Based on true stories

Signal tells the story of Park Hae Yeong who, one night totally by chance finds an old walky talky in a garbage... and suddenly comes into contact with a cop from the past, Lee Jae Han. With this one and the help of Cha Su Hyeon, they will try to solve famous unsolved murder cases.

Inspired by true stories, the different investigations that we follow throughout the drama (and which are spread over several episodes) are all more interesting than each other... At no time I was bored and we follow the path of clues and discoveries with some palpitations... The suspense is widely to meet and does not come alone since it brings with it many emotions. I confess to have cried a lot on several occasions simply because the drama manages to involve us so emotionally (and the superb BO is not for nothing) that we cannot remain insensitive to the difficulties our characters are going through. We get attached to them very quickly and we love always discover a little more about their past.

Speaking of past, I want to say that the jumps in the 80-90’s are just as interesting as the present and I had a great time with Lee Jae Han and the very young Cha Su Hyeon. The time jumps are neat, well used, well positioned and complement the present skillfully. Our brain starts to do gymnastics very quickly to know what year it is without any confusion.

The drama raises a big question: "If we had the possibility to change the past, would we take the risk of changing the present?" Because while Park Hae Yeong and Lee Hae Han are working together to try to catch these culprits in the past to try to save lives, their actions change the present and if sometimes they manage to save people, Others die as collateral damage. Difficult decisions, guilt and remorse then came to Park Hae Yeong who does not know what he should do... And we neither...

We have a true originality for the script and impeccable content and realization. I am really impressed that they were able to offer us 16 well-done episodes. Indeed the only small downside is that the characters do not seem to age (there is only their haircut changing) while 20 years have passed, but at least it has the merit of allowing us to never be lost, since when we change the actors to mark the passing of time, sometimes it is a bit difficult to follow...

Although I was very disappointed with the ending, the drama was exceptional during the other 15 episodes. Without a doubt one of the best I’ve seen, and my favorite for my 2016 screenings. Suspense, action, storyline, characters... Everything was so perfect that I sometimes had a hard time believing it. And then, emotionally speaking, it was really successful, led by a sublime OST, the drama makes us cry, stress, panic, curse and beg. So, backed by a quality realization, the rendering could only be a crush. I advise to everyone.

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They found in each other their only hope

The film opens with an emotionally very hard scene: a student’s suicide, and from the start, the viewer understands that it will be difficult. BETTER DAYS has taken it upon itself to speak out against school harassment in all its pain and to talk about young people in difficult family situations. Two very hard subjects that are treated throughout the story without a pinch and with a poignant realism.

Carried by incredible actors, the viewer drinks the story and cries with the characters throughout the two hours... They managed to find a perfect balance between showing the violence as it is, and still preserving the viewer (which I liked very much because I am not able to accept this kind of scene without turning away).

Throughout the two hours, the film is dedicated to denouncing the Chinese school system as a whole. Indeed, it puts a monumental pressure on its young people who have no other hope of finding a job and succeeding in life than entering the best universities in the country. We also discover all the rites of passage of a high school student who, for westerners like us, seem so outsized. It is incredible, for example, that the examinations to enter universities are considered a real national event mobilizing the police... If you are interested, there are many reports on the subject (I had seen one about South Korea in particular) that you can find on youtube or elsewhere on the net.
In short, all this to say that the pressure on students must be released on something... or someone. And this leads to serious abuses such as school harassment where a whole class will be (actively or passively) on one or more comrades. And you can imagine, this will be the case of our poor heroine.

I loved romance passionately... There are several scenes that have remained etched in my memory for their beauty or intensity. A powerful romance between two teenagers who found in each other their only hope.

The story revolves around three endearing, touching and realistic characters.

CHEN NIAN (Zhou Dong Yu) is a very introverted character who has locked himself in a sort of silence and who, out of fear and selfishness, chooses to let one of his comrades be harassed, hoping that he will not be in his shoes. He is an imperfect character who touches us with his humanity, his despair and his fierce struggle to get out of a disastrous family situation and the absence of his indebted mother.
XIAO BEI (Jackson Yi) is a street boy who no longer believes in anything and gives his life no meaning. Without a family, he had to learn to manage on his own and his days are punctuated by fights, small trafficking of all kinds and great solitude and precariousness. When he goes to meet CHEN NIAN, he will suddenly find a meaning to his existence and will base all his hopes on it... Even if it means sacrificing yourself for success.
Finally, the third character I wanted to talk about is this policeman, ZHENG YI (Yin Fang), a young man who starts in the profession and believes in justice. His ideals will soon be upset when he discovers with horror that he fails to protect our teenager and it is a character who touched me very much for all his efforts.

Frankly, everything was so perfect in BETTER DAYS... The direction is excellent and supports the drama of the film, the actors are extremely good in their roles, the adapted story of a novel (itself inspired by a true story) is moving... In short this film made me cry, made me smile also sometimes and above all moved me a lot throughout.
I can only advise you this huge crush!

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Kindness and humanity

To be honest, I was afraid to start this drama because without even reading the synopsis or watching any trailer, the few (very good) feedbacks I had from the drama were that it was upsetting and people cried during its viewing. MOVE TO HEAVEN seemed to be that kind of poignant melodrama that makes you cry all the tears of your body (heart) during all its episodes... and I was afraid that I wasn’t strong enough emotionally.
Finally, I got into it one night on a whim, and I have to say... MOVE TO HEAVEN is much more than that. MOVE TO HEAVEN is a therapy series that talks about sad, sometimes taboo topics and does so with unparalleled kindness. Yes it’s sad, we talk about hard topics like death and mourning but we do it well and we do it with a lot of love, warmth and positivity. A touching message, endearing characters and an enthralling scenario... let’s talk about one of my best Korean productions to date...

MOVE TO HEAVEN is about a young man with Asperger’s syndrome who was raised by his father and now works with him in a company called “Move to Heaven” that deals with the affairs of the deceased. The special feature of Move to Heaven is that the father and son treat this «last move» with respect, humanity and kindness, sorting and tidying up their affairs with great care.
While everything goes for the best for our adorable duo, the father has a heart attack and dies in the street. It is then his little brother, just out of prison who takes the guardianship of our hero. Except that between the two, things seem complicated from the start...

We will follow the evolution of their relationship over the episodes and I can tell you that this duo will touch you to a point that you can not imagine. While their first days together are quite catastrophic and they find themselves unable to communicate because neither wants to listen to the other, the continuation of their adventure as two turns out beautiful. Each in their own way will help the other to heal and move forward. Their complicity shows crescendo to finally crack the screen (and our hearts) and I watched each of their common appearance with the greatest greed.

And then, what is exciting in this drama is that we will get to know each of the people whose business we will put away with Move To Heaven. Each object tells little by little, piece by piece, the stories of these ordinary people with extraordinary messages. Because yes, it is through the flaws that we will address many issues of society such as: domestic violence (the suffering of these women who call for help but no one listens until it is too late), family and old age (with an old lady abandoned by her only son), homosexuality (and the difficulty of being able to love freely in a society still too closed in mind) or suicide (very interesting here because it is approached in a roundabout way the right to euthanasia for medical reasons).

What touched me deeply was the way in which we approach death. Because yes MOVE TO HEAVEN has a very beautiful way of seeing the mourning, talking about the absence of those who leave but also the pain of those who stay. And everything is done with a lot of delicacy and, strangely, positivity. We could have clearly fallen into the melodrama but the drama knows how to cure the pains it makes us go through, and that is really very beautiful. :')

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