CAST: Lee sung-Kyung, Kim Young-Kwang, Sung Jun, Ahn Heeyeon and Kim Yewon
DIRECTOR: Lee Kwang young
There are not many series that you watch which leave a doubt in your head about whether the leads are really an item. The palpable chemistry that you see on screen between Shim Woo-joo (Lee Sung-kyung) and Han Dong-jin (Kim Young-kwang) gets your mind reeling in that direction. They are so natural.
Woo-joo is a jaded, almost apathetic young woman, whose heart hardened as a child after her father eloped with another woman and abandoned her family. She still harbors a deep resentment towards him for this betrayal of the highest order: not only was the mistress once a good friend of her mother’s, they also left the family destitute by taking the Shim family’s valuables and savings with them.
It’s hard to blame Woo-joo when she shows up to her father’s funeral 13 years later, looking to thoroughly humiliate both him and his mistress-turned-widow, Heeja, by donning the skimpiest of outfits and airing dirty laundry at the service. Her plan succeeds for the most part – Heeja is publicly and righteously shamed in front of her own loved ones – and things escalate when Woo-joo learns from prattling funeral attendees that Heeja has decided to sell off the house she and her family had lived in for 20 years.
This sets off a primal rage in Woo-joo, which only worsens when Heeja defends her legal marriage to Woo-joo’s father and therefore her legitimate inheritance of the property.
Woo-joo decides to target Heeja’s son, Han Dong-jin, believing him to be as vapid as his mother. But Woo-joo discovers that Dong-jin is not only estranged from Heeja, but also a sensitive, kind-hearted man.
As Woo-joo finds herself grudgingly opening up to Dong-jin as both a friend and a love interest, she is faced with an ultimatum: will she let go of past wrongs for love or sacrifice a rare shot at romantic intimacy for the sake of evening the score?
What happens when Dong-jin will come to know who exactly Woo-joo is? How will their growing attraction towards each other work then?
As the story progresses, there are few noteworthy things about the series that we cannot help but accentuate.
Cinematography. The art of framing your subject in the correct light and angle. The series is a masterclass on how to use the camera well. A+ for cinematography as Woo-joo’s heartbreak and her emotions get portrayed with the camera playing her eyes. Dong-jin and the weight of his emotions translate to the camera in all their dark hues.
The visual language of this show is superlative as both melancholy and intensity of emotions of both the leads play out.
The actors are brilliant in their portrayal of people mired by their past trying to live in the moment. As the series progresses ( it airs Tuesdays and Fridays) we cannot wait for the big reveal.
This series streams on Hulu and is also dubbed in English for the international audiences.
PS: There is a language difference between the subtitles and the spoken English on screen.
Watch it for the story, the actors and the superb cinematography.
