Love and Leashes (2022) Review : A Thoughtful Korean BDSM Romantic Comedy

Love and Leashes (Original Title: 모럴센스) | 2022 | 1h 57m
Genre: Comedy/Romance | Country: South Korea
Director: Hyeon-jin Park | Writer: Hyeon-jin Park
Cast: Seohyun, Lee Jun-young, Kim Bo-ra
IMDb: 6.3
My Rate: 9/10

Ji Woo accidentally discovers Ji Hoo's secret sexual preferences, and the misunderstanding that follows leads them into a unique relationship based on a contract.

Warning:

Contains sexual content, strong language, and sensitive topics.

 

How strange would it be if the person everyone thought was ordinary suddenly revealed a side of themselves that was completely unexpected?

That was one of the things that made Love and Leashes (2022) interesting to me. At first, it looks like a light office romance with the usual awkward misunderstandings between two coworkers. Then a mistakenly delivered package reveals something much more personal, and the story takes the relationship in a direction that I did not expect from a romantic comedy.

Ji Woo (Seohyun) is a senior employee in the Public Relations department. She is known for being firm and outspoken, especially when dealing with their boss, who often looks down on women. Because Ji Woo refuses to simply accept that attitude, her relationship with her boss is not particularly good.

Ji Hoo (Lee Jun Young) is newly transferred to the same department. His good looks immediately attract attention from the people around him, but what catches his attention is Ji Woo's personality. He likes her confidence and often tries to defend her in front of their boss, although his attempts sometimes make Ji Woo look even more troublesome.

Then a small mistake changes everything.

Because their names are so similar, Ji Woo accidentally takes Ji Hoo's package. At first, she sees the dog leash inside and assumes that it is simply something for a pet. Then a purchase coupon falls out, revealing that the leash is actually a BDSM accessory.

Ji Hoo is terrified that Ji Woo will think differently of him after this. When she begins keeping her distance, he assumes that she must be uncomfortable with what she has learned about him.

But Ji Woo's reaction is not what he expects.

Instead of judging him, she accepts that he has his own sexual preferences. Ji Hoo eventually admits, while drunk, that he wants Ji Woo to become his "master." Ji Woo initially refuses, but after doing some research and learning more about BDSM, she agrees to try it with him.

They establish a contract and begin exploring the relationship according to boundaries and rules they have agreed upon.

At that point, I think the film becomes much more interesting than a typical office romance. Their arrangement starts as something clearly defined by rules, but feelings are rarely as obedient as contracts.

Will their relationship eventually become something real?

What I appreciate most about Love and Leashes is the way it handles a sensitive subject without turning the entire film into something vulgar. The movie is adapted from Gyeowool's webcomic Moral Sense, and although BDSM is central to the story, the presentation is wrapped in romantic comedy rather than explicit sexuality.

That makes a significant difference to me.

Compared with the Fifty Shades films, which present BDSM much more explicitly and sensually, Love and Leashes feels more like an introduction to the subject through the perspective of two people trying to understand each other's preferences and boundaries.

I actually found that approach quite useful because the film does not treat BDSM simply as something shocking or strange. It introduces ideas about dominance, submission, trust, consent, and personal preference in a relatively approachable way.

Another topic that I found interesting is the way the film discusses patriarchy in the workplace. Ji Woo's boss represents the attitude that women are somehow less capable than men, even when the woman in question is more skilled or competent.

That creates an interesting contrast with Ji Hoo.

While the boss expects women to be submissive, Ji Hoo actually feels more comfortable being submissive himself. In other words, the film quietly challenges the assumption that gender should determine who gets to be dominant or submissive.

I like this contrast because it makes the discussion about relationships broader than the BDSM element alone. People have different preferences, and those preferences do not necessarily follow the expectations society places on them.

The story itself is quite engaging and fairly systematic. I never felt that the plot was wandering without purpose. The cinematography, transitions, camera movement, and color composition are also handled well. The music and sound effects match the tone of each scene nicely and help maintain the film's light atmosphere.

The performances are good too, and I appreciate how natural the actors feel. Nothing seems excessively stiff or theatrical.

One of the things I found unexpectedly interesting was Seohyun taking on a role involving such a sensitive subject. As a member of Girls' Generation, she had a very different public image from this character, so I was curious about how she would handle the role.

There are several scenes where the BDSM theme is implied rather than shown explicitly, and Seohyun manages to portray Ji Woo convincingly. She makes the character feel firm and confident without making her seem unnecessarily harsh.

For me, the film is at its best when it treats the relationship as something that requires communication rather than simply using BDSM as a gimmick.

Ji Woo does not immediately understand what Ji Hoo wants. She researches it. They establish rules. They negotiate their relationship. And that process is important because it shows that intimacy is not only about attraction. It also requires trust and mutual understanding.

That is probably why I find the film surprisingly easy to enjoy despite its unusual premise. The story remains light, and many of the situations are genuinely funny.

But the scene that stayed with me the most is actually not one of the BDSM scenes.

Ji Woo becomes upset after a romantic relationship does not work out and decides to take some time away from work. Her mother tries to comfort her and gives her a simple piece of advice: we cannot control how another person feels about us.

I really like this scene because the lesson is painfully true.

Sometimes we think that if we love someone sincerely enough, treat them well enough, and give everything we have to the relationship, they should eventually feel the same way.

But feelings do not work like that.

We can give someone 100 percent of our affection and still have no control over whether they will return it. We can be sincere, loyal, patient, and honest, and the other person may still choose differently.

That does not necessarily mean that what we gave was worthless.

It simply means that another person's feelings belong to them.

I think that is a useful lesson because many of us spend too much energy trying to control an outcome that was never ours to control in the first place. Sometimes accepting someone's decision is more painful than trying to win them over, but acceptance can also be the healthier kind of love.

The line, “Let's date for real. It's an order,” is playful, but by that point in the story, it means something different from what it might have meant at the beginning. Their relationship started as an arrangement defined by rules, but feelings have gradually made those rules much less important.

For me, that is what makes Love and Leashes more enjoyable than a simple romantic comedy with an unusual gimmick.

It is ultimately a film about allowing people to be honest about who they are, even when their preferences do not fit the expectations of others. It is also about understanding that a relationship cannot be healthy if only one person gets to define how it works.

And perhaps that is why the story stayed with me more than I expected.

We often enter relationships with our own expectations about how love should look, how a partner should behave, and what role each person should have. But people are not always going to fit those expectations.

Maybe the harder lesson is learning to distinguish between what we can ask from someone and what we can never demand from them.

Love and Leashes (2022) is a light, entertaining romantic comedy with an unusual subject, but for me, its most meaningful message is much simpler: we can offer love honestly, but we cannot command someone to feel the same way.

And perhaps that is something worth remembering in our own relationships: when we love someone, can we accept that their feelings belong to them too—even when they are not the feelings we hoped to receive?

(Aluna Uwie)

Previously published on Alunauwie.com.

"This article was originally written in Indonesian and has been adapted into English for international readers."

 

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