My Brilliant Life

We've seen this story before - a young child with a tragic condition armed with a buoyant outlook on life, sprinkled with a preternaturally wise sense of the world. It's Wonder's Auggie Pullman or more recently (and Korean) Almond's Yunjae.

Here we have Areum. Diagnosed with progeria, Areum ages at an accelerated rate so at sixteen he's inhabiting the body of an 80 year old teetering on the brink of death. His parents, pregnant at 16, find themselves barely over 30 and faced with mounting hospital fees and the unavoidable certainty of their child's imminent death.

Areum is determined to write his own story and reconstruct the life of his parents meeting and having him. His tale also includes a quirky 60 year old neighbour and best friend, an inspiring TV spot and a secret admirer and Areum's parents just trying to do the best they can. The whole plot is almost its own genre and the story hits the expected beats with a few twists delivering just the right dose of heartwarming and hopeful without veering too far into misery and mawkishness. All you can hope for really.