Director: Kim Do-young
Cast: Koo Kyo-hwan, Mun Ka-young, Shin Jung-keun, Lee Sang-yeob, Kim Seo-won
Once We Were Us is a 2025 South Korean drama film directed by Kim Do-young, starring Koo Kyo-hwan and Mun Ka-young in a story about two strangers whose paths cross on a bus ride home in 2008 Seoul, forging a bond that stretches across more than a decade of living, longing, and loss.
What is Once We Were Us about?
In the autumn of 2008, two young people board a bus bound for their hometown on the outskirts of Seoul. Eun-ho and Jeong-won are strangers, yet something about the shared weariness of city life draws them into conversation — and then into a friendship neither expected. As the months pass, their connection deepens into love, colored by the ordinary struggles of ambition, financial pressure, and the grinding pace of modern Korean life. They speak of futures that feel just out of reach and support each other through the quiet weight of everyday hardship. Yet life, as it often does, pulls people in different directions, and the two eventually part. Fifteen years later, on a long-haul flight back to Korea, they find themselves seated near each other again — older, changed, and carrying the full weight of everything that happened in between. What follows is a gentle reckoning with memory, missed chances, and the question of whether some bonds, once broken, can still mean something.
Cast & crew
Director Kim Do-young brings a restrained, observational eye to the material, letting performances breathe. Koo Kyo-hwan — known for his versatile range across genre and art-house work — anchors the film with quiet intensity, while Mun Ka-young brings warmth and precision to Jeong-won. The supporting ensemble, including Lee Sang-yeob and Kang Mal-geum, fills the film's world with texture.
Context & significance
South Korean romantic dramas have built a devoted following among Persian-speaking viewers worldwide over the past two decades, and Once We Were Us fits squarely within the tradition that diaspora audiences have embraced: emotionally honest storytelling, a strong sense of place, and characters navigating the gap between youthful idealism and adult reality. For Iranian viewers abroad — many of whom carry their own stories of separation, displacement, and reunion — the film's central theme of two people reconnecting after years apart carries particular resonance. The Seoul of 2008 that the film depicts is a city in rapid transformation, not unlike the cities many diaspora viewers left behind or grew up hearing about. The film is available on K-Time with Persian dubbing, making it fully accessible without any language barrier.
Where & how to watch
Once We Were Us is available now on K-Time with full Persian dubbing. Watch on the web, your TV, or your phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, no extra download required. Start watching today and cancel anytime.