The Moon Flows Through the River (2025)

⭐ Starring: Kang Tae-oh, Kim Se-jeong, Lee Sin-young, Hong Su-zu
🎭 Genre: Historical | Fantasy | Romance | Drama

“When the moonlight touches the river, fate flows both ways.”

🌕 A Tale of Souls, Secrets, and Destiny

Set in the late Joseon era — a world of rigid hierarchies, whispered secrets, and hidden grief — The Moon Flows Through the River weaves an otherworldly love story between two souls whose fates are bound by a celestial twist.

Crown Prince Lee Kang (Kang Tae-oh) lives under the crushing weight of royal expectation. Haunted by the death of his mother and the endless power struggles of the court, he has built walls of steel around his heart.

Meanwhile, Park Dal-i (Kim Se-jeong), a clever and outspoken merchant with no recollection of her childhood, wanders the marketplace with a smile that conceals sorrow. She barters for her future while searching for fragments of her past — unaware that her destiny is written in the stars.

When a blood moon rises over the capital, an ancient curse awakens. In a moment of divine alignment, their souls exchange — the prince becomes the merchant, and the merchant becomes the prince.

💫 Between Two Worlds

Dal-i, now trapped in the prince’s body, must navigate the treacherous corridors of the palace — a place of masks and whispers, where one wrong step could mean execution. Her humor, compassion, and cunning soon earn the loyalty of those around her — and the suspicion of those in power.

At the same time, Lee Kang awakens in Dal-i’s humble form, stripped of his royal privileges. For the first time, he walks among the commoners — witnessing hunger, kindness, and quiet rebellion. What begins as confusion turns into revelation: he learns that leadership is not born from birthright, but from understanding.

As the two live each other’s lives, they begin to understand one another in ways no one else could — hearts drawn together by empathy and bound by an impossible fate.

🌓 Love Written in Moonlight

Their connection deepens even as danger closes in. Lee Kang, trapped in Dal-i’s body, must protect her from assassins who believe the “merchant” holds royal secrets. Dal-i, navigating the prince’s ruthless world, begins to uncover truths about her forgotten past — secrets that may explain the very curse binding them.

Is their soul exchange punishment… or destiny?

Every moonlit meeting, every fleeting glance, carries both longing and dread — for when the celestial cycle ends, one may have to vanish forever.

🌸 Themes & Tone

Identity & Empathy: What happens when a prince becomes a peasant, and a peasant becomes royalty? The series beautifully explores what it means to live another’s life and see the world through their eyes.
Love Beyond Form: A romance that transcends body and station, where the soul — not appearance — defines connection.
Politics & Power: Amid shifting loyalties, corruption, and rebellion, the story uses fantasy as a lens to question the true cost of ambition.
Myth & Magic: Rooted in Korean folklore, the series intertwines the celestial with the human — the moon as both witness and fate.

🎬 Cinematic Brilliance

Helmed by visionary director Kim Won-seok (My Mister, Arthdal Chronicles), The Moon Flows Through the River combines sweeping historical grandeur with intimate emotional storytelling.

Visuals: The cinematography paints every frame like a hanbok in motion — moonlit rivers, misty palaces, and candlelit chambers drenched in sorrow and beauty.
Performances: Kang Tae-oh delivers a career-defining turn as a prince torn between duty and self-discovery, while Kim Se-jeong shines with warmth, humor, and heartbreaking grace. Their chemistry is electric — playful one moment, devastating the next.
Score: A haunting blend of traditional instruments and modern orchestration underscores every twist of fate, every stolen glance, every tear beneath the moon.

🌙 A Destiny That Defies Time

As political conspiracies unravel and the blood moon returns, the two must decide: will they fight fate to reclaim their own lives, or embrace the curse that made them whole?

The Moon Flows Through the River is not just a love story — it’s a reflection on humanity itself. On how love can bridge the divide between privilege and poverty, body and soul, life and death.

When the moon flows through the river, two worlds meet. And for a fleeting moment, love becomes eternal.