Binge-worthy: XO, Kitty is a likeable Hollywood high-school drama with Asian sensibilities
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Anna Cathcart stars in XO, Kitty as Kitty Song Covey, the little-sister character from the To All The Boys I've Loved Before films.
PHOTO: NETFLIX
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XO, Kitty
Netflix
3 out of 5 stars
The To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018 to 2021) films, one of the most popular teenage romantic comedies in recent years, have spawned a new spin-off series, XO, Kitty.
It follows the little-sister character from the main franchise, Kitty Song Covey (Anna Cathcart), as she sorts through romantic entanglements at a school in Seoul. Here are some reasons to tune in.
1. Aggressively perky but likeable heroine
Fans of the movies will remember Kitty as the precocious, Yakult-drinking pre-teen who steals the love letters older sister Lara Jean (Lana Condor) wrote, but never sent to her crushes.
The character might have been downright obnoxious had Cathcart not tempered her bright-eyed, matchmaking zeal with a good dose of likeability and sweetness.
The actress does the same here, which makes Kitty easy to cheer for despite what one character calls her “aggressive perkiness”.
The story begins when she impulsively transfers from her American high school to one in Seoul so she can be with her long-distance South Korean boyfriend, Dae (Choi Min-young).
But her self-assurance is quickly knocked down a peg when she fails to fit in and Dae is not what she imagined.
2. Not your typical Hollywood high-school story
The show is set at an international school and even though there is a queen-bee, mean-girl character, Yuri (Gia Kim), the story does not over-rely on that trope.
Instead, the initial focus is on Dae’s financial struggle to stay in school, where his best friends are South Korean and Iranian-Filipino, and where Korean is spoken along with English – in American, British and Australian accents.
There are fun nods to K-dramas, including the requisite slow-motion “boy catches falling girl” shot. It is amusing to see a Hollywood high-school drama with Asian sensibilities. Everyone openly cares about doing well at examinations, for instance.
3. Unconventional teen spirit
The show spouts its fair share of cliches and the mystery Kitty uncovers is a bit flat.
But the series is less conventional than the movies.
Gay and possibly bisexual characters feature in some of the romances, and Kitty’s buddy Q (Anthony Keyvan) gets more character development than the standard “gay best friend”.
While there are moments of pathos, the series is often playful and laugh-out-loud campy, and takes itself far less seriously than the films.
