Life Is Beautiful (2022): Why Korea's First Jukebox Musical Is a Must-Watch

Every so often a film comes along that shouldn't work on paper - a musical built entirely from pre-existing pop songs, a road trip movie about a decades-long marriage, a tearjerker with a killer soundtrack - and somehow lands every single beat. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL (2022) is that film. Marketed on release as Korea's first true jukebox musical, it paired two of the country's most respected actors with a directness of feeling that turned it into a genuine word-of-mouth hit. If you haven't caught up with it yet, here's why it belongs on your must-watch list - and on your shelf.

What LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL is about

Oh Se-yeon (Yum Jung-ah) has just been given a terminal diagnosis, and she has one request for her birthday: she wants her husband Jin-bong (Ryu Seung-ryong) to help her track down her first love, one last time. Reluctant and more than a little baffled, Jin-bong agrees, and the two set off on a cross-country trip that turns into something neither of them expected - a reckoning with everything a long marriage actually is, told through flashback, music, and a lot of bickering in the car.

It's a premise that could easily tip into mawkish melodrama, but director Choi Kook-hee - working from a script by Bae Se-yeong - keeps the tone light on its feet, letting the comedy and the grief sit side by side rather than fighting each other.

What makes it a must-watch

It's Korea's first genuine jukebox musical

Rather than an original score, LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL builds its musical sequences around Korean pop standards its characters would actually have grown up with - the songs double as memory triggers for Se-yeon and Jin-bong's relationship, so every number is doing double duty as both spectacle and storytelling. It's a genuinely novel structure for Korean cinema, and it's a big part of why the film became such a talking point on release.

Two of Korea's most respected leads, on top form

Ryu Seung-ryong is one of the biggest names in Korean film, the first Korean actor to headline four separate films that each sold over 10 million tickets, and a Baeksang Grand Prize winner for MIRACLE IN CELL NO. 7. Here he gets to be gruff, funny, and quietly devastated all at once, often in the same scene. Opposite him, Yum Jung-ah (A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, CART, the hit drama SKY Castle) anchors the whole film - Se-yeon could easily have been reduced to "the dying wife," but Yum plays her as stubborn, funny, and fully in control of her own last request.

A memorable big-screen debut

Playing Jeong-woo, the young man Se-yeon is searching for, is Ong Seong-wu - familiar to K-pop fans as a former member of Wanna One (he placed 5th on Produce 101 Season 2). LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL was his first film role, and it's a genuinely charming one, giving the flashback sections of the film their own distinct warmth.

Recognised come awards season

The film picked up multiple award nominations following release, including five nods at Korea's Grand Bell Awards - the country's equivalent of the Academy Awards - across Best Actor, Best Actress, Best New Actor, Best Music, and Best Costume Design.

Who should watch LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

• Fans of Korean melodrama and tearjerkers who want something that earns its emotion rather than manipulating for it.
• K-pop fans curious to see Ong Seong-wu's film debut.
• Anyone who loves a needle-drop soundtrack - if you enjoyed how music is used in films like SING STREET or ONCE, the jukebox structure here is a genuinely different take on the same idea.
• Viewers who love films about long marriages - this is as much a story about what decades together actually looks like as it is about first love.
• Newcomers to Korean cinema looking for an accessible, crowd-pleasing entry point that isn't a thriller or a horror film - proof that Korean film's range goes well beyond what most casual viewers have seen.

Own it on Blu-ray

Terracotta Distribution stocks the LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL numbered slipcased limited edition Blu-ray from Nova Media - one of just 1,000 copies, presented in 1080p HD with Korean Dolby Atmos audio and English subtitles. If you're building a collection of the Korean cinema that deserves a wider audience outside the festival circuit, this is a genuinely special one to own.