# It's Okay to Not Be Okay (2020)

> A psychiatric ward worker who has spent his life shouldering his brother's care meets a fairy tale writer who doesn't believe in happy endings, and they slowly heal each other.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/81406

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 16
- Episode runtime: 77 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, romance, comedy
- Created by: Park Shin-woo, Jo Yong
- Network: tvN
- Cast: Kim Soo-hyun, Seo Yea-ji, Oh Jung-se, Park Gyu-young, Choi Daniel, Jung Sang-hoon, Kwak Dong-yeon, Bae Hae-sun
- TMDB rating: 8.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12451520/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: wistful, warm, bittersweet, darkly comic, tender

## What critics say

Widely acclaimed for its warm, sensitive handling of trauma, mental illness and healing, with strong lead performances and a blend of romance and dark comedy.

## Synopsis

It's Okay to Not Be Okay (2020) is a South Korean tvN romantic comedy-drama series created by Park Shin-woo and Jo Yong for tvN, a single-season run of sixteen episodes. Kim Soo-hyun plays Moon Gang-tae, a psychiatric ward caretaker who has spent his life shouldering responsibility for his older brother Moon Sang-tae (Oh Jung-se), and Seo Yea-ji plays Ko Moon-young, a children's book writer who draws fairy tales but refuses to believe in them. Park Gyu-young plays Nam Joo-ri, another figure caught in the orbit of the ward. The engine is a slow, reciprocal healing: Gang-tae wants to escape the weight of caring for others, Moon-young wants to keep her own wounds sealed, and each episode turns on small, intimate moments inside the hospital and the neighborhood around it. Told in a feature-length episode format, the story moves between present-day scenes and flashbacks that reveal childhood damage. Fans of Crash Landing on You, Hotel del Luna and Good Doctor will find resonance in its blend of dark comedy, tender romance and mental health drama. The tone is wistful, warm and sometimes harrowing, with a fairy tale sensibility that makes the emotional stakes feel both fragile and hopeful.

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