‘Seven O’Clock Breakfast Club For The Brokenhearted’ review: Seoul-set romance explores love and loss

Dir: Lim Sun-ae. South Korea. 2025. 108 mins. 

Past loves leave their survivors trapped in limbo in Seven O’ Clock Breakfast Club For The Brokenhearted. Lim Sun-ae’s delicate adaptation of the 2012 novel by Baek Young-ok initially threatens to wallow in maudlin whimsy as it charts the misery of a young woman unable to move on from a failed relationship. Ultimately, though, it matures into a warm and fuzzy ensemble piece set in Seoul contemplating love, loss and the longing for closure. 

Incurable romantics will surrender to its charm

Lim Sun-ae’s third feature to play at Busan, Breakfast Club follows An Old Lady (2019) and Ms. Apocalypse (2023) and could be her most commercial prospect. Incurable romantics are likely to surrender to its charm while the combination of a star cast and a Busan Competition premiere should elevate its profile for domestic audiences.

Flight attendant Sa-gang (Bae Suzy) is scarred by a childhood that saw her parents’ marriage end in betrayal and blazing rows. Now, she is the other woman struggling to deal with the break-up of a romance with married pilot Jeong-Su (Yoo Ji-tae). He still seems to be sending her copies of Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan (whose name sounds like her own) acquired in different translations during his travels. In December 2024, Sa-gang is intrigued by an email inviting her to share an early morning breakfast with “those who don’t want to be alone”. Strangers meet, share food, watch a break-up movie and are invited to bring along “heartbreak souvenirs”. 

The initial stages of Breakfast Club feel ethereal and otherworldly, an impression underlined by the soft focus lighting and the tinkling piano score. Sa-gang’s first visit to the club takes place in the steely blue light of a snowy morning. Everything looks subdued and blurry, so it seems like it might even be a fantasy.

The tone shifts when Sa-gang takes a Rollei camera in exchange for the heartbreak souvenir she’s brought to the breakfast club. She develops the film still in the camera and then turns detective to try and figure out who is featured in the photos. A sense of fresh purpose and her attempts to uncover others’ pain begin her own healing process.

Consultant Ji-hoon (Lee Jin-wook) has also attended the breakfast club and feels lost after his break-up with longtime girlfriend Hyeon-Jeong (Keum Sae-rok). He finds an opportunity to experience the hurt of others through the romantic travails of work colleague Choi (Lee Sung-wook).

Breakfast Club thrives by revealing little details, coincidences and connections that enhance our understanding of the central characters and deepen their emotional hold on us. Ji-hoon becomes a warmer, more human figure as we learn about his family responsibilities and inability to commit. Sa-gang is less fragile than she first appears once the unknown pieces of her story start to fall into place. Actors Bae Suzy and Lee Jin-wook (Squid Game) previously appeared together in TV series Doona! (2023) and have a tender chemistry in their scenes together.

In its tale of two individuals who are destined to meet but are always kept apart, there is almost a flavour of Nora Ephron’s Sleepless in Seattle to Breakfast Club. The characters’ journeys towards better understanding and closure are reflected in a film that comes alive visually as it moves from the confinement of cramped interiors into the wider world. Sa-gang and Ji-hoon both appear to be trapped in rooms where the bright lights of the city are forever beckoning from a distance. One of the film’s strongest sequences is a trip to Tokyo where the nighttime city glows invitingly. Though corny in places, the film’s clever plotting and sincere performances help to steer Breakfast Club towards something thoughtful and moving.