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Love and Leashes

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Park Hyeonjin

Lee Junyoung

Seo Hyun-woo

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Love and Leashes’ on Netflix, A Korean Rom-Com With Sadomasochistic Vibes

Where to stream:.

• Love and Leashes

Seohyun, a former member of K-pop sensations Girls’ Generation and the first to go solo, has lately been focusing on acting. In Love and Leashes (Netflix), she co-stars with Lee Jun-young, who has also transitioned to acting after debuting with the boy band U-KISS and moving on to the Korean reality competition series The Unit. When co-workers Ji-woo and Ji-hoo consent to explore their dominant and submissive urges, will romance get the short end of the whip?

LOVE AND LEASHES : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: “No relationship is perfectly equal,” Jung Ji-woo (Seohyun) says at the beginning of Love and Leashes . “When two people meet, power always shifts to either of them.” And as she muses over the hidden desires that live inside everyone, her eyes fall on Jung Ji-hoo (Lee Jun-young), who’s just started working in her public relations office. With smiles and awkward jokes over their similar names, there’s an immediate connection. But Ji-woo is wary of making a move. “Why can’t girls say how they feel first?” she complains to her mom. “Are we in 1920 or something?” Her mom just laughs and says that rule will probably still apply in 2220.

Frustrated with modern dating, and angered by her obnoxious boss who constantly demeans the women in the office, Ji-woo is basically disgusted with the status quo. But she gets a shock to her system when she mistakenly opens a package meant for Ji-hoo. It’s a leather dog collar, spiked, and sized for a human neck. He freaks out – will she think he’s a pervert? Quite the opposite; she’s intrigued. And when Ji-woo shares with Ji-hoo her worry that people will see her as too bossy, he’s utterly smitten. “Ji-woo,” he asks with a sheepish grin, “will you be my master?”

After researching BDSM online, and in particular the typical relationship between a dom and a sub, Ji-woo agrees to be Ji-hoo’s master, and the two sign a three-month contract with stipulations for mutual safety and consent. And she leans into it. The collar is buckled. The leash is used. Commands. Rewards. And when he gifts her a pair of beautiful red high heels, she knows what her submissive wants. “Thank you for the shoes. Do you want me to step on you?”

An intimacy develops between them as the play sessions progress. But it exists outside of a romantic relationship, and that causes confusion for Ji-woo. Her feelings for Ji-hoo have deviated from his requirements as a submissive, while a bad breakup from his own past is still traumatizing his romantic present. Can these two crazy kids get past their issues and all of the societal and corporate world hang-ups, find an equilibrium, and build a relationship that’s mutually rewarding?

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? Netflix has a few films on its international slate that trade in the eccentricities and evolution of contemporary romance. In the French comedy Dear Mother , hijinks surround a married man’s confrontation of his Oedipal issues, while More the Merrier from Spain follows five interspersed stories of people searching for love and excitement.

Performance Worth Watching: Lee El, also of the Korean Netflix Original Black , is great in Leashes as Ji-woo’s outspoken pal Hye Mi, a dog cafe owner who’s searching for her own elusive flavor of love.

Memorable Dialogue: It’s months into the DS contract, and Ji-woo’s feelings for Ji-hoo are increasingly confused. “The more I enjoy it, the more I’m confused about our relationship outside of it. Is it normal to play as hard as this without having sex?”

Sex and Skin: Dog collars, leashes, whips, feathers, and gags, but no sex. It’s not about that, see?

Our Take: Love and Leashes takes a refreshingly open position on BDSM. In film, it’s often a topic that’s reduced to a visual gag. You know, thee vinyl outfits, the cuffs, the whips, the red-lit torture chambers. There’s even a tendency to reduce its practitioners to a single dimension, which is exactly the fear Ji-hoo has. He’s terrified that society will cast him out if his submissive nature is discovered, and it doesn’t help that his ex called him a pervert when she found out. But Leashes allows for his specific desires inside its romantic comedy frame, gently introducing the dog collar with a classic case of mistaken package delivery and respecting Ji-hoo’s agency as he broaches the subject of dominance and submission with Ji-woo. Their initial meet-cute and resulting hotel-bound dog and master experiment is a fun spin on typical romantic comedy sequencing, and normalizes the roles of each character.

Love and Leashes also soars when it expands the circle of dating in the modern world. Ji-woo’s friend Hye Mi is also looking for love, but her online personal ad only attracts creeps, to the point that she’s nearly assaulted on a blind date. With an assist from Ji-woo and Ji-hoo, she puts her attacker in his place. “Just because I’m perverted, doesn’t mean you can treat me like shit.” And they lament the toxicity with which BDSM is treated in culture. It’s another interesting wrinkle for a film that’s otherwise a pretty standard rom-com on its surface, with the usual assortment of leads and supporting actors with real chemistry and a series of mishaps and calamities that lead them all to a sense of universal truth. And Hye Mi gets the last word. “D or S, or S or M, we all are looking for someone who can accept our true selves under the mask.”

Our Call: STREAM IT. Love and Leashes cleverly subverts the rom com formula even as it tows the genre line, giving it a streak of unpredictability to match its goodhearted message about love in the modern world.

Will you stream or skip the Korean rom-com #LoveandLeashes on @netflix ? #SIOSI — Decider (@decider) February 23, 2022

Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges

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‘Love And Leashes’ review: entertainingly saucy and delightfully informative

A pleasantly unexpected BDSM-themed Netflix Korea original film starring Girls’ Generation’s Seohyun

A mainstream South Korean film depicting a BDSM relationship and starring Girls’ Generation ’s Seohyun was most certainly not on our bingo cards for 2022. No one could have anticipated that a South Korean film would ever dare centre itself so heavily around the topic of sex, much less unabashedly delve into the world of sexual fetishes and kinks as Love And Leashes does – and yet, here we are.

• READ MORE: ‘All Of Us Are Dead’ review: a grisly zombie apocalypse that bites off more than it can chew

Based on the webcomic Moral Sense , the film begins as Jung Ji-woo (played by Seohyun) comes across an unfamiliar face in the office, who is later revealed to be a new transfer from the company’s business department. His name is Jung Ji-hoo (former UKISS and UNB member Lee Jun-young); the uncanny similarities between their names – there’s only a singular letter separating them – elicit amusement from their co-workers, who point out the likelihood of misidentification in the future.

Like clockwork, said confusion happens almost immediately: a mysterious parcel addressed to Ji-hoo is mistakenly delivered to Ji-woo’s desk, who opens it to find a curious spiked collar. Ji-hoo is thrown into a frenzied state by the mere sight of Ji-woo discovering the contents of his parcel, and tries his best to play it off by explaining that it’s for his (fictional) three-year-old poodle. He fails miserably, of course – Ji-woo’s unfazed disposition allows her to spot the cracks in his pretense. The rest is history: the wild whirlwind of a raunchy new relationship begins between the two colleagues, who engage in a contractual dominant and submissive (D&S) relationship soon thereafter.

As with many sexual fetishes and kinks, the actuality of BDSM is often overcast by the various (often negative) misconceptions among the general public. Popular Western films that have touched on these dynamics, like the Fifty Shades Of Grey series or even American Psycho , are often rife with tropes that perpetuate or even glorify harmful stereotypes of the power play between the dominant partner and their submissives.

Love And Leashes , however, is refreshingly different. Instead of following in the footsteps of its predecessors – many of which highlighted and glamorised the unlikely precariousness of BDSM – the film chooses to emphasise what are arguably the most important albeit overlooked aspects of such relationships: consent and mutual respect.

For instance, while Ji-hoo does develop a desire for Ji-woo to enter a D&S dynamic with him as her submissive, he’s careful not to push or pressure her into engaging in things she may not feel comfortable with. Likewise, Ji-woo takes the time and effort to understand her feelings and what the relationship would entail, thoroughly researching the concept and establishing a contract that emphasises consent from both parties involved.

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The delicate expression of its subject matter is delivered best through its educational aspects, executed to near perfection by director and writer Park Hyeon-jin. She allows viewers to take away at least some information about the oft-misconstrued sexual dynamic, which is already a win for the film.

Love And Leashes also surprises in the framing of Ji-hoo and Ji-woo’s partnership as a feel-good romantic comedy, rather than yet another overwrought and unrelentingly intense portrayal. It’s chock full of light-hearted moments and ludicrously funny circumstances, which leave you rooting for both characters as they each battle both internal and external pressures threatening their BDSM relationship.

The only thing that leaves us wanting more is the on-screen chemistry between Seohyun and Lee, which at times fails to justify the magnetic, nearly inextricable relationship they’re trying to depict. Certain high-tension scenes come off as awkward, while some others make them look like amicable friends at best. The film itself could also benefit from better pacing, as it suffers from unnecessarily long-drawn events that leave space for viewers to grow disinterested, particularly in its second act.

In spite of its shortcomings, Love And Leashes drives home the message that personal sexual preferences are highly subjective and should be respected regardless. It’s poignant in informing and representing the value of sexual expression and acceptance, wholeheartedly portraying that BDSM relationships are more often than not as grounded and human as the people involved.

• Director: Park Hyeon-jin
• Starring: Seohyun, Lee Jun-young
• Release date: February 11
• Related Topics
• Girls' Generation
• Love and Leashes

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Love and Leashes (2022)

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Love and Leashes

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Seohyun (Jung Ji-Woo) Lee Joon-young (Jung Ji-Hoo) Lee El (Hye Mi) Nicole Fong (Jung Ji-Woo) Baek Hyun-joo (Ji Woo's Mother) Darren Keilan (Woo-Hyuk) Arvin Lee (Jung Ji-Hoo) Lee Seok-hyeong (Woo Hyuk) Ahn Seung-kyoon (Lee Han) Harrison Xu (Lee Han)

Hyeon-jin Park

Love never hurt so good for two co-workers who enter a contractual relationship as partners in consensual play, pleasure and pain.

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Love And Leashes Review : This light rom-com is a cursory guide to BDSM sexual practice

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Love and Leashes

Office romance gets a little kinky in the latest Korean Netflix production…

The Korean takeover of Netflix continues with Love and Leashes , a romantic comedy which as the title suggests comes with a bit of a kinky twist. Another webtoon adaptation, based on Moral Sense by Gyeoul, the film was directed by female helmer Park Hyun-jin, who has considerable experience in the genre, having worked on the likes of Lovers of Six Years , Remarkable Woman and Like for Likes . Headlined by a popular musical duo in Seohyun of Girls’ Generation fame and Lee Jun-young of U-KISS, the film launched on Netflix in early February, offering audiences something a little more adventurous for Valentine’s Day.

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The film opens with Seohyun as Jung Ji-woo, a worker at a PR firm known for being uptight and fierce, who gets a surprise when she accidentally opens a package for her similarly-named new colleague Jung Ji-hoo (Lee Jun-young), finding a rather large dog collar and leash inside. Ji-hoo confesses to her that he’s actually a BDSM devotee, and in particular a sub looking for a master, and tries to convince her to take on the role. Although new to the scene, Ji-woo is attracted to him and agrees to give it a go, and the two enter into a sub-dom relationship which they try to work around their office roles. Matters become complicated when their feelings for each other start to get in the way, and as they face up to societal attitudes towards their lifestyle choices.

Anyone expecting Korean version of Fifty Shades of Grey is likely to be a bit disappointed with Love and Leashes , as it’s essentially a typical Korean rom-com with a bit of a twist, and despite its premise is at heart still a conservative and generic affair. Certainly, viewers lured in by the 18 rating and promises of explicit content won’t find what they’re looking for, as the film is very tame by western standards, with no nudity, sex or anything particularly racy. Instead, Park Hyun-jin uses the BDSM plot mainly as a plea for the societal acceptance of people who are different and to vaguely expose hypocrisy, and on this score the webtoon’s name Moral Sense is arguably a better, if less eyebrow-raising title.

To be fair, Park spends a good amount of the running time exploring the scene in terms of the different roles of the dom and sub, mostly through Ji-woo checking internet message boards – the film does get quite detailed in this respect, handily providing a bit of a checklist for anyone who feels curious after viewing. While there’s no real psychological or emotional depth to this, the film does feel genuine in its desire to represent its characters and BDSM relationships properly, rather than using them for cheap laughs or anything exploitative.

This aside, Love and Leashes plays out very much as a traditional Korean romantic comedy, from the usual initial cutesy awkwardness, through to misunderstandings, troublesome exes and all the usual obstacles thrown in the path of generic love, with subplots involving whacky best friends thrown in for good measure. Park does a perfectly acceptable job as director, and the film is reasonably well-made by the standards of the genre, with a bright and breezy feel throughout, successfully ticking all the necessary rom-com boxes without pretention and at a decent pace. It’s all very nice-natured, with the focus firmly on what amounts to a fairly innocent office romance, and from this angle the absence of sex and sleaze isn’t really a problem, at least for viewers with suitably adjusted expectations.

Crucially, both Seohyun and Lee Jun-young are on likeable form, and though their characters are thinly-written genre stereotypes, watching them bicker and fall in love in the usual way still makes for an entertaining couple of hours. The two have a fun chemistry, and while their pairing doesn’t exactly set the screen on fire, it’s enough to carry the film and to make its familiar story enjoyable – Lee Jun-young earns extra points as the sub half of the couple, which sees him donning all manner of different BDSM outfits.

Love and Leashes being on Netflix makes it an easy watch, and what it lacks in originality it just about makes up for in charm. Though Park Hyun-jin’s film might well underwhelm through its avoidance of anything explicit or Fifty Shades of Grey , it’s a solid Korean rom-com that’s boosted by an appealing lead pairing.

Love and Leashes is streaming now on Netflix.

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Rewind 20 years or so to the 1970s, where the preteen Clotaire is already an untameable tearaway, treated roughly by his hard-up dock-worker dad (Karim Leklou) and constantly tussling with his devoted younger brother Kiki. By the mid-1980s, 17-year-old Clotaire (now played by Malik Frikah, a wily, jittery revelation) has turned into much the swaggering hellion you might expect, complete with motorbike, buzzcut and bad attitude — but with a boyish twinkle to his delinquency that’s rather beguiling. At least, it is to middle-class 15-year-old Jackie (Mallory Wanecque, channelling the young Juliette Lewis), new at school after being kicked out of a private Catholic academy for insubordination. That detail aside, she’s essentially a good girl, smart and conscientious and devoted to her doting single dad (Alain Chabat) — who grimly sees the writing on the wall when she begins dating this antsy rebel.

Lellouche spends rather too long on the pair’s first flush of puppy-love, giving us one glowingly shot montage after another of starry-eyed scene fragments — dewy lovemaking on the beach, a perfect kiss in a sprawling, canary-colored canola field — that rather overstress a point already made by a single more arresting fantasy setpiece. To the heartsore strains of “A Forest” by Jackie’s favorite band The Cure, the two lovers break into an elaborately choreographed pop ballet through the suddenly depopulated grounds of the school, their bodies darting and twirling and nearly merging in midnight-blue silhouette. It’s not the last time “Beating Hearts” will flirt with the language of the full-scale movie musical — minus any directly performed songs — without entirely going there, and the film, otherwise so gung-ho in its risk-taking, would have benefited from committing wholeheartedly to the conceit.

Things get less interesting, albeit still quite compelling, when Lellouche reverts to straight-ahead genre storytelling. Clotaire drops out of school, falls predictably into the clutches of ruthless local gang boss Le Brosse (Benoît Poelvoorde), and winds up taking the fall when an innocent man is killed by Le Brosse’s slimy son Tony (Anthony Bajon, making the most of a minor role) during a botched heist — cuing a 12-year stint behind bars. Emerging from prison in the considerably more buff form of Civil, he returns home carrying an assortment of scores to settle, and a still-burning torch for Jackie (Exarchopoulos), now in a passionless marriage to white-collar yuppie Jeffrey (Vincent Lacoste), and still not over her first, all-consuming love.

Exarchopoulos is an intensely grounding presence in an act that could otherwise float off into pure fancy. Handed the pithiest, most emotionally exposed dialogue in the script by Lellouche, Ahmed Hamidi and “Happening” director Audrey Diwan, she brings the viewer fully into Jackie’s pit of arrested adolescent despair as she weeps to a mixtape recording of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.” It’s another scene where you wish that “Beating Hearts” — already so disarming in its heart-on-sleeve surrender to feeling, and so brazenly unconcerned with being composed or cool — would take that complete leap into the void, and let the lady sing. But we swell up and well up with it anyway, just as we improbably did earlier, at the deeply kitsch and frankly repulsive image of a used blob of pink chewing gum, taken by a truly down-bad Jackie from her beloved’s mouth, starting to pulse and throb like, well, a beating heart. It shouldn’t work, but it does. Love makes you do crazy things.

Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (Competition), May 23, 2024. Running time: 165 MIN. (Original title: "L'amour ouf")

• Production: (France) A Chi-Fou-Mi Prods., Trésor Films, Studiocanal, France 2 Cinéma, Cool Industrie, Artémis Prods., VOO and BeTv, Proximus co-production. (World sales: Studiocanal, Paris.) Producers: Alain Attal, Hugo Selignac.
• Crew: Director: Gilles Lellouche. Screenplay: Lellouche, Audrey Diwan, Ahmed Hamidi, based on the novel by Neville Thompson. Camera: Laurent Tangy. Editor: Simon Jacquet. Music: Jon Brion.
• With: Adèle Exarchopoulos, François Civil, Mallory Wanecque, Malik Frikah, Alain Chabat, Benoit Poelvoorde, Vincent Lacoste, Jean Pascal Zadi, Elodie Bouchez, Karim Leklou, Raphaël Quenard, Anthony Bajon.

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