★★★ [[Afterscreening] A name that will change the signboard of the representative first love movie of '20th Century Girl']. MBC Entertainment (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 18, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022 – via Naver.
^Cho Yeon-kyung (April 7, 2023). 제59회 백상예술대상, TV·영화·연극 최종 후보 공개 [59th Baeksang Arts Awards, TV/Film/Play Finalists Revealed] (in Korean). JTBC. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
