La Regina delle Lacrime (2024)

Cathartic, but a bittersweet ending

Queen of Tears is a K-drama of two halves. The first, composed of its early episodes, is an innovative take on K-drama romance. The other is a chaotic second half that squanders much of the potential of its beginning. The Netflix hit ended Sunday with a global audience that exceeded the wildly popular Crash Landing on You.
In terms of chemistry, the leads were a perfect pair. It’s like they were crafted from the cosmic dust of perfect on-screen couples. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for other characters and sub-plots on the show, which are more disconcerting than fascinating.
Plotwise, the series started losing its charm in the second half as well. The amount of scenes that felt repetitive and the back and forth between the main leads only showed the lack of creativity of the writer. While the show we ended up with remains compelling, even fun, to the end, the decision to dispense with its profoundly tragic and emotional core makes the endeavor more rote and, at times, even boring. The series never recaptures the rare thrill of its early episodes, but nevertheless had a sweet ending that will surely be a satisfactory element.


My Rating : 7.5/10

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WAS THAT NECESSARY!?!?!?

As I was finishing the episode yesterday, 1 hr 50 mins, I mean i dread watching movies now, I can totally gulp down episodes these long but watching movies of 1.5 hrs make me bore, which is not the point.

The drama started in a cute way, even though divorse was discussed. She was diagnosed w cancer, public was sad. The here and there, the family drama the scheming old b*tch. Everything was flowing smoothly until Eun sung entered and stirred poison in the relation. He as a person is such a cutie but made me want to kill a fictional character, CAN WE KILL A FICTIONAL CHARACTER IN TV???

The death of villian in Strong Girl Nam Soon was sad but here I felt no remorse for the villian and his old hag of a mother, such a coniving bitch, just wish her death but wtv. The happy ending to all the characters, the acceptance of each and family members who trying to teeth each other before.


This is an appreciation paragraph for Baek Hyun Woo, my man is the epitome of sacrifice, even though it felt like in the start he was there for the money, the sweet revelation of past and his future actions showed how much he loves her. He doesn't care bout himself, took the bulled for his ex wife who literally had no mempries of him. Even though Baek hae in will die earlier than him, he will be there at the grave, wishing her well. I LOVE HIM, AND WANT THIS TYPA MAN FOR ME.

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Came for Kim Soo Hyun stayed for Kim Soo Hyun

This is the perfect example of how a mediocre plot/story/screenwriting can become a masterpiece with the right cast.
Queen of Tears is your average storyline, more like the stories of the 2010s, revolving around the traditional plot lines of, a rich girl and poor boy, terminal illness following the ML and FL rekindling their lost love, finding a miraculous cure and finally a happily ever after. Add to that there is the typical villain who is manipulative and makes your teeth itch wanting to beat them to death.

There was character and story development, but in the end, it all was just average. But oh BOY!! didn't the cast do a brilliant job?? Like every actor /actress was amazing, taking out their full potential to bring out the oh-so-average characters. If this drama was acted out by anyone else, it would not have been as successful, so kudos to the cast. It was a Brilliant performance.

This is one of that rare moments where I came for the actors and stayed for them cuz the plot did not engage me as I was hoping it would be.

This 8/10 from me is entirely for the cast and none for the plot/screenwriter.

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Should have been 12 episodes long.

DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW UNTIL YOU HAVE WATCHED THE ENTIRE KDRAMA. It's better to watch this with an open mind and no expectations. That being said, to summarise, in my opinion the Rom-Com and sad parts of this drama are 10/10, but the Queens Company and the stuff including the villains are shit and negligently written. Still would recommend it. 9/10 for me but that’s cause I love the first 12 episodes so much. Last 4 are like a 4/10 and that’s being kind.

Good parts:

• The acting is brilliant. Eun Song’s actor was brilliant, especially in the last episode, all aspects of Kim Ji Won’s acting is flawless. She can cry well, do cute scenes, etc. Kim Soo Hyun’s strongest point is his crying scenes, and he has show cased this brilliantly in this drama.
• All the side characters are well written, except the villains. I like Aunt Beom Ja and Soo Cheol especially. Soo Cheol in particular had a nice character arc, from being the annoying incompetent brother to the independent good husband. I like how his fight scene against those gangsters and how he rode the bike to chase the gangsters (links to the scene where he was trying to ride a bike to teach his son earlier). I thought it show cased his progression well.
• First 8 episodes were so good, when the writing was more focused on Hyun Woo and Hae In’s relationship, its struggles with it falling apart and Hae In’s illness. Honestly, should of just stuck to that. Divorce concept was good, no need for that company being taken over sht.
• OST is great. Heize, Crush and BSS’s songs were my favourite.
• Congrats to who ever is on lighting. So many scenes where they’re just walking, and the light would shine behind them making the characters look majestic. That scene where Hae In walks out of her house whilst Hyun Woo was waiting for her in one the first 5 episodes is a reference (can’t remember which srry).
• I cried so much man. Like for the first 12 episodes I cried every time. Any drama that makes me, who’s normally stoic, cry deserves it’s applause.
• The production is world class.
• Story is good up until the part where the grandfather is killed. I especially like the writing regarding Hyun Woo and Hae In's relationship.

Bad parts:

• Seul Hee’s entire plan to take over the company relied on Eun Song (her son) being able to acquire the capital independently to buy the stocks. If Eun Song wasn’t academically strong or straight up lucky, he wouldn’t be able to use the Arab sheiks money to buy the stocks initially nor have a relationship with the Queen’s family. If Eun Song had failed, then she would have just wasted decades of her life pretending to love some old man.
• In episode 15, Hae In has no memories so she checks the news to see her relationship with her family and sees that she had divorced her husband and wasn’t close with her family. Did she not check the articles about her and Hyun Woo for the month prior to the surgery, where people were saying she revealed her illness to the world to protect her husband and that they were in love?
• Hae In got a brain surgery, but she her hair is perfect right after it was completed. She also had hair. (this one I forgive though).
• Does anyone else think Eun Song’s love for Hae In is extremely illogical? This guy was out of the picture for years, enough time for her to get married and have a child (although it died of a miscarriage), and he still thought it was possible to win her heart. Is it possible to be that delusional? Also his obsession with her is all based on one childhood encounter. Bro worked his ass off for decades over one miniscule childhood encounter.
• The hospital in Frankfurt just let Eun Song be Hae In’s guardian without any proof of him being her fiancé, whilst she had no memories. That seems extremely dangerous. Also, they were confused who was her real fiancé. Isn’t it clear that Hyun Woo, the one who called up the hospital to organise the surgery, and was sleeping in her room for the past few days was her real fiancé?
• What happened to that entire thing about Hae In losing her memories up to the surgery? They could have built upon that, but I guess they forgot or wanted to focus on Eun Song.
• There was one episode where Hae In’s family was scared she was going to refuse the surgery because she would lose her memories of Hyun Woo and everyone else. I remember shouting at my TV, why tf would she refuse the surgery. It’s better than being dead. 1 episode later and she had almost refused the surgery because she would lose her memories. WTF. I feel like the writer was just trying to extend the series by and extra episode.


I can’t remember anything else and I’ve got shit to do so I’m not gonna write more. This review is basically just a place for me to vent my frustrations with the writing. This drama should have been 12 episodes long. swear down.

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Fit for a Queen's Throne, Yet Just Shy of Brilliance

The TL;DR would be that this show is a flawed masterpiece. The premise, though not unique in any way, was interesting enough to hook me in from the get-go. A seemingly perfect couple leading to a strained divorce, it leads you to wonder how two star-crossed lovers become seemingly indifferent strangers living in the same house. Through flashbacks, current events, and interactions between the characters, the veil behind the two main leads slowly unfolds, revealing the road leading up to the story.

The casting and acting were nothing short of perfection. Each of the actors delivered a masterful performance that brought the characters to life. Every gaze, action, speech was filled with emotions that brought depth and nuance. This especially holds true for our two main leads, both delivering stand-out performances worthy of a standing ovation. Kim Soo Hyun embodied each emotion his character and expressed it so well you could feel his tears and joy. Kim Ji Won, on the other hand, with her body language and subtle movements, perfectly portrayed the duality of her character. Park Sung Hoon once again masterfully plays the antagonist, creating a villain so well done that he had to come out and apologize and stress that it was just an act.

However, the shine of the stars was not enough to cover up its pitfalls. The performance of the cast members was largely held back by the mediocre story filled with a number of loopholes. Though the original premise and starting episodes were interesting, it quickly fell into a generic trope of power play between two conflicting parties, quickly becoming predictable in its final episodes. It also tries to introduce many elements and troupes, but fails to properly explore them with enough depth, leaving only a shallow touch of elements that makes it seem cheap. It's a real shame as the start showed a lot of promise and potential to be different but wasn't delivered. But, this does not mean that it is bad. What it lacks in plot development and uniqueness, it makes up for in its characters (mostly). The main characters are very well-written, and aspects of their personality not reflected in words are done so through actions and small details. Supporting characters are fleshed out and explored, turning some generic characters into thoughtful and nuanced human beings. However, the main antagonists are, in my opinion, poorly written. Though their backstories are well-explored, it frustrates me how predictable and cliché they are and could have been given some more love in developing their motivations.

This really hurt the story, especially since they spent so much time building up the impact of the antagonists, only to reveal their flimsy motives and backstories that honestly felt like they forgot to write about at the start and tacked it on as an afterthought. On that note, I personally think that the ending was rather weak. Though it was lovely and wholesome, I think it undermined a lot of the stakes and obstacles they faced. They spent so much time invested in developing the challenges the couple faces, and it was really well done. It made them look more humane and relatable and made you want to cry and laugh along with them. But the ending felt cheap and not very impactful, as if all the tears and hardships served no grander purpose.

With all that being said, I still enjoyed Queen of Tears. The story between the two main characters and development of a few side characters were beautiful, and I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamics and how they changed over the course of the 16 episodes. Though the writing wasn't the best, the slight focus on slice-of-life comedy paired with an amazing production/OST made it all the more enjoyable. The actors' performance deserves praise, and the two main leads stole the show with their chemistry and portrayed a wonderful, challenging love story that denotes the ugly side of love but showcases how that ugliness in itself is also a form of beauty.

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As BORING as it is hyped

This has to be one of the most anticipated and the most disappointing dramas for me
Pros -
1) Production - high production quality and the set design is very vibrant. The clothes the FL wears are high end luxury brands and she rocks all those styles pretty well.
2) Marketing- The marketing is very desperate and strong. Cameos are used well. Overall, this drama has a lot of money power behind it. Lol! I wish they used some of that to make the script less cringe and messy
Edit : I feel obligated to say that Gwak Dong Yeon is one actor with amazing potential along with the main villain. These two are deserving of good scripts and main roles.
Cons -
1) Acting- I felt like the actors were underutilized. There is little to no depth in their acting and I have liked some of their previous work quite a lot. Both seem to fair well in ONLY one kind of role (FL being feisty and quirky and the ML being cold on the outside and a puppy on the inside kind of roles). They were somewhat in their safe/ comfort zone in this drama but I am not particularly moved by their acting in this one.
THE SUPPORTING CAST OUTSHINES THE MAIN LEADS. The villains are great at expressing trauma, duality, disgust with the elite, hatred and lack of empathy.
The main villain is the best part of the show

2) story- BORING and all over the place ! They have tried very hard to give an obviously toxic relationship a romantic turn and I am not buying it. I am not too fond of the chemistry between the leads. I guess the intent was to show a "push and pull" or "love break and redemption " type of chemistry but they failed. The FL'S brother and his "wife" surprisingly managed to create more tension and that kind of anticipation even with very limited screentime so far and it is because there are too many unnecessary side stories going on. I do not care about the main leads divorcing or breaking up anymore.

3) Direction - as I mentioned above, the villains and side characters have faired well but even their acting potential wasn't fully utilised. Some scenes were quite well done while others seemed unnecessarily theatrical. Dear director, try to make it subtle.

Overall, its a 5/10 considering its budget and heavy marketing.

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Why the ratings?

I don't understand the hype. Was there nothing else better broadcasting in this slot? This show has a great cast and the story and acting are ok. But it's certainly not better than or even near Crash Landing (which it is almost matching in terms of broadcast ratings). The 90 minute episodes definitely don't help - it just makes things draggy.

The only three things refreshing for me are that 1) we have a strong chaebol character who is female, rather than the trope chaebol son who meets a poor girl and loves her against all odds. 2) The story revolves around the value of life (without giving too much away). 3) The couple are married rather than most romcoms depicting courtship.

My top peeve is the relative ages of the cast and the roles they've been cast in. In particular, the actor who acts as the grandfather is in reality less than 10 years older than the actors who play his son and daughters. What is with this ageist casting?

The show is high budget enough for me to want to finish (they film in Europe - lucky Kim Ji Won gets to film in all the most exotic locations!) It also has its entertaining and hilarious moments but certainly not worth the hype.

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Very disappointing in the end

This Drama started so well, and got me invested but became boring in the end.
Super cast, loved the cameos, and the story... but seriously, this could have been wrapped up in 12 episodes (or less).

Some arcs, no one really cared and could have done without, the villains were laughable at the end, it's like they had superpowers... and the token car accidents, kidnapping, poisoning... nothing really new there.

The only nice moments were the lead's cute moments together, which we did not get to see much of at the end unfortunately. The story didn't dwell on things too long the first half and I was so hopeful... but then it dragged on, and on, and on.... no twists to keep us on our toes, and not enough "cute" to keep us invested.

All in all, a disappointment

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IT'S GOOD BUT NOT GREAT

Finally finished this drama after a whole damn month I remember when they first announced the cast bro I was so hype! Then it aired tried to watch didn't really have mood so drop it for the mean time. Well I got caught by lr disease love that show not perfect but it was really enjoyable tho. Anyways people are justgiving side eye whenever I said i haven't finished the show so I did watch it finally. Note I got spoiled that she survives but not every details so I think my feelings are still valid🤣

-first acting is phenomenal! what do you expect from kim soohyun and queen jiwon a flop acting? Hell nah I've been a lowkey fan of them since dream high and the heirs.
As well as the other actors and actresses, dang how much budget do they have coz these are all star studied cast. The only actress that annoys me is the villain mother: she's pretty, the voice projection is there, but the face not moving? It's like a mask, even she's angry she just look like nothing only her voice and body language is giving.

-characters, they all did best but girls! wake up BAEK HYUNWOO is not a green flag! there's nothing wrong with that tho, being not a green flag doesn't mean he's bad just stop acting like he wasn't kicking his feet, happy lovey and all when haein told her that she's gonna D. I love his development BUT the writers fuck up this one detail. WHY? what in the world happen that he, her husband, he who loved her just like no one else in this world would be really really happy in the news that his wife's gonna D! Those reasons they showed are not enough, baby situation is not enough. I was even doubting lile maybe he's just seeing this in a different angle and like it's not sinking yet. But no..boy is really happy 🤦 okay let's just forget about that, but he did really become a good husband till the end tho but those things bothered me still😅.
-all characters are engaging, i have small issue like the mother of haein and her father their like kinda there but all and it really didn't bother me. Love the side story of the brother teared up many times bcs of them. More than the main couple actually, welp idk too

-STORRY! It wasn't really that special actually, I don't get why everyone's acting like this is some sort of turning point of a kdrama world. The parasite plot actually was good until the later parts it got kinda meh it wasn't thay engaging anymore. Just like haein's illness they should've focus on this one tbh, i really like their interactions. Kinda wished they did the whole loosing memory in the middle of the show tho, then we just built another one with haein being super tsundere😅 because we're focusing in two plot points the writer definitely got scared in killing fml it should have been the best choice actually. It would be more impactful but no, because of the other plot(parasite) it also eats the effects of it. I really don't know how to explain this but just look at the ending... everything is already better but they left us hanging, for me instead of being sad and thinking about what their lives have been. It's more like is this this necessary? it was already too much.

-fav. Character! Beomja and haein also the brother ohhh her secretary too 😅

-I definitely have a good time watching this, tho I really need a good mode a good day to understand and be engaged. But also it's also a type of show that I could watch 2x and slow it down with sowoon scene yieeee.

-THE CHEMISTRY! i believe they're good pair but unfortunately I didn't feel the Suwoon chemistry outside their character for me they're just both good friends, please don't hate me I like shipping too, I even watch their bts and edits but their fans are just overanalyzing everything. Whatevers happening it's just their inside joke or wathever. But if its true i wouldn't mind it too, they're in the right age and their cute together so I support💕

-lastly rewatch value: i don't rewatch things a lot. I don't think qot has that kind of value too, i love it but id feel bored, I'll just watch some edits maybe.

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When you have everything from the start, and you still manage to mess it up!

You have a great cast, a good story, you're writing a fantastic first half, and you go on a holiday, basically.

It doesn't matter how much potential a story has, if the writer can't do anything with it. The comedy elements really elevated the whole show. Some drama scene were great, but I don't like how they didn't do anything with the story of their kid who died, they only mentioned it like 2 times. That alone and the cancer plot would've been enough to build up the drama between Hyun Woo and Hae In. I don't like when shows including the cancer story line, and they don't do much with it, just fixing it with a miracle cure, and of course they have to use the amnesia. I can forgive all the cliché, but I can't forgive a boring villain. Eun Seong and his mommy are probably the most boring villains I've seen. At first, it was okay, than they do all those storylines with them as kids. Like why? Is this a KGB story or what? With Da Hye, they're planning to ruin a family, because they want money? I don't think we get any real motive why they want to take a revenge on this family. I don't remember any explanation.

Not to mention, only their mothers mentioned that he saved Hae In when they were kids. I was waiting for them to mention that to them, but no, they didn't do it.

It's absolutely ridiculous that Hyun was pictured as a perfect guy, basically. Sure, at first he wanted to divorce, and he was like: "My wife will die, super, I don't have to suffer for more than 3 months." What the actual hell was that? I mean, they obviously loved each other, yet he's acting like he won the lottery. That part made the whole character worse than the villain. At least, he wanted to save her, even if he's a psychopath. Later they fall in love again, of course, that's not surprising. It doesn't matter how good the chemistry between Soo Hyun and Ji Won, they worked hard, but most of the time the writing was a mess! He's basically the Korean John Wick, this guy can do everything and can survive anything. Nonsense!

The whole love triangle is one of the dumbest thing I've seen. In some cases, the show actually fooled me, and that's a plus, but this story line was only there to see our main guy jealous.

The biggest problem with the show is that the writer solved everything in the most basic way.

The amnesia storyline was lazy, if they use it as a clean slate, and not to mess with her family and be with the other guy, it could've been much better. They stretched the story for too long with too much filler scenes, and they finished 3 different story lines in 2 episodes, basically.

Even tho, there's a lot of problem with the show, it's still enjoyable and fun, thanks to the actors, mostly!

It's sad, because without all the fake drama and fillers, this could've been another perfect show.

The story should've been about them finding each other again after the surgery, fighting with the villains without any unnecessary drama, and that's all.

And what was the melodramatic finale with some random white dude? Don't tell me that was the old version of Hyun Woo, because the actor is obviously a white guy.

Another overrated, but overall, a good Kdrama with a massive missed opportunity.

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OVERHYPED.

*This is my opinion and you can have your own opinion too :)*

i honestly don't know how i feel about this drama. i'm going to agree with a lot of the top reviews when they say this drama should've been 10-12 episodes. 16 was a stretch which made it just soooo slow. i had to fast forward quite a bit BUT i still knew what was happening. this drama still has a great plot though. the story is great and isn't unrealistic. watching this, my heart broke and healed. i cried along with the main leads when they cried, and i smiled when they smiled.

the first half or so, episodes 1-8, were really good. i didn't fastforward at all and they met my expectations. i was like, "now i see what everyone's talking about. this is great!" but the following 9-16 episodes were a bit of a letdown. i felt less engaged and thats when i started to fastforward and wtach in 1.25x speed. That's why i think its slightly overhyped because it dragged on in the second half.

i really enjoyed the acting though from every actor/actress in this drama. kim soohyun (the ML) cried in pretty much every episode. he poured down tears and it looks so believeable. his acting is great when hes crying LOL. kim ji won (the FL), she depicted being cold and distant really well and then when it was time to be in love, she flawlessed that as well. every emotion portrayed by her, was very well done. park sung hoon, (antagonist/SML) played his character really well as well. yk an actor did a good job when you hate their character but also feel sympathy for them. kwak dong yeon played hong soo cheol, (FL's younger brother/ idk if hes SML or what). his acting was pretty good too. and finally, lee joo bin who played cheon da hye. Her acting was incredible. She depicts da hye as a woman who goes into a fake relationship with a rich guy to make it big for herself. she's an orphan as her parents abandoned her. after years of being in this fake relationship, she genuinely falls in love with her pretty dumb (LOL) husband and turns to the good side.

i thought it was really interesting how everyone just seemed to be connected as children. yoon eun seong (SML/antagonist) did save hong hae in from a dog when they were children which is when his love for her sparked. additionally, hyun woo saved hae in from drowning when they were kids. which is why its fate and they're meant to be. and da hye bullied soo cheol wehn they were kids.

i really liked seeing hae in's mother slowly warm up to hyun woo's mother and start to accept her and the country lifestyle.

i cried during the ending of episode 7, when hae in forgets about the divorce and reverts back to the version of herself that loves hyun-woo. i cried when hyun-woo cried. it was genuinely heartbreaking that he witnessed an episode of hers. also lol it was so scary when hae in hallucinated eun-seong as hyun-woo and he practically manipulated her.
and it was so sad when hae in lost her memory and eun-seong manipulated her into isolating herself from hyun-woo and her whole family. thankfully she broke out of that and i cried when she went to go see hyun-woo in tears only for him to get hit by a car. AND then take a bullet for her.

after the first few episodes, i was like "why is this called the queen of tears? hae in never cries, the only one crying is hyun-woo" i still dont really get the name tbh. but i did witness hae in crying a lot.

it was definitely hard for her when she had to make the decision to either die, or forget the love of her life and all her other memories. but im thankful she did it and ended up remembering some things and falling back in love with her.

i will add that before when i was talking about the acting and that how yoon eun-seong's actor managed to play his character where i felt hatred for him and sympathy. i only felt sympathetic that he truly was never loved and never experienced love but that does not excuse him for any of the things he did and attempted to do.

DISLIKES:

i do think the ending was unnecessary, seeing hyun-woo turn old and visit hae in's grave and all their favourite spots. yes, its a happy ending knowing they lived long lives together and had a daughter but still why make them turn old :(. the show could've just ended with the two of them young with their daughter. no need for adding death and making me finish it with an empty feeling. i wanted more sweet moments between the main leads where they didn't have to worry about anything.

i hated it when at the start, hyunwoo was such a jerk. it was his fault that the marriage was failing too. he never properly communicated with her. it's hae in's fault too but ALSO hyunwoo's. hyun-woo was literally wishing death for hae in which is HORRIFIC. even to the point of only thinking about her will? like wtf?

OVERALL:

this drama was pretty good but still overhyped. i don't think i'd rewatch this because the storyline is something i don't think ill forget just because the twists and turns is all so obvious and we didn't get too many happy moments between the main leads and im kind of a wimp for romance so. the acting is incredible and the music suited the scenes. i don't really ever have opinions on the music used in shows so i'll leave it at that. i do think the main leads have chemistry and i'd love to see them star together in a romcom k-drama.

anyway, to finish off i want to remind anyone that reads this that this is purely just MY opinion and you could watch this and give it a 10 or a 1. that's completely up to you! i hope you enjoy watching. :)

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