We May Not Be Able to Go to Heaven, But We Can Still Love 2023

『A portrait of youth who unite and grow in the face of violence and oppression. 』

🎥 Movie Overview

🎬 Title: We May Not Be Able to Go to Heaven, But We Can Still Love (2023) 우리는 천국에 갈 순 없지만 사랑은 할 수 있겠지
🌍 Country: 🇰🇷 South Korea
🎞️ Genre: Queer / Youth Melodrama / Independent Film
🗓️ Production & Release: Independent Film, Short Feature
⏳ Runtime: Approx. 75 minutes
📢 Director: Han Jae-i
👩‍💼 Cast: Park Soo-yeon as Joo-young, Lee Yu-mi as Ye-ji

🧩 Story Deep Dive (Spoilers)

💫 Background and Zeitgeist: The Irony of a Century Overflowing with Violence

The film is set in 1999. At the brink of the millennium, the era carried both apocalyptic anxiety and vague anticipation for a new age. Simultaneously, it was a time when old societal ills and violence were rampant.

• Outdated Oppression: Harsh corporal punishment from teachers, bribes, and chronic corruption and sexual violence in the sports community are realistically depicted as the ways the world of "adults" crushes young people. This violence is not only physical but also extends to the way adults dismiss Joo-young and Ye-ji’s love as mere "pity," denying their very existence.

• The Reason They Cannot Go to Heaven: The irony contained in the title "cannot go to heaven" serves as a metaphor for being trapped by social and religious prejudice due to being queer, while also suggesting that the reality they live in is a "violent world far removed from heaven."

🌈 The Chemistry Between Two Polar Opposites

The relationship between Joo-young and Ye-ji is the shining core of this film. They come from different backgrounds and carry different wounds, but it is precisely those differences that intensify their attraction.

• Kim Joo-young (Taekwondo Team): Outwardly a student dreaming of a gold medal, but inwardly facing an unjust reality of discrimination, violence, and match-fixing by her coach. She is introverted but carries strong convictions about right and wrong and a deep sense of responsibility. For her, Taekwondo is more than a sport—it symbolizes the power to defend herself and save others.

• Yoon Ye-ji (Juvenile Detention Background): Having been in juvenile detention and living outside the school system while working part-time jobs, she belongs to the darkest margins of society. Independent and bold, she does not easily expect kindness from the world. Ye-ji demands direct confirmation of pure feelings from Joo-young, drawing her reserved love into certainty.

• The Spark of Love: Their bond deepens inevitably when Ye-ji helps Joo-young after she is assaulted, and later when Joo-young’s mother’s "family project" forces them to live together. Their trip to Iksan—particularly the karaoke scene and the beach scene—are regarded as pure and tender highlights, where the two first recognize and confirm their feelings for each other.

🕯️ Expansion into Female Solidarity and Self-Redemption

Beyond Joo-young and Ye-ji’s romance, the film also delves deeply into the story of Joo-young’s Taekwondo teammate Seong-hee, emphasizing the importance of female solidarity.

• Exposing Sexual Violence in Sports: The violence (including sexual violence) Seong-hee suffers at the hands of her coach symbolizes the corruption rife in schools and the sports world at the time. Joo-young, who once used Taekwondo to save herself, now seeks to transform it into a force of solidarity to save her friend.

• The Tragic Cycle of Class and Discrimination: While the film shows the cheerful will to break the cycle of violence, it does not shy away from the tragic perpetuation of social class discrimination. Ultimately, Ye-ji, who belongs to the lowest rung of society and is already a victim of violence, takes on an even greater burden in Joo-young’s place. This ending starkly contrasts the value of pure love with the harshness of social reality. It becomes the most painful choice and sacrifice to preserve love—a tragic solidarity where Ye-ji shoulders the lifelong burden that should have been Joo-young’s.

🎞️ Directorial Features and Significance

Director Han Jae-i manages to capture the unique atmosphere of the late 1990s while still delivering the accessible appeal of a queer melodrama.

• Retro Vibes: The props, mood, and millennial-apocalyptic sensibilities of the time lend the film a unique and charming color, offering nostalgia to older audiences and a sense of novelty to younger ones.

• A Natural Queer Narrative: The director focuses on showing how the two girls are drawn to each other without confusion about their sexual identities. Their love is not portrayed as a "special problem" but rather as a deeply natural "pure and tender memory of first love." In contrast to the violent world around them, their bond shines all the more brightly—clear and transparent.

🌟 Conclusion: The Most Intense Love Blossoming in Reality, Not Heaven

We May Not Be Able to Go to Heaven, But We Can Still Love portrays the sacred love and solidarity between two girls growing amidst the violence and corruption of the century’s end. The film explores themes of love, friendship, and self-redemption, showing that purity can be both the strongest weapon and the most vulnerable weakness. Even if they cannot reach heaven, Joo-young and Ye-ji grasped the most intense and truthful "meaning of love" through each other.

🎯 Personal Rating (Taste-based)

💕 Love Scene Intensity: ♥
⭐ Rating: ★★★