Prepare to be dominated! Love and Leashes Review
When Netflix Korea announced that there’ll be a film about BDSM starring Seohyun and Jun the whole K-pop and K-drama world was both surprised and intrigued.
Known as a very conservative society, very few would have anticipated a film of this genre coming from South Korea. Love and Leashes managed to balance the concept of BDSM and educating the audience about the in and outs of a fully consensual adult relationship, even if both parties occasionally bite or hit each other.
In this film we get to see how consensual relationships or situationships work out from different point of views. The first is Jung Ji-woo and Jung Ji-hoo, who we see testing the works of BDSM ( female Dom and male Sub). In the beginning the pair seem to transition into their roles with ease, taking things step by step and relaxing into each other’s space. However things get complicated when Jung Ji-hoo wonders if they could start dating. This romantic possibility throws their strictly BDSM relationship into flux as jealousy and other emotions come into play.
The second POV is explored through Ji-woo’s friend Hye-Mi, an expert at BDSM, who runs into trouble while meeting a guy from a BDSM site. In this scene we see how the film brings in the concept of consent which aims to enlighten the audience on this serious topic. After kicking his a** and tying him up in self defence (as she f*cking should) Hye-Mi leaves the audience with a thought provoking line “ just because I’m a pervert, doesn’t mean you should mistreat me”.
The final POV is one many may have encountered, between Ji-hoo and his ex-girlfriend Ha-Na. The film flashes back and forth into Ji-hoo’s previous relationship and to bring the audience into understanding Ji-hoo’s hestitance in starting new romantic relationships. In his previous relationship Jih-hoo and Ha-na appeared seemingly happy until Ji-hoo felt comfortable to share his BDSM fantasy with Ha-Na. Ha-Na does not take this well, making her boyfriend feel that there was something wrong with him. This turns out to be a deal breaker for her and eventually calls it quits, but not without bringing complications for Ji-hoo and Ji-woo.
Netflix Korea’s Instagram
This film overall is a breath of fresh air, with important topics being highlighted and staying true to reality with a variety of scenes in the film. Love and Leashes gets a rating of 7.5/10. Looking forward to seeing Korean writers and filmmakers tackle more serious “controversial” topics that exist in their society.
Written by Thabiso Malumane
