Directed by Kim Tae-yong, “Wonderland” is a new K-drama that follows a sci-fi narrative. It shows a world where an artificial intelligence service allows people to communicate with their departed loved ones. The script, written by Kim Tae-yong & Min Ye-ji, simultaneously follows a couple of narratives interwoven due to their connection to the said service. Through their stories, the film traces our constant pursuit of a genuine human connection. Besides, it explores the existential questions to reflect on the human consciousness. It stars Tang Wei (“Decision to Leave”), Bae Suzy (“Architecture 101”), Park Bo-gum (“Hello Monster”), Jung Yu-mi (“Train to Busan”), and Choi Woo-shik (“Parasite“) in the central roles.
Spoilers Ahead
Wonderland (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Kim Tae-yong’s “Wonderland” revolves around people trying to connect with their loved ones, who departed from their lives for one or the other reason. It primarily follows three narratives to navigate the nature of human connections. So, let’s try to understand these stories and how they explore the film’s core themes.
What is ‘Wonderland’ – the K-drama about?
The Korean-language drama “Wonderland” revolves around an artificial intelligence service that lets people speak with their departed loved ones. Hae-ri (Jung Yu-mi) runs the service’s daily operations with her associate, Hyeon-soo (Choi Shik).
Jeong-in & Tae-joo
Jeong-in (Bae Suzy), a flight attendant, decides to use the Wonderland service after her boyfriend Tae-joo (Park Bo-gum) goes into a coma. It offers Jeong-in a chance to spend time with Tae-joo’s alternate version. In this case, Tae-joo is an astronaut who is far away in space. They talk each day and behave like a real couple. The two share their joys and offer each other company from miles away. But in the end, it is only a mirage. Jeong-in faces a real problem when Tae-joo begins to recover from his coma. She starts feeling a certain dissonance in their relationship.
Soon after, Tae-joo wakes up from the bed in the hopes of resuming his life with Jeong-in as before. However, Jeong-in isn’t as comfortable being with him because she is used to spending time with his alternate version in the space. So, she finds it hard to connect with the real Tae-joo. She presumably feels like she is cheating on the Tae-joo she spent her recent time with. As a result, she starts to feel distant from Tae-joo and feels guilty for her actions. She keeps interacting with Tae-joo’s alternate version. One day. Tae-joo notices texts on her phone to someone. He wonders what went wrong in their relationship.
Song Jeong-ran & Her Grandson
Song Jeong-ran (Sung Byung-sook) avails the Wonderland service to stay in touch with her grandson, Choi Jin-gu (Tang Jun-sang). She speaks with him through video calls as a part of the service. In this case, Jin-gu resides in England and is passionate about his life in the theatre. He passionately tells Jeong-ran about his experiences in that foreign country. She gets satisfied seeing him happy. It offers her an illusion of his existence and makes her feel less alone. More than anything, it allows her to escape her dread about his absence.
Elated by Jin-gu’s presence in her life, Jeong-ran does everything to see him happy. So, she decides to get him a car. Over a call, he reveals that he doesn’t like his car. To please him, she also agrees to pay for his ideal car and asks Hae-ri if it’s possible. As a service representative, Hae-ri says that it is. But she feels bad for old Jeong-ran, who is spending her late years working for money. So, later, Hae-ri gets on a call with Jin-gu and tells him that his grandmother has passed away and, thus, won’t be able to fulfill his wishes any longer.
Bai Li & Ma Jia
Bai Li, a founder-manager, joins the Wonderland service to be able to talk to her daughter, Ma Jia, even after her death. She regrets not giving Ma Jia enough time due to her busy schedule. So, she decides to make up for it. In this alternate version, she becomes an archaeologist and speaks with Ma Jia from a foreign land. Bai Li’s mother, Hwa Ran (Nina Paw), coordinates their conversations. She makes Ma Jia feel her mother’s presence. Meanwhile, Bai Li’s deceased husband, Seong Jun (Gong Yoo), uses the service to cope with his grief about Bai Li’s loss.
Through Wonderland, Seong Jun hopes to seek peace from his overbearing grief. In that dream-like world, he speaks with Bai Li like they are strangers. Meanwhile, archaeologist Bai Li starts feeling Hwa Ran is hiding something from her. She expects to return to her real life only to face the limitations of her dream-like world. It leads her to realize something strange about her existence. She believes she is real without realizing that she is only an artificial version of Bai Li.
Wonderland (2024) Korean Movie Ending Explained:
Can Bae Li escape the wonderland?
While helping people reunite, Hae-ri seeks her own sense of comfort. She speaks with her parents (Lee Eol & Kang Ae Shim) with the help of her service. They hope to see her engaged. So, Hyeon-soo pretends to be her boyfriend. However, while helping others, Hae-ri realizes the futility of such connections and feels the need for a real connection. The AI versions of Bai Li and Tae-joo also start realizing the nature of their existence. Subsequently, Hae-ri, who masterminds their connections, decides to erase the existing data. It leads to every character needing to choose whether to linger on their past or to let go and move on.
At the end of “Wonderland,” Jeong-in reunites with Tae-joo as she makes peace with the end of her relationship with the astronaut Tae-joo. Bai Li meets her daughter & her mother to say goodbye. Then, she returns to the same bench she shared with Sung-joon. After their almost-identical brief conversation, she goes to her work and tells him goodbye. It doesn’t offer all the answers. Still, this ending represents some characters accepting reality while others cling to the illusion of the existence of their departed. Despite its loopholes, “Wonderland” is a fairly effective portrayal of how we process our grief and understand the root of our existence.
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