Film Review – Lost in Starlight

June 3rd, 2025 | POSTED BY Allen Almachar

The South Korean animated film Lost in Starlight (2025) is a romantic sci-fi tale of two people from different walks of life finding a connection with one another. It’s the classic story: guy meets girl, girl meets guy, they become friendly, fall in love, share their hopes, dreams, and fears, etc. And just when “Happily Ever After” is on the horizon, something happens that threatens to dismantle that love. Well, in this case, it’s space. This brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “Star Crossed Lovers.” While the animation was gorgeous and the voice acting well performed, I couldn’t help but feel the melodrama trying to tug at my heart strings a little too blatantly. This one is a little sweet and sugary for my taste, despite all the good things it has going for it.

Directed by Han Ji-won (who also co-writes with Kang Hyun-Joo), the narrative is set in a near future Seoul where technology has pervaded all walks of life. On the surface, buildings, streets, and vehicles look familiar, but are given an updated twist. Holograms are everywhere, from billboards to modes of communication. Video chats project people into rooms as though they were there with the person they’re speaking to. Taxis are driverless (which isn’t too far removed from reality now), and computer screens can now be manipulated through virtual reality. This isn’t a universe that fears the advancement of tech but embraces it as a way of life. Perhaps that is why one of the central story points features humanity sending an expedition crew to Mars in hopes of one day populating it.

Traveling to Mars has been a lifelong goal for Nan-young (Kim Tae-ri). After her mother died during an accident on a previous mission, Nan-young has made it her singular focus to meet the requirements and travel there herself. Things take a turn when she meets Jay (Hong Kyung), a former musician who now works at a small repair shop. Right from the start, the writing and direction establish the contrast between Nan-young’s technology-centric persona and Jay’s more analog way of thinking. We see this at the moment of their Meet Cute, where the two accidentally bump into each other while walking through a street projected hologram. Their minor collision causes Nan-young to drop her record player (which had belonged to her mother). Jay offers to fix it for her, and from that moment their relationship takes off. A business transaction turns into a small friendship, which then turns into a bigger friendship, and before we know it, we get a montage of them galivanting around the city, head over heels for one another.

The first half puts emphasis on the backgrounds of Jay and Nan-young, offering several flashbacks to fill in their characters. This is especially effective for Nan-young, who story works as the main arc through Lost in Starlight. The loss of her mother has been a motivating (and traumatic) force. The tragedy left her father in a constant daze, rattling off his hopes that his wife will one day return from Mars. Nan-young’s wish to follow her mother’s footsteps, regardless of the danger, acts as a means to reconnect with her. Maybe to finish what her mother started is Nan-young’s way of finding closure. Jay’s character development is good, but not as expansive as Nan-young. We learn that he was once a well-known artist, had been singing since he was a child, but had a falling out with his band which left him cutting off that part of himself. Jay’s budding relationship with Nan-young has helped re-spark that passion. Maybe seeing Nan-young follow her dreams has motivated Jay to follow his own.

As mentioned, the animation is beautiful. The mix between traditional hand drawn animation and computer-generated effects is seamless. The camera moves and flows around areas with ease, and the pastel color palette gives the visuals a soft, warm texture. Han Ji-won’s direction puts specific attention on the lighting. In just about every scene, the way the light is incorporated adds dimension and nuance. The “golden hour” – in which the setting sun gives off an orange and golden hue – is utilized constantly. During emotionally charged sequences, or when the mood turns south, the color turns darker, bluer, and colder. But the instances that really stood out are the small ones. When a train goes by in the background, the light from the windows reflects off Jay and Nan-young’s faces. When they sit atop a building overlooking the city, the neon lights bounce off them, making them shimmer. There are also the fantasy sequences and – of course – the scenes set in space where the color and lighting take large creative swings. The light show in the second half is so psychedelic it reminded me of the stargate sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

It is the back half of the film – in which Nan-young gets her wish to venture to Mars – that will be the make-or-break point with audiences. The narrative really ramps up the melodrama, aiming for the highest emotional reaction possible. Whether it is Jay’s fear of Nan-young putting her life at risk, Nan-young pushing her limits to finish her mother’s work, or the painfully long wait Jay must endure for Nan-young to return, it seems every minute is soaking with sentimentality and sappiness. Where their initial courtship felt natural, organic, and real, their dynamic once Nan-young leaves is manipulative and stagey. It feels like the film is actively telling us how to react, rather than letting is get to that point on our own. Clearly, movies want us to have a specific reaction based on genre and story, but in this instance if felt like the narrative was stringing us along. I’d like to imagine I’m a fairly romantic person, but I would prefer my love stories to have a little more heart and soul and a little less cheese.

Still, I liked a lot of what Lost in Starlight brought to the table. The voice acting and animation are top notch. The contrast between tech and art is well managed – between what can be accomplished with a machine as opposed to a musical instrument. Jay and Nan-young have separate interests, but they meet each other on equal footing. Their love is one even the entire universe cannot tear apart. Do you think that last sentence was well-intentioned but a little over the top? Exactly.

2001: A Space Odyssey, Han Ji-won, Hong Kyung, Kang Hyun-Joo, Kim Tae-ri, Lost in Starlight