K-pop band FT Island's Lee Hong-ki plays Chung-Ui, a superstar who attacks a man who shouts abuse at him, and is sentenced to 300 hours of community service at a hospital.
While there, the idol meets patients with distinctive characters: an energetic girl, a nicotine-addicted former gang member; a father who flees the hospital to work at a karaoke club; and the young yet strict volunteer who monitors how well he performs his service. Soon, the five find they have a love in common - music. So they form a band called Phoenix.
The hospital is a palliative care facility, and all the patients there are living out the last days of their lives. But the centre is running out of funding. With his musical talents and industry contacts, Chung-Ui agrees to train up the band for a TV performance which will raise money to save the home.
The film is touching, but kept from being morose thanks to the characters' comical interactions. However, it still takes the audience on an emotional roller-coaster ride to the most vulnerable points of characters' lives.
For the patients, music is the best medicine - and audiences should find solace in their joy, before the inevitable endings.
YP Rating: 4/5
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