Netflix's The Interest of Love has no interest in showing love at all!

Interest of Love starring Moon Ka-Young and Yoo Yeon-Seok is about four very confused people and their love lives that will not only leave you bored but quite frustrated as well!

I completely understand love is an alien concept to all of us and handling relationships is not everyone’s cup of tea. I also know that people are way more layered and deeper than we know and everything is not just black and white. But Netflix's Interest of Love does not even deal with the grays. It runs on a color spectrum that's probably one I’m not even familiar with. I started this K-drama with a lot of expectations given that both main leads are not just super good looking but also have a really good career trajectory. We’ve Yoo Yeon-Seok in Hospital Playlist, a K-drama so highly acclaimed and then Moon Ka-Young winning hearts in True Beauty; it was quite disappointing to see both of them play characters that did not have much growth or exploration at all.

Interest of Love is a story about four people who meet at the Youngpo Branch of the KCU Bank. I was excited to see a K-drama set amidst the backdrop of a bank because that’s a premise that has not been explored before. Ha Sang-Su (Yoo Yeon-Seok) pursues an ordinary life. He believes happiness is having an unshakable, average journey. Ahn Su-Yeong (Moon Ka-Young) thinks that love does not last forever and can go away at any moment. She's busy supporting herself under unpleasant circumstances. Park Mi-Gyeong (Keum Sae-Rok) comes from a rich family, she is self-assertive and quite open about her feelings. When she has someone that she likes, she makes that person join her side no matter what. Jeong Jong-Hyeon (Jung Ga-Ram) is studying for an exam to become a police officer and he has a personality that drives him to do his best in everything. 

Also Read: Why love shown in K-dramas always reminds me of the early 2000s old school Bollywood love that I miss so much!

Ha Sang-Su and Ahn Su-Yeong have feelings for each other and are quite drawn towards one another’s energy. They try dating but because of reasons that don’t really feel so concrete, to be hones, they drop that plan. Instead they get into half hearted relationships with Park Mi-Gyeong and Jeong Jong-Hyeon respectively. The other two are completely head over heels for the main leads but because the relationship is so one-sided, things become toxic eventually. 

Ahn Su-Yeong constantly looks like she’s on a mission to make the wrong decisions on purpose and create unnecessary drama in her life which often makes those who love her suffer a lot. An inferiority complex and class divide plays an important factor in things going haywire in this drama. It highlights how Korean families are very strict about marrying their children into someone of the same status as them. It often feels unbelievable in a genre that has been so progressive with their stories lately. 

I have also realized the value of dialogues through this K-drama. There are so many awkward silences and 90% of the time the characters are just staring at each other to the point where it feels like should I say something to break the ice? Even when they do talk, it takes them forever to finish their sentences and that makes the show feel so slow and dragged. This story easily could’ve been finished in 8 episodes and didn't require 16 episodes of one hour, each.

However, I found a liking towards Song Kyung-Pil’s character  (Moon Tae-Yoo). He is who he is and doesn’t put up an act. He is pretty straightforward with his opinions but he’s also hurting on the inside because of some things he did in the past. His heart has always been in the right place though. 

I noticed that a lot of the scenes from the show have a dark background which is probably trying to foreshadow the dark turns their relationships eventually take in the show as well and I love that. The story might not be upto the mark but the cinematography could probably be one of the reasons that could help keep you interested in the show. 

Overall, the last two episodes do their best to redeem themselves and turn the story around and yes, being a hopeless romantic there were times I fell for it but it completely falls flat and leaves you so disappointed with its open ended climax, confused screenplay and so much potential wasted in the journey of these 16 episodes.

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