Netflix Drama Review: XO, Kitty Anna Cathcart Goes To South Korea In To All The Boys Ive Loved Before Spinoff Series
- Anna Cathcart plays Kitty Song Covey in XO, Kitty, a new 10 episode series that follows her search for true love in Seoul.
- For All the Boys I've Loved Before, fans will likely be thrilled, especially with Kitty's reveal of her self-discovery.
3/5 stars
Following the smash success of the 2018 Netflix romantic comedy To All the Boys I've Loved Before and its two sequels XO, Kitty comes to grips with the romantic misadventures of the youngest of the series' three Korean-American sisters (played by Kitty Song Covey). . Anna Cathcart) to find your own true love.
The film trilogy focuses on the relationship of middle sister Lara Jean (Lana Condor) as she lives a naïve and often self-centered high school life in suburban Portland, Oregon, USA.
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The new ten-episode series marks the first time the streaming platform has created a spin-off show for one of the original films, with Jenny Han, whose novel adapts the film, serving as showrunner and head writer.
In the series, Kitty travels to the South Korean capital Seoul to explore her roots and find her Korean boyfriend, Dae (Choi Min-young, Twenty-Five Twenty-One, Kdrama Twenty-Five Twenty-One ).
Kitty is impulsive and misguided from the start. After briefly meeting Dae on a family trip to Seoul at the start of the third film, they keep in touch online and Kitty is convinced that he is her first true love.
© Provided by South China Morning Post (from left) Anna Cathcart as Kitty Song Covey, Gia Kim Yuri and Choi Min-young Dae XO in the film starring Kitty. Photo: Park Young-Sun/NetflixUnbeknownst to his father (John Corbett), the high school student applies for a scholarship program at KISS, the Independent Korean School in Seoul, the same institution as Dae and where the girl's late Korean mother was an exchange student. .
When they accept, Kitty sees it as good luck, not only because she can follow in her mother's footsteps and hopefully understand her better, but also because she can surprise Dae in the most romantic way possible.
Her father reluctantly agrees, and Kitty packs her bags only to discover that Dae already has a girlfriend, Yuri (Gia Kim), daughter of Jina Kim (Kim Yunjin, perhaps best known for her role as Sun), a tycoon-business owner and manager of KISS. Lost in the ABC series).
© South China Morning Post Anna Cathcart (left) as Kitty Song Covey and Kim Yunjin as Jina Kim in photo by XO, Kitty. Photo: Park Young-Sun/NetflixHowever, all is not as it seems, and those familiar with the franchise will know that many of the adventures of the Song Covey girls stem from misunderstandings about fake relationships set up by the contestants with ulterior motives.
Long before Kitty learned the truth, the public knew the secret that Yuri and Dae's relationship was just for show. Yuri is actually gay, but he's determined not to tell his parents, so he bribes a classmate to pose as his girlfriend.
Dae's father works for Yuri's father, who is in dire need of positive PR after filming a work trip. Bringing Dae into his family seemed like the perfect answer, so Yuri and his working "boyfriend" lined up in front of the media to make it official.
© South China Morning Post Sang-heon Lee as XO Min-ho in Kitty's photo. Photo: NetflixDue to Kit's heartbreak, he too must band together and begin his studies in a strange and unfamiliar new environment. He makes new friends, especially gay Q (Anthony Keyvan) and arrogant rich man Min-ho (Sang-heon Lee). He also finds something in common with Alex (Peter Thurnwald), a young Korean teacher from Australia.
However, Kitty gets even more curious when she learns that Senior Kim was a KISS student at the same time as her mother. There were also photos of each other, but when asked, the authorities were vague and downplayed their relationship.
Suffice it to say that Han and his team of writers created a rich, vibrant landscape for Kitty to navigate that transcends the simple shenanigans of fish out of water.
© South China Morning Post Choi Min-young (left) Dae and Anna Cathcart as Kitty Song Covey XO, courtesy of Kitty's photo . Photo: Park Young-Sun/NetflixWhile there have been few films that have been able to showcase the girls' mixed heritage, XO, Kitty is now free to capitalize on her new surroundings and the growing popularity of all things Korean in as many ways as possible.
The roller coaster narrative owes much to the wild twists and turns that define K-dramas, the cliches of American high school sweethearts. Nods to 80s classics like The Breakfast Club can be found in K-pop anthems (G)I-dle, Seventeen, and Park Hye-jin.
The show also featured appearances by famous faces such as Han Chae-young, as actress Min-ho's mother, and Park Chae-rin of girl group Cherry Bullet, one of Min-ho's famous quotes.
© South China Morning Post Anna Cathcart (left) as Kitty Song Covey and Choi Min-young Dae as XO, Kitty in a Cauldron. Photo: Park Young-Sun/NetflixThere are also some odd inconsistencies. The show does its best to highlight South Korea's strict intolerance of underage drinking, but also exhibits a more open and accepting attitude toward non-binary relationships than is typical for Korean youth.
At times like these , "XO Kitty" is still reminiscent of an American show under the guise of Korea, which rarely goes beyond the safety boundaries of school campuses.
Still, fans of Han's diverse, inclusive, and evolving romantic escapades are likely to delight, especially Kitty's revelations of self-discovery.
XO, Kitty is on Netflix.
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