The Hologlasses
Netflix’s latest Korean drama My Holo Love has quite the interesting premise, and starts strongly with a decent opening episode. It tackles a possible future where AI could be part of our lives. As with many other AI movies or series, we’re set to see just how they would interact with humans and whether they would start having real feelings, which has always been a fascinating topic. In the case of My Holo Love, our main protagonist suffers from an unusual condition which stops her from recognizing people’s faces. This definitely adds an edge to the drama and I’m looking forward to see what the series will offer during its 12 episode run. We start the episode with Gio Lab CEO Yoo-Jin and her brother Go Nan-Do preparing for a presentation. They start by talking to investors about AI and how advanced it has now become. They then reveal that they’ve made the first AI hologram and surprise everyone when Nan-Do actually turns out to be a hologram, visible thanks to the glass surrounding them and can also be seen through special hologlasses. While So-Yeon works long hours at a glasses company, she keeps to herself as Yoo-Jin leaves a meeting. She comes face to face with one of the investors, Chan-Sung who offers her flowers and to go dinner with him. However, she declines the offer and heads out in her car. Suddenly she realizes that there are cars chasing her. This prompts her to put on her glasses and as Holo appears, he decides to take control of the car. A car chase ensues which ends in a crash. Yoo-Jin runs through the streets while Holo comes face to face with a stoic So-Yeon, who walks right through him. This prompts Holo to tell Yoo-Jin to give the woman her glasses. After she drops them in So-Yeon’s bags, she gets taken by the strange men after her who later drop her by a bus-stop unconscious. The next day, So-Yeon notices the hologlasses in her bag and puts them on. Suddenly, she sees Holo but is startled when he disappears after taking them off. Thinking he must have walked away, So-Yeon heads into work and it’s here we see that she suffers from prosopagnosia, which means she’s unable to recognise faces. She’s also very lonely and misunderstood as she never told anyone about her condition. Back home. she decides to put the glasses back on and is startled when Holo appears again. As she tries to push him out the way, her hands go right through him, which prompts her to run away screaming thinking he is a ghost. In the meantime, Yoo-Jin is visited by Chan-Sung in hospital. We then see a strange figure with a black motorcycle helmet waiting and watching outside the door. In her flat, Holo tries to communicate with So-Yeon and explain everything to her. Still scared, she puts the glasses back on and Holo explains who he is to her. He tells her that he’ll soon be taken back by his company but suggests she consider herself as a beta tester. She refuses though and tells him she wants to return the glasses. The next day, after she’s unable to find out where the glasses are from, So-Yeon is given a new long project to work on. Holo then rings her to offer his help. She puts the glasses on and as he clicks his fingers, starts controlling all the computers as he organizes the files for her with holographic screens around him. He manages to do the work in just 3 hours, which she’s grateful for as it would have taken her 3 days. As they drive home, she agrees to let him carry on helping her with the project. He then explains to her the three rules he has to follow; improve the user’s happiness, follow the laws of the user’s country and never lie to its user. After he shows her what he’s capable of, she asks him to never change his appearance. The next day, So-Yeon faces a challenge at work. She is chosen to accompany the CEO at a launch party and is asked to tell him who all the guests are. During the party, she struggles to do so but thankfully Holo is there to help as he analyses the faces of the guests for her. After the event, she confides in Holo about her inability to recognise people and explains that it started when she was little. The next day, we see that So-Yeon is feeling more confident at work as Holo helps her recognise all her colleagues, including boss Kang-Woo who she has a crush on. In the evening, she decides to finally accept an invitation to go drinking with her colleagues. Unfortunately she later sees that Kang-Woo is seeing someone else as he kisses another woman. Devastated by what she’s seen, So-Yeon walks home in the rain with Holo. After trying to comfort her, they discuss her condition where she explains that she doesn’t tell anyone about it because she was teased in school. He then takes her to the top of her building where he has created the illusion of multiple lights and decoration. After drinking and dancing together, So-Yeon passes out. We then cut to the man in a motorcycle helmet who seems to have been tracking Holo’s location. He arrives on the rooftop and as he takes his helmet off, we see that he looks identical to Holo. The episode ends with him putting the glasses on and looking directly at Holo. My Holo Love has managed to give us a decent first episode, setting the scene really well and presenting us all of our central characters. There’s a great blend of humour, drama and suspense which is something many Korean dramas are usually very good at. There are some really nicely edited shots too and one in particular sees a scene involving So-Yeon fading into Yoo-Jin in hospital. AI are a subject which has been used in many other shows and whether My Holo Love will stand out among the slew of others in this genre remains to be seen. For now, the story is intriguing and the characters interesting. This is set to be an easy-to-binge sci-fi series that should appeal to large audience thanks to its light humour and romance too. This is definitely one to stick around with!
