Overview of Love and Leashes

Profile

• Movie: Love and Leashes
• Genre: Comedy, Romance,
• Director: Hyeon-jin Park
• Writers: Lee Da-hye, Hyeon-jin Park
• Starring: Seohyun, Lee Jun-young
• Production company: Seed film
• Distributed by: Netflix
• Release date: February 11, 2022
• Running time: 118 minutes
• Country: South Korea
• Language: Korean

Cast

Main

• Seohyun as Jung Ji-woo
  Ji-woo is a straightforward and bold person who works as a PR agent. On the outside, she might seem like an intimidating and cruel person, but deep down is an old soul. She despises misogynists and rebels at every possible chance.

• Lee Jun-young as Jung Ji-hoo
  Ji-hoo hides behind a mask most of the time. He fears society’s judgements and fails to reveal his true self.

Supporting

• Lee El as Hye Mi, Jung Ji-woo’s best friend, dog pub owner
• Seo Hyun-woo as Team Leader Hwang
• Kim Han-na as Yuna, Jiwoo’s co-worker
• Lee Suk-hyeong as Woo Hyuk, a part-time worker who is obsessed with a dog pub run by Hye Mi
• Kim Bo-ra as Hana, Jung Ji-hoo’s ex-lover
• Baek Hyun-joo as Jung Ji-woo’s mother
• Ahn Seung-gyun as Lee Han, the youngest employee

Synopsis

Assistant Manager Jung Ji-hoo is transferred from the Business Department to the Public Relations Department. He works for CenKids.co., a company engaged in creating content for kids. He is being introduced to the new group by team leader, Hwang. While discussing the welcome party for Ji-hoo, he is interrupted by Jung Ji-woo, who is a subordinate of the same department.

She puts forward an issue about the appointment of a youtube blogger in the company, who is controversial for passing homophobic comments. Mr. Hwang overpasses it and goes ahead. Impressed by her straightforwardness and seeing the wrongs of the situation, Ji-hoo speaks up politely and supports Ji-woo, to which Hwang nods a yes. He understands the sexist nature of Hwang’s language and flags him about the actions taken against sexual harassment in the workplace, quite respectfully. The team leader flew from the situation, saying all this was a test to check Ji-hoo’s conduct.

Later that day whilst having coffee, Yuna, a co-worker and friend of Ji-woo, sees a bunch of women around Ji-hoo. He is known to be a gentleman and girls woo him all the time. She asks Ji-woo if she finds him attractive. Ji-woo plainly says that even though he is her type, she would not take the first step. Yuna lectures her on courtship and encourages her to be a little more expressive. The same advice follows from her mother, after Ji-woo shares that she finds him cute.

The next morning, Ji-hoo enquires in the mail cabin about a parcel package and comes to know that it was wrongly delivered to Ji-woo because of the similarity in their names. Upon hearing this, a terrorised Ji-hoo runs to her cabin and catches sight of her unpacking the box. She opens it and finds something like a dog leash inside and that’s when Ji-hoo cut along and grabs it from her hand.

Frantically, he explains that it was a dog leash and collar for his Poodle. Not so convinced, she turns around to dispose of the box, but again Ji-hoo rushes in and smacks it down. On the floor, she sees a coupon card from an adult toy store, unravelling the actuality of the whole situation. However, it seems that despite Ji-hoo’s fear of his secret getting leaked, Ji-woo did not seem to care about the encounter and moved on with the work.

As days pass, Ji-hoo is still apprehensive about meeting Ji-woo and tries to avoid her at all costs. However, one day he hit his head on the floor and gets a minor concussion while trying to hide and Ji-woo takes him to the hospital.

They have an open conversation about last-day events and clear the air. He speaks about his fear of being seen as a pervert and Ji-woo words that these are all personal preferences and thus none of it concerns her. Misinterpreting Ji-woo’s bold and intimidating character as an indication of her interest in sexual role plays, Ji-hoo requests her to be his mistress. Only then she reads the truth behind the leash and collar.

Without a second thought, she refutes. At a kid’s event organised by the company, a drunk Ji-hoo praises Ji-woo for her gutsy and sharp attitude and how he lacks it in every prospect. He also rants about his ex-girlfriend and how she left her after sensing his interest in pleasure plays. Ji-woo is captivated by hearing this and considers looking into the request he had made the previous day. She researches online about BDSM and gets a thorough understanding of dominant-submissive behaviour.

The next day in the office, Ji-woo asks Ji-hoo to meet her in the lounge and blindfolds him. She asks him why did he choose her over everyone and Ji-hoo spouted that her open-minded dominant character has always caught his attention. He further goes on to explain his desire for a master-slave relationship, which is clearly not sexual, and about the pleasure he derives from it.

Even though she is not clear about his desires and wishes, she agrees. She approaches Ji-woo with a set of rules and a three-month contract regarding their relationship the following day, along with a pair of glasses as a gift, which he is supposed to wear as a symbol of consent.

‘Doong-Doong’ is chosen as the safe word for their relationship. However, their first play flops when Ji-hoo starts to act like a dog, with Ji-woo as his master. His intensified barking after hearing a couple moaning from the other room resulted in their expulsion from the hotel. Ji-hoo plans the next play and plans it on the day before Ji-woo’s birthday. He gifted her a pair of hot-red stilettoes and with that he wanted her to step on him. Likewise, their sadomasochistic affair progressed.

Lee Han, an intern, joins their company and Ji-woo is appointed as his mentor. She guides him through the office workings and gives him instructions authoritatively. This angers and sprouts jealousy in Ji-hoo as she is his master. Understanding this, Ji-woo pulls out a play in their office, after working hours and punishes him for doubting his master. They play out different plays over the course of time and gradually Ji-woo starts to develop feelings for him.

Thus, one fine day she decides to do an outdoor play and took Ji-hoo to a park and handcuffs him with her. The same day, Hye Mi, Ji-woo’s friend, is out on a date with a guy, who later occurs to be a pervert. Hye Mi faces a mishap and Ji-woo, with the help of Ji-hoo, saves her from that.

Afterwards, Ji-woo confesses her feelings for Ji-hoo but he blandly rejected her for fear of getting hurt. Things get a little awkward between them, but Ji-woo invites him for their final play before the contract ends. It is set in Ji-hoo’s apartment and he prepares food for her. Meanwhile, his ex-girlfriend, Hana, dashes in and heats up a conversation about their breakup.

She blames him for everything that had happened and ruins the mood. As she steps out, Ji-woo shows up and they get ready for the play even if Ji-hoo shows aversion because of his bad mood. As it escalates, Ji-hoo comes in and kisses her. Conscious-stricken, Ji-woo pulls off and prepares to leave. She did not attend the office the next day and Ji-hoo had a conversation with Hye Mi about Ji-woo.

Things went down when a voice recording of their role-play in the office was mistakenly leaked by Lee Han. Unfortunately, Ji-woo’s voice was only heard and she was called by the disciplinary committee for a hearing. They treat Ji-woo disrespectfully and mock her and ridiculed Ji-hoo for his submissive acts. For their question about their relationship status, Ji-hoo replies that his feelings for her are genuine. He confronts them and boldly speaks up about his secret desires.

Finally, Ji-hoo confesses his love for her and decides to quit the job. However, they are determined to find the culprit behind the recorded voice clips. Ji-woo meets up with Lee Han and gets hold of the audio device. She finds out about team leader Hwang’s fling and uploads it in the group chat along with other employees’ secrets. It is revealed toward the end that Lee Han is also secretly into BDSM. Eventually, the couple quit their job and move on with their lives.

Theme

The subject of the movie, ‘Love and Leashes’ portrays a taboo topic. It justifiably conveys the real impression of BDSM. Often presented in the light of sexual undertones, society conceives sadomasochism as something beastly. Contrary to this, the movie takes a different turn and elucidates it with a pinch of humour, making it a first-class entertainer. In short, fetishes are depicted passionately but also sensually. Most of the scenes in the movie lay out the need for consent. The importance of boundaries is seen in almost all relationships.

Another major highlight of the movie is the portrayal of a dominant female lead and a submissive male lead. This depicts the growth of character portrayals where toxic masculinity and toxic femininity were sold off as a chit for gaining an audience. Even though many of the dialogues delivered by senior characters in the movie were politically incorrect, it gives a space for learning rather than degrading.

It is normal to have desires and fetishes, but the key lies in finding the right partner. ‘Love and Leashes’ focuses on this concept and screens it beautifully.

Interesting Facts about Love and Leashes

1. ‘Love and Leashes’ was officially the first Korean movie to land on Netflix in 2022.
2. ‘Love and Leashes’ is the first movie of the female lead, Seohyun.
3. The production of the movie was announced at a Netflix content road show ‘See What’s Next Korea 2021’.
4. Seohyun is a member of the K-pop group Girls’ Generation and the male lead Lee Jun-young is a member of the Korean boy band U-Kiss.

FAQs

1. What is the genre of the movie ‘Love and Leashes’?
   Romance/Drama
2. When was the movie ‘Love and Leashes’ released?
   The movie was released on February 11, 2022.
3. Who is the director of the movie ‘Love and Leashes’?
   Hyeon-jin Park is the director of the movie.
4. What is the Instagram ID of Seohyun and Lee Jun-young?

   seojuhyun_s – Seohyun and real_2junyoung – Lee Jun-young