K-Drama ‘Family By Choice’ first impressions: A charming trio delves into friendship, family and growing up

A remake of the 2020 Chinese drama Go Ahead, Family by Choice starring Hwang In-yeop, Jung Chae-yeon, and Be Hyun-sung is off to a promising start

What makes a family? In Family by Choice, the Korean remake of the smash-hit Chinese drama Go Ahead, Joo-won (Jung Chae-yeon) is keen on getting her family to become a ‘family on paper’. This is a recurring discussion at breakfast and dinner, and her pleas are mostly laughed off by the others at the table. 

We’ve seen several K-dramas dedicate the initial episodes to the childhood of its lead characters and in Family By Choice as well, we see how Joo-won’s family comes together as a unit. The show opens strong, courtesy a terrific trio of child actors playing younger versions of the lead characters. The children are impeccably cast, and act so well that you long to see them onscreen for more time – a rarity given how most kids on screen come off as grating and precocious. 

Joo-won and her father Jeong-jae (Choi woon-young) are immediately drawn to their new neighbour San-ha, a young child in their building who is aloof, and left to bear the brunt of a recent family tragedy. Jeong-jae being a widower is hearty fodder for neighbourhood gossip, and he soon finds himself being set up on a blind date with a single mother, whose subsequent disappearance leads to him taking in her son, Jae-hoon. As the children grow up, the families come together as a unit — San-ha (Hwang In-yeop) and his father Dae Wook (Choi Moo-Sung), Jeong-Jae, Joo-won, and Jae Hoon (Bae Hyun-sung) all live together, spread across two apartments. 

The show’s initial portions traverse Joo-won, Jae Hoon and San-ha’s childhood, and follows them as they navigate high school together. In actors Hwang In-yeop, Jung Chae-yeon, and Bae Hyun-sung, we get an endearing, charming trio, who find themselves at the crossroads of potential big changes to their lives. High school brings with it the usual teenage crushes, musings about careers, friendships, as well as some large revelations about their parents, and subsequent  difficult decisions to make that might threaten the stability of their unconventional family unit.

There might be a lot going on, but in its initial episodes, the show treads the feel-good, slice-of-life path with ease. Even when it deals with the trio having to bear the brunt of an inquisitive and often judgemental neighbourhood and peer group about their family unit and parents, we see how they stick together. The loyalty and support here is quiet, yet fierce. It also helps that every frame of the charming coastal town where the story unfolds is warm and lovely. 

Remakes are tricky to navigate and it isn’t any different here, considering how popular the 40-episode original C-drama was. Seeing how the first four episodes have unfolded, Family By Choice’s 16 episode length has the potential to work in its favour, and elevate the storytelling for the better. Given its charming cast and writing choices so far, the K-drama seems to promise oodles of heart and charm going forward. 

Family By Choice is currently streaming on Viki. New episodes drop every Wednesday