‘Move to Heaven’: The final move after death
Have you ever heard about ‘trauma cleaners’ or what they do? Trauma cleaners are those who offer cleaning services after murders, suicides, and unattended deaths. And ‘Move to Heaven’, a South Korean drama revolves around this. The drama introduces this unusual yet meaningful job or ‘trauma cleaning’ that many are unfamiliar with.
Directed by Kim Sung-ho and written by Yoon Ji-ryeon, ‘Move to Heaven’ is about a 20-year-old boy, Geu-ru (Tang Jun-sang) who helps his father Jeong-u (Ji Jin-hee) run a trauma cleaning company named ‘Move to Heaven’ for the deceased. Geu-ru has Asperger’s syndrome, an autistic disorder for which he has trouble with social skills and speaks like a robot. He possesses a photographic memory and high intelligence alongside an obsessive penchant for the routine. He has difficulty grappling with emotions.
Together the father and son treat every cleaning request and the memory of the deceased with the utmost respect. They throw away most of their possessions, clean and deodorize the room. But they believe that the dead can still tell their stories through the things they left behind. That’s why they collect the most precious things of the deceased in a yellow box so that the deceased’s loved ones can know their unsaid messages. And lastly, Geu-ru and Jeong-u try to construct a story about the person’s lives from what they find.
After seeing deaths daily, suddenly Geu-ru had to face his own father’s death. He can’t take the fact that his father is gone and also discovers that he has an uncle named Jo Sang Gu (Lee Je Hoon) who’s an ex-convict. And Jeong-u gave Sang Gu the guardianship of Geu-ru his will as Sang Gu was the only family member left.
At first, Sang Gu didn’t want this guardianship but then he finds that accepting this guardianship will give him access to all of his brother’s assets. But for that to happen, Sang Gu must show that he can live amicably with Geu-ru for three months, and within this time he should also work for ‘Move to Heaven’ during this period. Sang Gu, likewise, comes off as ill-mannered and brusque. But slowly while working for ‘Move to Heaven’ he learns about the importance of life and death as well as family and communication. Through him, the show explores the weight of consequences and the path to redemption.
People who have lost their loved ones may be all too familiar with the inexpressible pain that comes only after all the ceremonious formalities are done. The deafening silence when returning to one’s home boasts an absence that has never been more visceral and real. Clothes left unworn, books meticulously curated across the years, worn-out shoes, all suddenly bereft of their owner. Have you ever thought about who will sorts out homes and belongings once someone’s gone? In most cases, you’d assume that the deceased’s family would but, if they can’t face it or there are no relatives to take care of things, what will happen then? That’s when the trauma cleaners step in. And Geu-ru reminds you that although you can’t see someone it doesn’t mean they are not with you. As long as you remember them, they are not gone.
This 10-episode drama was mainly inspired by a non-fictional essay ‘Things Left Behind’ by Kim Sae Byul which was published on 20 July 2015. Kim Sae Byul is also the first South Korean real ‘trauma cleaner’. According to some reports, Sae Byul seemed to focus more on solitary deaths of individuals with mental illnesses, which manifest in behaviors like hoarding. However, ‘Move to Heaven’ also highlights non-solitary deaths which made the drama more healing and unique. He also previously worked as a mortician at a funeral house, where he witnessed about 1,500 unattended deaths after establishing his cleaning business in 2009. That’s why he decided to help people with his job as long as he can.
In the series, when Geu-ru collects the deceased’s most precious things in the yellow box, it reminds us that even though in our whole life we get and lose many things, our stories can be told by a very little amount of things. It also sums up one's life as a poetic image of how fragile existence can be. In a time when everyone is trying to escape from the reality, ‘Move to Heaven’ gives us a chance to take a moment to look around their surroundings and those who have been neglected and to encourage each other.
With an 8.7 IMDb rating ‘Move to Heaven’ is a very enjoyable series to watch. The theme centers the story like a sore thumb, imagining moments of regret, love, despair, and every other major emotion that can involve family. And that is why this series works so incredibly well from a no judgmental perspective. This is absolutely a series that can have audiences laughing one minute but then having their eyes rain a bucket the next. The director, writer, and the whole cast of ‘Move to Heaven’ deserve all its praises for portraying this simple yet complicated world, where loss and grief are often misunderstood but are a regular everyday event. All of the characters can only be loved, despite each one of them bearing their own flaws.
Overall, through tackling an under-explored facet of life, ‘Move to Heaven’ asks viewers for compassion and offers heart-warming hope. Like the deceased that Geu-ru is so dedicated to helping, this drama will also finds its way into your heart and linger there even after you’ve finished watching.
* Rumaiysa M Rahman is a 10th grader at Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, Dhaka