The Korean drama Melo Movie has been described as a romantic comedy and it is that, but there’s room in this story for more than one genre. It’s the story of two characters who are in love with making movies, but face plenty of life-altering drama that complicates falling in love with each other.

Ko-gyeom, played by Choi Woo-sik, and Kim Mu-bee, played by Park Bo-young, first meet in a film director’s casting room. Movies have been part of their lives for as long as they can remember, meaning different things to each of them. While Ko-gyeom was growing up, movies were an escape. As a child he only had one dream. He wanted to watch every movie ever made, a task made easier by living above a video rental store. Because he wanted to work in movies, he decided to become an actor. Only he wasn’t very good, so he was relegated to small roles. He was always an extra, never a lead actor.

For Kim Mu-bee, movies meant something different. Her father worked on movies, with the hope of one day being able to direct one of his own. Only his passion for movies meant they never spent enough time together. And yet Mu-bee was still drawn to working on movie sets. She also wants to direct movies, better movies than the one her father finally made.

These characters meet repeatedly through a series of coincidences, a succession of meet-cutes that would suit any romantic movie—or k-drama. They meet and part as tragedy sidetracks their fledgeling relationship, mostly because they don’t have a chance to be honest with each other. Ko-gyeom later becomes a film critic and when Mu-bee directs her first film, he asks why it’s described as a romance when it is so melodramatic. She’s not sure what to say. Their romance did not end well and she feels abandoned. She writes him off as superficial, which is far from the truth.

Ultimately, the characters must interact again, when Ko-gyeom’s old friend Son Ju-a, played by Jeon So-nee, writes a screenplay that she would like Mu-bee to direct. She asks her ex, another friend of Ko-gyeom’s, to write the music. That friend Hong Si-jun, played by Lee Jun-young, has not been the same since breaking up with Ju-a five years before. This is his chance to become a star and for her to see him in a new light. The new movie is also a chance for Ko-gyeom and Mu-bee to meet again and rewrite their rom-com scenario.

Unlike his failed actor character in Melo Movie, Choi has aced many memorable roles in dramas and films. He played a reluctant serial killer in A Killer Paradox and can also be seen in the dramas The Package and Fight For My Way, as well as the films The Policeman’s Lineage, Time To Hunt and the Academy Award-winning Parasite. Park Bo-young appeared in the dramas Light Shop, Daily Dose of Sunshine and Strong Girl Do Bong Soon, as well as the film Concrete Utopia. Jeon So-nee appeared in the drama Parasyte: The Grey, while Lee Jun-young can be seen in the drama The Impossible Heir.

Melo Movie was written by Lee Na-eun, who wrote Our Beloved Summer, which also starred Choi Woo-sik. The Netflix drama is directed by Oh Chung-hwan, who directed the successful TV series Hotel Del Luna and Castaway Diva.