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Pierce Conran

Lead cast: Joo Won, Kwon Nara
Latest Nielsen rating: 2.5 per cent
Joo Won (Stealer: The Treasure Keeper) and Kwon Nara (Bulgasal: Immortal Souls) share the spotlight in light fantasy drama The Midnight Studio, respectively as a photographer with a supernatural ability and a lawyer who seeks to right the wrongs of the world.
Small photo studios are omnipresent on South Korea’s streets. Whether for family portraits, passport photos or actor headshots, there are many reasons someone might frequent such an establishment – but perhaps their most important function is to provide portraits that will eventually be used in funerals.


For mourners at a funeral, the funeral portrait serves as their final memory of whoever is being laid to rest. Even after death, people still want to look their best, not just for themselves but for those they leave behind.
The Midnight Studio begins with a voice-over that suggests that, whereas tigers leave behind their fur when they die, humans leave behind photographs.
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For this reason, funeral portraits can be an effective dramatic device. They are at the heart of the 1990s classic romantic melodrama Christmas in August and also launch the fantastical narrative of the hit film Miss Granny.
In Miss Granny, the photo studio is a magical one which transports an elderly woman back to the body of her younger self. Similarly, The Midnight Studio features a fantastical photo studio which connects those left behind with their loved ones for one final photo before saying goodbye.
The Midnight Studio goes to great pains to explain the mythology behind its titular location; unfortunately it does so with a number of dodgy effects filled with ghosts and demons that look like the Lord of the Rings’ Ringwraiths, but done on a shoestring budget.

However, once those effects-heavy scenes of exposition are out of the way, what remains is the charming studio itself, which gives off a colourful and inviting atmosphere.
Seo Ki-joo (Joo) is the seventh operator of the studio, which employs an old-fashioned single-panel camera, is only open at night, and can only welcome ghosts as clients. These spirits wandered off the path to the afterlife as they have left something unresolved behind.
Ki-joo, along with his two ghost assistants Go Sung-ho (Yoo In-soo, All of Us Are Dead) and Baek Nam-koo (Eum Moon-suk, Arthdal Chronicles: The Sword of Aramun), attempt to help the grieving relatives of the phantoms on their behalf.

Each episode has ended with the living relatives entering the studio – any other time the living cannot gain access – to say emotional goodbyes to the recently departed and take one final memorial photo together.
Adding some tension to the set-up is the fact that Ki-joo, along with the men in his family before him, suffer from a curse. The six previous operators of the store died unnatural deaths when they were 35, and Ki-joo, who is well aware of this, only has a 100 days left before his turn.
Han Bom (Kwon) is a former prosecutor who now works part-time as a lawyer while looking for a permanent position. The most important thing for her is doing the right thing, so even when she lands a big interview, she forgoes it to take on a pro bono case.

This case involves a woman accused of murdering her husband, who happens to be Ki-joo’s current photo studio client. As Ki-joo helps to clear the woman’s name he crosses paths with Bom, but not for the first time.
The pair earlier met in a haunted elevator and they soon meet again once the show adds cohabitation romcom to its genre melee. Unable to pay the paltry rent, Bom is kicked out of her rooftop apartment and who should move in but Ki-joo.
Ki-joo also relocates his photo studio downstairs and he is shocked to meet Bom inside one day, as she should not be able to enter. Bom isn’t ready to give up on her house and starts camping outside.

The Midnight Studio follows in the footsteps of many similar Korean shows which feature characters offering fantastical services, whether it is restaurateurs helping the living (The Witch’s Diner) or errand runners helping the dead (May I Help You).
While nothing new is added to the mix here, the gentle combination of its fantastical premise, emotional investigations and romantic comedy provide fitfully diverting entertainment, depending on how strong or weak the supernatural case featured in each episode is.
The Midnight Studio is streaming on Viu.


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K-drama The Midnight Studio: Joo Won, Kwon Nara star in supernatural romantic comedy about a photographer and a lawyer who help the dead

Joo Won as cursed photo studio operator Seo Ki-joo in a still from The Midnight Studio. While unoriginal and with some questionable special effects, this supernatural K-drama does provide diverting entertainment during its better episodes.

Kwon Nara as virtuous lawyer Han Bom in a still from The Midnight Studio.

Yoo In-soo as Go Sung-ho, one of the ghost assistants at the fantastical photo studio, in a still from The Midnight Studio.

Kwon as Han Bom in a still from The Midnight Studio.

Joo as Seo Ki-joo in a still from The Midnight Studio.

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Kim Ji-won as Queens Group heiress Hong Hae-in, in a still from Queen of Tears.

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Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, in a still from Queen of Tears.

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Kim Nam-joo (left) as Soo-hyun and Cha Eun-woo as Sun-yool in a still from Wonderful World.

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Kim Nam-joo as Soo-hyun in a still from Wonderful World.

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Joo Won plays a cursed photographer and Kwon Nara a kind lawyer in this tale about a photo studio for ghosts that offers a chance to say goodbye to loved ones
Also featuring Yoo In-soo, this paranormal K-drama isn’t original and the effects look cheap, but its better episodes are gently diverting


Joo Won stars as a cursed photographer alongside Kwon Nara’s lawyer in this supernatural K-drama that is far from original, but its better episodes nevertheless provide diverting entertainment.


K-drama The Midnight Studio: Joo Won, Kwon Nara star in supernatural romantic comedy about a photographer and a lawyer who help the dead

Joo Won plays a cursed photographer and Kwon Nara a kind lawyer in this tale about a photo studio for ghosts that offers a chance to say goodbye to loved ones Also featuring Yoo In-soo, this paranormal K-drama isn’t original and the effects look cheap, but its better episodes are gently diverting