Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Romance in the House’ on Netflix, A Rags-to-Riches K-Drama

A K-Drama limited series on Netflix, the series stars big names in Korea including Ji Jin-hee, Kim Ji-soo, Son Na-eun, and Choi Min-ho. Romance in the House will consist of 12 episodes that are released weekly.

ROMANCE IN THE HOUSE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Mi-rae is running on the bridge, seeing a bunch of corporate zombies walking toward her. Confused, she finally realizes it’s a dream.

The Gist: Mi-rae is a workaholic but smart corporate employee of a popular grocery chain — a job that helps sustain her mom and her younger brother’s lives. When the landlord of their villa suddenly dies in a fire and the property is sold to a mysterious new owner, the family must fight to stay in their apartment. Even worse? The new landlord is someone from their past whom they haven’t seen in over a decade.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The rags-to-riches theme is a popular one for K-Dramas: Full House or Business Proposal come to mind.

Our Take: Set in a working class family in South Korea, the Byeon family has had their share of ups and downs. Late in the first episode, Mi-rae recollects the tough childhood she had with an absent father and an overworked mother. She resolves to help her family, becoming the primary breadwinner by working herself to the bone, which often results in her chugging caffeine and eventually crashing.

Her mother finds out that the villa they live in has been sold to a new owner following the suspicious death of their landlord, but keeps this information from Mi-rae to have one less thing on her plate to worry about. Of course, the mysterious new owner — who is only seen in slo-mo shots of his fancy shoes and designer suits until the last scene — is someone who could have been helping the family all along. The series sets this twist up to be some sort of big reveal, but it’s quite predictable.

Romance in the House tries to balance a quirky tone (filled with actual sound effects that are jarring more than additive to the plot) with serious topics, and it doesn’t always land the plane. Further, some of the acting (namely Kim Ji-soo as the matriarch) feels so over the top and it’s occasionally unclear whether that’s on purpose for the story or just bad directing.

If you have patience for overly dramatic staging and acting, the plotting is done well and the premise is interesting enough to warrant tuning into the weekly episodes of this limited series.

Sex and Skin: Nothing spicy here.

Parting Shot: A family showdown at their supposed dead father’s memorial service reveals that the villa’s new owner is someone from their past who has been missing for a very long time.

Sleeper Star: Choi Min-ho as the sweet and attentive security guard makes an impression without having too many scenes and lines, and his character appears just enough to foreshadow a probable eventual romance with the main character.

Most Pilot-y Line: “Did a ghost come?” the central family asks after doing a ritual for their late father’s death anniversary. Except, the ritual really did summon a ghost of their past.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Despite some silly elements, the series is a fun hang.

Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a TV-obsessed writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Vulture, ELLE, Teen Vogue, and more. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.