’20th Century Girl’ Ending, Explained: What Happened to Woon-Ho and Is He Alive?

Welcome to the Ending Explained for 20th Century Girl, a new Korean film that has arrived on Netflix to steal the hearts of every single viewer. 20th Century Girl feels just like any other romantic Korean drama, but it has something that makes it stand out from the rest. The film evokes all the feelings from that first love, good and bad. It also touches on the nostalgic vein of the generation that grew up during the 90s. A generation that has been let down so far in fiction in favor of the generation that grew up in the magical 80s.

20th Century Girl ends up being quite a melancholic film. It doesn’t really have the ending we all wish it would have. This is a plus because it makes the movie feel different from what is always delivered in this type of movie. However, it is also a bad thing because the way they push for that ending feels too forced and random. You could say it is truly like real life, but this is fiction, and things make much more sense in fiction. That is the entire reason why we tell stories to each other, to make the world make sense.

The following paragraphs contain spoilers for 20th Century Girl. Read at your own risk.

What Is the Main Conflict Of 20th Century Girl?

The film starts with the introduction of Bo-ra, our protagonist. She seems to be working as some sort of voice actress. She receives a call from her father, who tells her that she has received a package with an old movie inside. Bo-ra doesn’t really know what this means, but when she goes back home to collect the movie, it springs up memories from the year 1999. The year she fell in love for the first time. We go back to that year, and we see her saying goodbye to her best friend, Yeon-du, who is going to America to have heart surgery.

Before they separate, Yeon-du confesses she is in love with a guy named Hyunjin. She asks Bo-ra if she can learn as much as possible about the guy so that when she comes back she might have a chance with him. Bora accepts the challenge, and she starts stalking Hyunjin. Bora learns as much from Hyunijn as she can, and she also meets Hyunjin’s best friend, Woon-ho. The three of them start spending a lot of time together. Because Bora asks so many questions about Hyunjin, Woon-ho thinks she likes Hyunjin and tries to set them together.

However, the case is the opposite. Bora only wants to learn things to help her friend, but she is actually falling in love with Woon-ho. As they spend more and more time together, it becomes quite clear this is what is happening. On a school trip to the beach, Bora gets drunk, and she confesses to Woon-ho that she likes it, but she doesn’t remember anything the next morning. Later, they spent a wonderful afternoon together, and Woon-ho kisses Bora. This moment starts their relationship in full.

What Happened To Woon-Ho And Is He Alive?

Yeon-du comes back from her surgery, and she seems to be in great health. However, something terrible happens. It seems there was a mix-up and the guy that Yeon-du likes is Woon-ho, not Hyunjin. At the start of the year, they exchanged jackets, and because of that, Yeon-du thought his name was Hyunijn, instead of Woon-ho. This means that both of them like the same guy. Bora had a date with Woon-ho, but she makes Yeon-du go instead. She doesn’t want to betray her best friend and make her suffer, even if it means that the one suffering is going to be her.

Things go this way for a while, but during a trip to an amusement park, Yeon-du discovers that Bora and Woon-ho like each other a lot. She gets mad with Bora not because she likes Woon-ho, but because she didn’t trust her and didn’t tell her. Yeon-du only wants her to be happy, but she doesn’t want Bora to take care of her forever. Meanwhile, Woon-ho is going back to New Zealand and says goodbye to Bora, but she doesn’t react the way he expected.

The two miss each other the day Woon-ho is leaving, so the next morning Yeon-du pushes Bora to go and say goodbye to Woon-ho. Hyunjin gives her a ride, and she makes it on time. They both express their feelings for each other, and Woon-ho promises he will come back for her. For a while, they communicate over email, and Woon-ho has plans to go back to Korea and go to a college with Bora. However, his messages suddenly stop, and Bora never hears from him again.

Back in the present, following the instructions in the package where the film came in, she gets to meet Woon-ho younger brother. He tells her that Woon-ho died soon after he arrived in New Zealand, but that she always thought about her. She was really the person he cared the most for. Bora says goodbye to the love of his life as she watches a collection of videos Woon-ho took of her while he was alive.