New Netflix Animated Sci-Fi Romance ‘Lost In Starlight' Sparkles Visually And Emotionally
The term 'star-crossed lovers' has become a bit of a cliché, but it applies literally to Nan-young and Jay, the two protagonists of Lost in Starlight, the beautiful new animated feature from director Han Ji-Wan dropping on Netflix May 30. The film, which is the first feature length animated production on Netflix from South Korea, comes dressed in the trappings of science fiction, complete with planetary exploration and an edgy near-future version of Seoul glittering in the background. Underneath, however, it's a warm-hearted love story that pushes the boundaries of animation in exciting new directions.
'Usually in animated films, the characters just exist to drive the plot,' said Han in an exclusive interview via an interpreter. 'I didn't want that. I really wanted to have characters that you would see in everyday life, who you could really relate to. With animation, you can control all the details of expression and movement, so you can actually get more personal, more character-specific, and really dive into the feeling of it.'
Lost in Starlight delivers on that vision. Like Entergallactic, Scott 'Kid Cudi' Mescudi and Kenya Barris's animated romance film that debuted on Netflix in 2022, Lost in Starlight uses the irresistible eye candy of high-end contemporary animation to illuminate appealing characters and dazzling backgrounds, but never loses sight of the emotional heart of its story.
In Lost in Starlight, Nan-young is a scientist attached to the space program. The leadership is initially reluctant to add her to an upcoming journey to Mars because her mother was lost there on a previous mission 20 years ago. As Nan-young fights to realize her dream, she meets Jay, a gifted musician whose stage fright has kept his career from taking flight. But when Nan-young is added to the Mars mission at the last minute, and finds herself on a dangerous mission on the Red Planet, they must deal with the anxieties and uncertainties of being worlds apart.
Han brings a warmth and empathy to her characters and realizes the visuals in a style that combines the best of Asian and American-style animation while avoiding stylistic and genre clichés. She says the settings in 2050s-era Seoul are modeled on the neighborhood where she lives and works, and every detail in the background is meant to spark emotional or nostalgic resonance. It's a remarkably self-assured film from such a relatively young director, and a bold choice for Netflix's debut entry from the South Korean animation industry.
Animator Han Ji-Won, director of "Lost in Starlight" debuting on Netflix May 30, 2025
Han is a rising star in the South Korean animation industry with a growing catalog of short films including The Sea on the Day When the Magic Returns, which was screened at Sundance in 2023. She says she fell in love with comics as a child at a comic shop run by her grandmother, and knew she wanted to be an animator after seeing the work of Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki. Lost in Starlight, her second feature film, is getting an international release on Netflix, part of the streamer's ongoing investment in cutting edge animation and new voices.
'At Netflix, we collaborate with creators from diverse backgrounds to offer a variety of stories,' says Vincent Taewon Kim, Director of Content for Netflix Korea. 'Lost in Starlight, especially with the incredible vision of Director Han Ji-won, is a perfect example of that. We're also proud to support new and emerging creative voices. This year, we are showcasing two other films such as Mantis by Lee Tae-sung and Love Untangled by Namkoong Sun, both amazing up-and-coming filmmakers.'
Han says she came up with the story idea of a woman's dream to be an astronaut as part of a short music video she was working on, which she then had the opportunity to expand into a full length film. 'At the time I was making the movie, I fell in love,' she says. 'The production company asked me if we could add more romance to the movie, and I thought this was actually perfect because right now I' m love, so this would be the ideal opportunity to show my emotions!'
She also says she is grateful she had the support to realize her vision in an industry and culture that does not always welcome women in creative leadership. 'I'm lucky because it is quite rare to be in the role and position I'm in, to do both the production and planning myself,' she says. 'It's true that it is a very male dominated field, especially at the director and senior levels, and there is an unseen barrier to some extent, so I try my best to make sure my communication is very clear cut and I am able to get my ideas across. My way of breaking the barrier was having a unique way of working and being very persuasive as I advanced my career.'
She added she's encouraged to see the industry opening up, with more opportunities for talented female creators. If Lost in Starlight meets with popular success to match its creative accomplishments, those barriers may drop down even further.
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