How “Move To Heaven” Shows the Beauty Of Love Without Limits

Warning: article contains spoilers!

Move to Heaven is a South Korean television series on Netflix that depicts the life of a young man with autism, Han Geu-Ru, after the death of his father. Han Geu-Ru and his father ran a trauma cleaning service called Move to Heaven, in which they received calls to clean up the rooms of the deceased once they passed away. Although others may judge this service due to its association with death, Han Geu-Ru and his father uncover the stories that the deceased individuals left behind in an attempt to continue their message even after death. However, after his father dies, Han Geu-Ru’s estranged uncle, Cho Sang-Gu, comes to live with him and acts as his guardian for three months. Although Cho Sang-Gu is cold toward Han Geu-Ru at first, through Move to Heaven and continued interactions, Cho Sang-Gu begins to show that he really cares for his nephew. 

In episode five, the series depicts the bittersweet love story of two young men: Jung Soo Hyun and Ian Park. At the beginning of the episode, Jung Soo Hyun is stabbed by a patient who seeks drugs at the hospital. After his death, Jung Soo Hyun’s parents call Move to Heaven to clean up his room. There, Han Geu-Ru finds a letter written to Soo Hyun’s past lover and other belongings meant for his significant other. Han Geu-Ru goes on a mission to find the doctor’s lover to give him the belongings and ultimately finds that the person is Ian Park, who is now a renowned cellist. Then, viewers finally understand the context of Ian Park’s and Soo Hyun’s past relationship. They first met at the hospital when Ian was involved in an accident and prioritized his cello over his own health, where Soo Hyun prevented Ian from making harmful decisions. From there on, their relationship grew into one of love, and Soo Hyun gained the courage to display their affection in public despite the possible judgment from others. 

However, on the day that they were supposed to go to San Francisco together for Ian’s musical career, Soo Hyun arrives at the airport and tells Ian that he won’t be going with Ian. Soo Hyun states that he is a coward because he won’t go against his parents’ disapproval of their relationship. The memory ends with a heartbreaking goodbye in which Ian is left by Soo Hyun. Returning to the present time, Han Geu-Ru hands Ian the belongings of Soo Hyun. One of these was an airplane ticket. Soo Hyun was planning to leave for San Francisco the day after his death and was planning to propose to Ian with a ring. Despite the heartbreaking revelation, Ian does not hold a grudge against Soo Hyun and instead tearfully accepts his love even after his death. At his concert, Ian makes a small speech referring to Soo Hyun as the best person in his life. When Ian begins to play the song that he first played for Soo Hyun on the cello, the camera pans to his hand, in which he wears the two proposal rings on both his ring and middle finger.

This episode of Move to Heaven is especially touching in showing the relationship between two men who were deeply in love with each other but had to separate due to disapproval from others. Despite the year during which they were separated, it was touching to see that Soo Hyun had the courage to go against his parents’ wishes after all and planned to be with Ian. However, their story is tragic in that Soo Hyun died the day before he was supposed to fly to meet with Ian again. This episode was very touching in showing how love is limitless and should not have constraints; viewers are moved by Soo Hyun’s and Ian’s love story and can see their pain on screen through their expressions at the airport. Although Soo Hyun passed away, his gesture of love for Ian transcends his death in showing Ian that he never fell out of love with him. Ian, in turn, shows his strength in accepting Soo Hyun’s love after his death and keeps the memory of him by wearing both of their proposal rings. Overall, episode five of Move to Heaven conveys that love only continues to grow despite the norms that try to restrict it.

• death
• LGBTQ+
• love
• move to heaven
• Netflix
• norms
• relationship
• tragic
• transcending