“It’s better to be weird than ordinary”
– Hong In-pyo
Netflix’s new Korean original is a bizarre, surreal and fun-filled ride that celebrates non-conformity and calls for us to embrace every part of ourselves
To write a review on The School Nurse Files is to imply I have somehow grasped what The School Nurse Files is all about. The show’s glorious acid trip weirdness defies analysis and yet feels deliberate. After all – as our male lead says as we head into the plot’s explosive denouement – “Unless it’s something bad, it’s better to be weird than ordinary”. And the School Nurse Files definitely walks its own talk.
The Plot
At a Korean highschool where the kids recite cult-like verses on happiness every morning, an emotion whale floats overhead and ducks follow the leader through the school in a symbol of conformity. The children appear happy, according to our school nurse, Ahn Eun-young (Jung Yoo-mi). But when it comes to life – and especially to adolescence – it’s what’s under the surface that matters more.
Since birth Eun-young has seen ‘Jellies’, a kind of supernatural human emotional residue that grows and forms into different shapes. Armed with a toy gun and rainbow toy sword, she fights any Jellies that need fighting. These seem to be ones that are based on big dark heavy emotions or ones that have grown so big they are a threat to humans. We could have a debate as to whether the Jellies are supposed to be taken literally or metaphorically. But as a metaphor they work incredibly well for human emotion, whether you believe there is such a thing as emotional energy or not.
In this fight, Eun-young is (eventually) aided by Hong In-pyo (a Nam Joo-hyuk who is finally living up to his potential), the grandson of the school’s founder. In-pyo has a disability following a motorcycle accident when he was younger but is also gifted with a powerful aura that acts as a supernatural shield. Ahn Eun-young is able to recharge by holding his hand, although it becomes quickly apparent that’s not her only reason for wanting to hold it.
The show’s aesthetic leans deliberately away from kdrama gloss. The kids have acne. The adults look real. Nam Joo-hyuk’s model looks and height are transformed into a gawky, clumsy awkwardness that is 1000 times more attractive than the usual sanitised shine.
Eun-young used to work at a hospital but found it too stressful to deal with the dead. A school, she decided, would be better since the worst she would have to deal with is porn jellies.
The writers of The School Nurse Files revel in the relaxed content standards on Netflix and the show is littered with swear words, rutting jellies and teen hormones very literally running amok.
But the school Eun-young has chosen (or been herded towards) is no ordinary school. There is something lurking in the mysterious locked basement and forces are gathering to try to control it.
The School Nurse Files is a crazy ride of symbolism and metaphor. Much of the imagery will be more familiar to a Korean audience than an international one and this may affect some people’s ability to connect with it. There’s a whole head-scratching plotline involving knotting hair and stealing cushions that domestic audiences will probably understand but foreign viewers will find perplexing. (I am one of those foreign viewers).
Safe Happiness and the courage of being yourself
The School Nurse Files is unconventional and original and flat out weird. In fact, it’s a celebration of weird where everyone is encouraged to let their freak flag fly. With a disabled male lead as a love interest, a non-gendered character, a lesbian relationship and a female lead who aggressively does not fit in, The School Nurse Files celebrates non-conformity and giving yourself permission to step outside of the box.
Don’t hurt yourself and have fun while you’re at it. Be someone who is loved by others.
Throughout the show, Eun-young struggles with her sense of isolation and separateness; her outward image of being crazy and weird. To fight Jellies she uses her own emotional energy and finds her resources quickly depleted in a school where emotional repression is at its most severe. These themes – about conformity, happiness, fitting in with the herd and needing time to recharge your emotional energy – underpin the story as it unfolds and a highschool setting is thus a perfect place for it.
Conclusions… or not…
I could attempt to come to some conclusions about The School Nurse Files but I think it’s best to discover it for yourself. ‘What it all means’ is less important than what it means to you.
My only quibble is that it’s packed into six episodes like a pocket rocket ready to explode and it really needed at least one or two extra episodes to make the whole thing feel less rushed. But in the final estimation that’s not a huge problem. I’ll happily take another season – hell another three seasons – of Eun-young fighting emotional demons while holding her adorable boyfriend’s hand.
Get on that please, Netflix. Now.
The whole season of The School Nurse Files is available to stream on Netflix
