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Lisa’s new solo release Dream has taken fans completely by surprise, not only for its hauntingly beautiful song but also for the short film that accompanies it. Running for just over five minutes, the video blends languages, cultures, and emotions in a way rarely seen in K-pop. With Lisa, a Thai-born global star, singing in English and sharing the screen with Japanese actor Kentaro Sakaguchi while slipping in dialogue in both Korean and Japanese, the project feels like a truly international piece of art. But at its core, it tells a devastating story of love, loss, and longing.
The film opens with a striking image: Lisa dressed in black, sitting quietly in a church. The atmosphere is heavy, and soon the camera reveals Kentaro Sakaguchi lying inside a coffin, his couple ring still shining on his finger. As Lisa begins to sing about heartbreak and a “night in Tokyo when it ended,” the narrative starts to unfold — a relationship that once burned brightly has now ended in tragedy.
Flashbacks take viewers to happier days. The two are seen driving together, laughing and cherishing each other, the moment marked by their exchange of rings, a promise of love. But as the car ride fades, so do their happy times, leaving behind only memories.
Another poignant scene shows Lisa rowing across a vast, lonely lake. The mood shifts briefly when the couple appears in a warm, intimate moment in their kitchen, speaking softly in Korean and Japanese. Lisa asks him what he’d like to be in his next life. After a pause, she says she would want to be a tree. He responds that he would be the lake, reflecting the tree she becomes. It’s a poetic exchange, symbolizing their desire to stay connected forever, no matter the form.
But the tenderness soon collapses into grief. Lisa is once again alone on the water, rowing with quiet despair. The film ends with her scattering his ashes into the lake — a final goodbye layered with the heartbreaking lyric, “Can we be friends at least?”
With Dream, Lisa has gone far beyond the boundaries of a typical music video, crafting something cinematic and emotionally rich. The collaboration with Kentaro Sakaguchi and the multilingual storytelling adds depth, making this short film both a love letter and a requiem. Fans are already calling it one of her most daring and mature projects yet.