Poong Woon-ho played by Byeon Woo-seok in '20th Century Girl.'

Movies

’20th Century Girl’: Fans Theorize How Poong Woon-ho Met His Tragic Fate

Woon-ho falls deeply in love with Bo-ra in '20th Century Girl.' But after leaving for New Zealand, he promises to remeet Bo-ra but never does due to an unknown reason fans have theories about.

by Gabriela Silva

Published on November 14, 2022

3 min read

Woon-ho never gets to meet Bo-ra of the 21st Century

After watching a glorious and charming story of young love, 20th Century Girl effectively rips out fans’ hearts. While not based on a true story, the sad ending spoke volumes to fans and had some upset. In the movie, Bo-ra takes the plunge and goes to the train station to confess her feelings to Woon-ho before he leaves for New Zealand.

Their bittersweet farewell has Woon-ho break down and sob while the train leaves in 20th Century Girl. Time goes on, and Woon-ho stops contacting Bo-ra as she grows up, goes to college, and tries to move on from her first love. Before she knows it, she is an adult. The adult version of Bo-ra is the same person fans saw at the beginning of the movie.

The adult Bo-ra returns to her family’s old video store and sees the package addressed to her. Inside is a VHS tape and a postcard invitation to an art gallery. The VHS tape is about an adult romance Woon-ho once asked her to steal for him while they were teens. It is safe to say that Bo-ra believes Woon-ho sent her the package.

At the gallery, she sees a beautiful video installation of autumn. Bo-ra soon learns the tragic truth. The installation is in remembrance of Woon-ho, who died in 2001. Instead of Woon-ho, Bo-ra meets his brother Joseph. He explains Bo-ra was his brother’s first and only love and his happiest memories. 20th Century Girl ends with Bo-ra watching the videotape of Woon-ho in New Zealand, promising to see her for New Year and meet Bo-ra of the 21st century.

Fans speculate Woon-ho died in an accident in ’20th Century Girl’

A big dark mystery of 20th Century Girl is when and how Woon-ho died. The art installation only gave a year, no specific date. Some fans speculated that Woon-ho could have died during 9/11, but the theory is impossible to prove and unlikely. Another possibility is Woon-ho dying in a plane crash. But a fan on Reddit debunks the possibility by saying, “I don’t think it would be a plane crash as that would make more of a headline with numerous deaths.”

There is only one plausible theory of how Woon-ho died in 20th Century Girl. A fan explains, “He probably died from an accident not long after he shot the 1 Jan 2001 video given he didn’t get to email Bo-ra about it and how he suddenly went silent. There were hints in the movie that something extremely bad happened — they were in constant communication then none. Bo-ra also cried into the phone booth she’ll pretend he’s dead so she move on.”

In hindsight, this theory is the most likely answer and makes the storyline even more tragic. Woon-ho was adamant about returning to Korea to see Bo-ra again and continuing their love story. It is more than possible that while on route to the airport, Woon-ho was involved in an accident that took his life. But fans will never know what happened to Woon-ho as the creator and director has not revealed it.

Will there be a new installment or spinoff of ’20th Century Girl’?

There is no denying that the Korean movie left fans with wounded hearts over the saddening reality of Bo-ra’s first love. But is there room for a 20th Century Girl spinoff? During the cast interview at the Busan International Film Festival, Director Bang Woo-ri gave a vague answer.

According to the video by ZAPZEE, Director Bang teased that they have spoken about the possibility among themselves. Actors Kim and Byeon teased the director if she was being serious. But the director could only laugh and shy away.

Kim explained the good atmosphere during a company dinner had the director open to the idea of a second installment if it is what fans want. The cast said they were more than willing to return if Director Bang wrote a sequel.