Be With You

Be With You (Korean title 지금 만나러 갑니다, "Now I Will Meet You") is a 2018 South Korean romantic fantasy drama directed by Lee Jang-hoon. It stars So Ji-sub as Woo-jin, a gentle single father trying to raise his young son Ji-ho alone after his wife Soo-ah (Son Ye-jin) dies unexpectedly.

Before she died, Soo-ah promised that she would come back when the rainy season arrived. A year later, on a rainy day, she does reappear, but she has no memory of her husband, her son or the life they had together. Woo-jin and Ji-ho carefully bring her back into family life. Woo-jin tells her the story of how they met and fell in love, and slowly she falls for him all over again.

The family's second chance has a deadline, though. Everyone understands that Soo-ah may vanish again once the rains stop. The film is a remake of the 2004 Japanese film based on Takuji Ichikawa's novel. It runs 131 minutes and combines melodrama, family comedy and a gently magical premise.

At its core, Be With You argues that love is a choice you make knowing the cost. Soo-ah's return lets a grieving family say what they never got to say. The film's deeper point is that the time we have with people we love is worth having even when we know it will be short and will end in loss.

The film also treats grief as something to work through rather than escape. Woo-jin has to become a stronger father, Ji-ho has to learn that his mother's death was not his fault, and all three have to accept that a goodbye can be an act of love too.

As a literal time-loop fantasy: Soo-ah really did travel across time, and the reunion is a closed causal loop. Her future experience gives her the courage to choose her past.

Be With You belongs to a long line of adaptations of Takuji Ichikawa's novel, which has become a touchstone of East Asian fantasy melodrama. The Korean version brought the story to a new audience with two major stars, So Ji-sub and Son Ye-jin. Son was already closely associated with Korean melodrama.

It was a commercial success. It opened at number one with over 100,000 viewers, reached a million admissions in a week (faster than Architecture 101 and The Beauty Inside) and grossed about US$19.7 million. Its success showed that tearjerker romance still had strong box-office appeal in Korea. Critics were mostly positive about the performances and emotional impact, while noting how closely it follows the earlier versions.

Viewers and critics mostly praised the touching story, heartfelt performances and stunning cinematography. Son Ye-jin and So Ji-sub were singled out for bringing depth and authenticity to their roles. The ending got particular praise as unexpected and satisfying, tying up all loose ends and leaving many viewers in tears.

The main criticism was that the film sticks very closely to the earlier Japanese versions in story and even camera choices, which made some people question whether it adds anything new. Overall, it is widely seen as an effective, crowd-pleasing melodrama and was a clear box-office hit.