Amor com Fetiche (2022)

South Korea's answer to 50 Shades of Grey and I loved it!

Just saw this show on Netflix and personally loved it!

A romantic comedy about two colleagues engaging in an erotic BDSM relationship. Despite its' erotic themes/tropes, it may be the most mild and tasteful movie I've ever seen on the subject. If you're a conservative/squeamish viewer, there's no explicit nudity, and almost no vulgarity.

While it's a movie, it feels like a K-Drama in it's pacing with each scene taking it's time and focused solely on Jun and Seohyun's chemistry, which was excellent. At just two hours, it left me wishing it was a K-Drama as I felt the story could have been longer and would have been interesting to follow these characters for a few hours more. I found it to be hilarious and I found myself laughing to tears at certain parts.

It's very well done and receives my highest recommendation!

Leia Mais

A BDSM movie done right!

Love and Leashes is a sexy, fresh and delightful movie! I didn’t know what to expect from this movie since it seems to have mixed reviews, but I ended up really loving this. This is actually a great movie to watch for introduction to BDSM… so do yourself a favor and watch this instead of the terrible 50 Shades of Grey. Love and Leashes actually tells how important consent is, about the HEALTHY way of BDSM, not the unhealthy way. I was surprised that Korea made such a daring, progressive and controversional movie, since as far I understand Korea is a conservative country. And also surprising is that this actually potrayed BDSM in a healthy way, since this might be the first BDSM korean movie or one of the first (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). And the third surprising thing is that the female lead and male lead is acted by a idols, Seo Hyun from Girls' Generation and Lee Jun Young from U-KISS! That’s very brave of both of them. The fourth surprising thing is that it’s the woman who is the dominatrix/master, especially since this is Korea’s first (or one of the first) BDSM movie. It feels feminist, like it breaks stereotypes about men and women, it tells that men doesn’t have to be macho/dominant, and that women doesn’t have to be sumbissive.

This is generally a lighthearted and comedy movie, sometimes even silly, but deals with serious and disturbing subjects too… Anyways, this movie despite the theme is not very explicit, but still manages to be sexy! If you are looking for something explicit / almost p*rnish, then you might be dissapointed. The chemistry between Seo Hyun and Lee Jun Young is good. I like the fact that Ji Woo does lots of research about BDSM, which is not always the case when it comes to BDSM movies, and how respectful Ji Hoo is towards Ji Woo, he doesn’t force or nag at her when it comes to BDSM, he is not pushing her into anything… and I like the fact that Ji Woo actually likes to experience new things and is so open minded. She doesn’t judge people for their perferences.

It also deals with other people’s judgement when it comes to BDSM and How they think its just perverted and sick, and the movie wants to tackle those prejudices and tell there is nothing wrong with BDSM - as long as both parties wants it. I won’t lie, this movie is a bit predictable, sometimes I could tell what would happen. Also, the acting is okay but not the best… but other than that, everything was great, it also tacklas sexism at work, and movie wants to lift up How problematic it is. Ji Woo is a strong a character, she doesn’t take crap and is a very modern, liberal woman. Ji Hoo is a nice man who hides his kinky side, afraid to be looked down on, especially because of what happened in the past. The relationship between Ji Woo and Ji Hoo is of course not the typical kind of relationship, it’s pretty unique, of course. And of course they develop feelings for each other.

Some say this movie is very tame, but not for me. Sure there are BDSM movies out there that are a LOT more explicit, but I thought this is definitely not tame since Ji Hoo actually likes pain and we see his wounds after BDSM with Ji Woo, and some scenes are actually very darn sexy, and tastefully so… While not a very deep movie , its definitely not shallow. I give this 8.5/10 whips! ?

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Healthy rom-com

I was really worried that I wouldn't enjoy this because it's vastly different from what I usually watch — more slow-burn romances.

But this was actually such a good rom-com. It tackled a lot of issues but did it with amazing subtlety, all while keeping the humorous tone really consistent. I thought this movie did an amazing job with showing what a healthy relationship looked like, and of portraying BDSM relationships. The characters were open and honest with each other, and they were just so refreshing to watch.

There are little tidbits of social commentary like about sexism in the workplace and insecurity/self-esteem that I thought were incorporated really nicely as well.

Overall, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel second-hand embarrassment at some scenes, but I'm happy to say that this was a movie that did its job really well and embraced the rom-com formula.

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Underwhelming

Love and Leashes is not for everyone. It is not for me at least.

The premise is intriguing, but the execution is frustratingly underwhelming. This is one of those stories that spends a lot of time building momentum and then ends without having realized that momentum. While watching, I felt like something significant should happen any moment, but it never did.
Furthermore, the humor did not appeal to me – and you have to like the humor in a comedy to enjoy it.

The characters are likeable and easy to sympathize with. However, Lee Jun Young's acting is subpar, so I did not have fun watching him.

Overall, I consider this movie neither really bad, nor good. It is simply forgettable. If I were you, I would not waste my time on it, but who knows? You might enjoy it as the other reviewers did. To each his own.

Leia Mais

Final problem that rather unnecessary

Its funny that what makes me wanna watch this movie because one comment in Youtube that says this movie would be pg13. With such a controversial topic like bdsm, how can they make it pg13? So i intrigued to watch it since last month. So here’s my thoughts (I will try to avoid spoilers, but LOL)
Story : like i said, this is controversial topic about sexual preference, so (understandably) people would expect sensual and explicit scenes. This movie can maintain the sensual tension without giving sex scene at all, while there are people who dissapointed by it, it is huge plus for me since i don’t really mind if there is sex scene or not. My favorite scene is their “final play”, for me that scene really give many emotions. Had it been inconsistent with their sensual theme, that particular scene would be fell flat for me. Their story about culture in workplace also done well without screaming too much feminism
Acting : this is my first time watching seohyun and jun young act, and they really deliver. Seohyun as a straightforward, no-nonsense character is really endearing and jun young can pull off being good like puppy boy without being pushover. The side character is quite OK, i like Le El character here.
Music : nothing memorable but i think it suits the movie
Rewatch value : highly rewatchable, i think i would rewatch it after this
One thing i complained about is their problem in the end, i know it will happen as i watch the movie (they are quite reckless in first half), but the problem feels so abrupt and the conclusion is kinda rushed. If they just focused on their relationship after the contract ends, maybe i will give it 8.5. But for me, the ending makes me give it 8

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The most subtle BDSM movie ever....

Forget fifty shades of grey, this movie shows you how BDSM actually works. Love and Leashes proved that a 'sex' movie doesn't always have to be vulgar and explicit. The movie covers introductory to BDSM very well, I don't want to spoil much but trust me, you'll learn a lot from this movie. This movie is also debunking current issues such as sexual harassment, degrading women in work place, and many more. A little bit of everything, right? I like it because it's like a breath of fresh air, I really love the light atmosphere, relationship between the two main characters aren't too frustating, and the pace between them is nice to follow. The acting was good, but not that great. There is one scene that got me "kyaaah-" like way too excited for my own good, lol. The ending is pretty much rushed, I don't quite like it but it doesn't make the movie bad. Overall, I would love to recommend this movie if you need cute, yet spicy office romance!

Leia Mais

A Sweet Movie About Self-Exploration

It's a really fun movie discussing about the "taboo" topic of S&M and its effect on relationships. I liked how the ML changed from " Mr. Perfect" to a cutiepie asking for love and how the FL put effort into learning about this type of relationship, not just straight up turning to violence and insults, providing a safe space for both of them. This seemed to be a more realistic and loving relationship than the S&M portrayed in other movies. If you are put off by the 18+ rating, do not worry most of the movie is innocuous and there is no nudity( except maybe the upper body of the ML and pajama wear if you count them as such).
Overall, sweet couple, nice OST and an excellent ending.

Leia Mais

Not Even Close to 50 Shades

Almost everyone is saying this is an intro to 50 shades. I beg to differ. 50 Shades is cringed and trying hard to be sexy, Love and Leashes have more of the story and more of just vanilla. The storyline is not unique, but the romance of the two leads was pretty good. At first, I don't see their chemistry but as the story progress, it starts to click.

Other's say it's crazy how Korea is making this kind of movie now. It's laughable cause if others do their research, Korea has produced crazier sexy movies than this.

The storyline's not bad. It actually tackles how society ostracized people whose fondness is BDSM. If you think about it deeply, they criticize them, shunned them and the topic itself is taboo. At some point, the major takeaway here is love is love, and it doesn't matter how you express your love as long as you don't harm people.

This is also Seo Hyun's first sexy movie, I think it made a major discussion in the kpop world. She did great though. She's a good actor and gave justice to her character. Same with Jun, I haven't seen him act before, but judging from this, he is a very effective actor.

It's not a must-watch, but it's a good light-hearted movie and great for "literal" Netflix and chill.

Leia Mais

A Quentin Tarantino worthy amount of Feet but not much else

This movie sadly turned out to be what I feared: A lame excuse to show some vaguely kinky scenes without truly showing the audience why the kinky stuff is even necessary for the story.

BDSM in "mainstream" media is often a thorny issue, movies like 50 shades of grey poisoning the well so thoroughly that every new attempt gets looked at with apprehension. Although Love and Leashes is not as terrible as 50SOG it is also not remarkably better or more tolerable as a movie which includes BDSM in a post 50SOG world has to be.

Our main characters start in very different positions with regards to BDSM, but due to a mishap (who the hell orders their sex toys TO THEIR WORK OFFICE anyway) their worlds collide and Jihoo and Jiwoo start a D/s relationship very quickly. Considering the fact that Jiwoo had pretty much *no* idea what BDSM even really was or entailed and Jihoo at least seems somewhat experienced, I thought this was very stupid, since Jiwoo didn't even seem all too into being a Dom, but whatever the plot has to happen.

The problem is with BDSM stories though, most people are not kinksters and so some care needs to be taken to show why the characters want to be in this situation for the audience to empathise and follow along with the story. I have to say the acting sadly let the movie down in this regard, although I don't think the writing helped, but pretty much all I felt through most of the BDSM scenes was second-hand embarassment and varying amounts of cringe. All of the scenes involving Jiwoo's feet or the puppy play made me recoil and as an audience I was never sure what the intended effect was supposed to be. Most often this was because I never felt any connection to the character of Jihoo, who I just found incredibly off-putting in his disregard for social cues or even social norms (mostly regarding the workplace), granted Jiwoo was only marginally better in that regard - please don't do kinky stuff at your workplace people, i mean what the hell.

After around the halfway mark I found myself disengaging from the story entirely because I was beginning to feel bored and just finishing it out of a sense of "well I'm almost done". The ending was ok if bland, but of course we couldn't even escape the usual narrative tropes in a 2 hr movie so the conflict and resolution also had a been there done that feeling.

I watched this on Saturday and I've already forgotten most of it, which should honestly tell you everything.

If you want to include BDSM into a movie, show me why it's necessary for the characters. BDSM doesn't necessarily have to be hyper sexual, but people don't usually do it without getting something out of it. This is a very *internal* process, so a movie has to be very attentive to giving the viewer insight into this otherwise it just devolves into awkward "shock value" material to gawk at.

Leia Mais

If 50 shades of gray was good it would be like this

I read the webtoon and I was a little worried because I knew it would be hard to do a movie based on a webtoon but I got to say, I liked what I saw. It’s not perfect of course, the movie do feel a little rushed and the characters could’ve been more developed but I think it was a fine adaptation.

First, the story is a good introduction to the BDSM and the roles/rules about it. They talk about consent and it’s really refreshing that they are showing a female dominant and not a male one. It’s also good that they showed how women are seen in the society like how society want us to act in a certain way and all the sexism at work. It was also good to see how people can be hypocrite and have their own little “secrets”.

I LOVED the main leads! Both characters are charismatic in their own ways and the actors did an amazing job especially Jun omg HE’S SO UNDERRATED THAT HURTS but he was PERFECT on this role. He was really similar to the webtoon as well. He’s so cute, and sexy at the same time lol Seohyun for the other side, as a character, she was a little different, but I preferred her more here. She is SO BEAUTIFUL seriously. Overall I am really satisfied with both leads and Jun and Seohyun had an awesome chemistry together. I DIED in all their scenes, they were a perfect match.

Compared to the webtoon, we had more scenes related to BDSM, which I loved. And the scenes were really well made, the visuals was stunning. Some people may be disappointed if they expected something more spicy but for me it was fine especially because we had a lot of important topics being said.

So yeah for me it was a really enjoyable movie. Could’ve been better if it was a short drama with idk 10 episodes with 10 min each one or 4 episodes with an hour each one because the story and the development of the characters would feel more natural but nevertheless, I really recommend the movie!

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