Drama Review: 'Move to Heaven' (2021) — chalice.me

Korean Title: 무브 투 헤븐
English Title: Move to Heaven
Network: Netflix
Episodes: 10
Release Date: May 14, 2021
Genre: Drama, Mental Health
Language(s): Korean

Cast: Lee Je Hoon (Taxi Driver), Tang Joon Sang (Crash Landing On You), Hong Seung Hee (Navillera), Ji Jin Hee (Designated Survivor: 60 Days)
Directed by: Kim Sung Ho
Written by: Yoo Ji Ryeon (Angel Eyes)

Move to Heaven is an original Netflix drama following the requests and stories uncovered by trauma cleaners, Move to Heaven, run by Han Jung Woo (Ji Jin Hee) and his young son, Han Geu Ru (Tang Joon Sang) who has Asperger Syndrome.

The show was supposed to be released in 2020 but due to COVID-19 protocols, production was paused and its release ultimately postponed to the following year. All 10 episodes were released on Netflix worldwide in May 2021 and was inspired by stories found in an essay written by former trauma cleaner, Kim Sae Byul entitled, Things Left Behind.

Story

‘Move to Heaven’ is a trauma cleaning company run by Han Jung Woo (Ji Jin Hee) with the assistance of his 20-year old son, Han Geu Ru (Tang Joon Sang) who has Asperger Syndrome. They are called upon by different clients to clean after traumatic scenes brought upon by unattended death, suicide or murder. As a signature service, Jung Woo and Geu Ru collect important and sentimental trinkets in a yellow ‘Move to Heaven’ box and hand it over to their next of kin as a means of commemorating the deceased.

Although Geu Ru struggles with conventionally expressing and interpreting human emotions as a result of his condition, with Jung Woo’s guidance and love, he is able to live comfortably and grew up to be a smart young man who is conscientious of others. However, on a sudden turn of events, Jung Woo passes away and leaves ‘Move to Heaven’ in Geu Ru’s capable hands.

Given Geu Ru’s developmental illness, Jung Woo entrusts him to his younger brother, Cho Sang Goo (Lee Je Hoon) who is an ex-convict. In his will, Jung Woo asks Attorney Oh Hyun Chang (Im Won Hee) to keep an eye on Geu Ru and assess Sang Goo’s guardianship of Geu Ru prior to officially handing over the permissions to handle Jung Woo’s remaining assets. As part of the conditions within the will, Sang Goo would need to support Geu Ru in fulfilling requests for ‘Move to Heaven’.

Together, they attend to requests from ‘Move to Heaven’ clients and through the process of cleaning up and collecting belongings, Geu Ru and Sang Goo learn about heartfelt messages and stories left behind by those that passed on.

The Verdict

Overall Rating: 9/10

Move to Heaven is quite different from the typical Korean drama given that it’s relatively episodic - wherein a majority of the episodes can be watched on a stand-alone basis. New characters are introduced in the beginning of each episode and their stories are typically wrapped up neatly by the end of it. Each episode doesn’t have a standard running time and typically ran from 40 to 65 minutes depending on the progression of the story per episode.

This is Move to Heaven’s Han Jung Woo and Han Geu Ru and we will be assisting you with your last move.

Before starting their clean-up routine, Geu Ru and his Dad honour the deceased and respect their space by saying the line above.

Given the catalogue of movies and dramas I’ve seen in the past, you would think that I would’ve had an inkling that there are whole, legitimate businesses built on the model of trauma cleaning - but truthfully, I didn’t. Not that I’m shocked about the concept, but it’s through Move to Heaven that I’m truly learning about the industry of trauma cleaning. Note: For more context, I did some additional research and found the video above from YouTube featuring the business and life-story of trauma cleaner Sandra Pankhurst from Australia. It will give you good, realistic insight on the concepts portrayed in Move to Heaven.

For most of us, thoughts about death don’t come by all the time and we tend forget that it is just as prevalent in this world as life itself. We forget about it so often that critical services such as trauma cleaning is not talked about and overall not a popular career choice for a majority of us. The fact that many people are probably learning about trauma cleaners in detail through Move to Heaven for the first time justifies the necessity for a show like it to wake viewers up to reality.

Now, I don’t think that Move to Heaven is about romanticizing the work behind trauma cleaning. In my opinion, in addition to bringing light to that line of work, I believe the trauma cleaning arc is one of the innovative ways used by the writer to tackle more important societal issues. Having said that, if I were to describe what Move to Heaven is about, it would be about the importance of giving those without a voice the platform they need to be heard.

In the beginning of the show, Jung Woo talks to Geu Ru about how important it is to take care of the deceased’s belongings because it’s able to tell a lot about the kind of person they were and the messages they wish to deliver to the ones they leave behind. So in a literal sense, this show gives viewers a perspective suggesting that not because people pass on, doesn’t mean they cease to exist or have nothing to say to those they left behind.

WARNING: MILD SPOILERS AHEAD

However, in subtler ways, if we dissect the different kinds of people involved with Move to Heaven throughout the show, we’ll find that many of them are people that are silenced for specific reasons and do not have a voice our society. They didn’t have a voice while they were alive and it was only through Move to Heaven’s work that they were able to communicate their hearts and messages to their loved ones. To break it down, here are the different oppressed groups that Move to Heaven tackles as a show, per episode:

Episode 1: Young People VS. Old People & Disabled People
Episode 2 & 3: Single Mothers
Episode 4: Victims of Relationship/Domestic Abuse
Episode 5: Members of LGBTQ
Episode 6: The Sick and Elderly
Episode 7 & 8: Bullied Teenagers
Episode 9 & 10: Orphans and Adopted Children

SPOILERS END HERE

Move to Heaven urges us to listen a little more intently to the people in our surroundings, showing that those in minority groups aren’t always silent because they “don’t speak up for themselves” but more so as a result of the people around them refusing to pay attention to them.

The heart and soul of this show consists of the principles and life’s work of Han Geu Ru’s dad, Han Jung Woo. Although Geu Ru struggles to express and interpret emotions, Jung Woo spent a great deal of effort teaching Geu Ru ways to understand others because he believed that humans constantly communicated with each other - whether they’re still here with us or not.