The Trunk

I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.

Maybe I should have watched Dune: Prophecy.I don't know.

I absolutely adored the aesthetic of the show. The house, the lake, and the colors. I thought the aesthetic was the most creative part of this series.
I was ready to rate this 6 stars because the visually is beautiful and the music is amazing, but as I kept watching, the story lacked too much to retain my interest.
A dark tale of grief, mental health and loneliness. The concept was really good but the execution just didn't do it for me. Maybe my expectations were too high. But nothing can change the fact that this was a very unsatisfying series. There were parts I enjoyed ( but it wasn't enough to keep me on the edge of my seat) but there were parts which were simply put- so bland.
5 stars - because of the artists & the beauty.
It's always hard for me to give a low score, but... I guess I can't give more.

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Underdeveloped Story... should you watch now, skip or watch later?

I watched the drama in one sitting and often skipped due to unnecessary scenes.

Plot: I feel that the story is underdeveloped. It is complex but lacks depth. The story lacks a central conflict driving the narrative. There were plot holes, and the investigation of the death story was not seamlessly done. I always think it was added to complicate the story, but it's unnecessary. Indeed, the characters must be built out of circumstances that happened to each character, but the female lead character was full of twists, trying to make her life appear miserable and broken, and to me, ended up with a question - what happened?

What's good about the story: They were able to stitch a good story about the cause of divorce between HJ and LS.

Romance: I think it was sufficient; it was nicely done, and it did not feel like the story was trying so hard to build the romance. It was ok.

The title: It seems they made the title as if the trunk is the driver of the mystery, but it was disappointing... Is it just me? The trunk could even be omitted.

The acting: I liked Seo Hyun-jin even from the other dramas she did. I knew she was a good actress. I know that Gong Yoo was one of the most popular actors in Korea, but I've not seen his works, apart from the old Coffee Prince. Maybe he is a good actor, but I did not feel him in this drama.

Recommendation: Watch later when you have no other drama to watch.

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Watching without expectation

I watched this without expectation whatsoever, just wanting to see Gong Yoo and Seo Hyun Jin.

The premise was interesting, and they executed it quite well. This drama is not everyone's cup of tea, but I truly enjoyed it. It might be not that extraordinary, plot wise, but acting wise, it was superb.

Gong Yoo and Seo Hyunjin really showed up and acted!!!! I also loved the one who played Seo Yeon, she potrated her role as a crazy broken woman really well.

Overall it is a good watch if you're looking for melancholy dark slow drama with adult romance.

Note: Gong Yoo be looking really so damn good here.

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LOVE IS TEMPORARY AND MARRIAGE IS A SERVICE

In The Trunk, appearances are deliberately deceptive. The series situates its characters within polished, affluent environments that suggest security and order, yet beneath these glassy surfaces lie decay, repression, and unresolved trauma.

The title refers to a baby-blue designer suitcase trimmed in red, first discovered abandoned beside a lake at dawn. The lake reappears later when a woman kayaks serenely across its surface. In both images, an unsettling red intrusion disrupts the calm. These recurring visual motifs signal the drama’s central preoccupation with concealed truths. The trunk functions as a metaphor for the emotional and psychological burdens each character carries, histories sealed away but never truly discarded.

Gong Yoo stars as Han Jeong-won, a traumatised music producer plagued by insomnia and pill dependency. He resides in an expansive house weighed down by memories of childhood abuse and his mother’s violent death. Recently divorced from his childhood sweetheart, Lee Seo-yeon, Jeong-won remains deeply and painfully attached to her.

Seo-yeon abruptly leaves him, marries a younger man, and later presents an unsettling proposal. If Jeong-won agrees to remain married for one year to a stranger of her choosing, she will return to him. That stranger is Noh In-ji, played by Seo Hyun-jin, a professional “field wife” employed by NM (New Marriage), a shadowy company that provides contractual spouses to clients. In-ji has already completed four such marriages. When she arrives at Jeong-won’s home with her red-and-blue suitcase, she begins her fifth assignment.

Their marriage is governed by a detailed instruction manual that enforces shared routines and constant proximity. Initially distant and methodical, In-ji gradually reveals warmth and emotional intelligence, transforming Jeong-won’s cold, cavernous mansion into something approaching a home. As Jeong-won begins to heal, sleeping naturally again and relinquishing his reliance on medication, Seo-yeon grows increasingly jealous and disturbed by his emotional recovery outside her control.

In-ji’s backstory, while occasionally convoluted, lends her character a sense of depth and complexity. Jeong-won, by contrast, feels less fully realised on the page, though Gong Yoo’s restrained performance lends credibility and emotional weight to his vulnerability.

The Trunk excels in atmosphere. Visually elegant and emotionally restrained, it is dense with symbolism. Objects such as the titular suitcase or a chandelier fashioned from knife-like glass reflect the darkness the characters attempt to suppress. Although a crime mystery simmers beneath the narrative, it remains secondary to the drama’s true focus, which is marriage as performance and as a constructed façade through which distorted self-images are maintained.

Where the series falters is in its eventual revelations. Seo-yeon’s motivations become increasingly opaque, and NM, introduced as a powerful and ominous organisation, never develops beyond a vague conceptual threat. When the series finally opens its metaphorical trunk, the contents fail to fully justify the prolonged suspense.

Visually refined and emotionally compelling, The Trunk captivates through mood and symbolism, but ultimately loses force when pressed to explain itself.

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Gag. Couldn't finish it fast enough

Some series are so bad I just stop watching them. Because this one was only 8 episodes I convinced myself to blaze through it in the hope that something good would happen. Nope. Train wreck. The uncensored sex scene didn't add anything cuz if I wanted that I know where to find it. The timeline bouncing around was a distraction. I feel like the writer has had a difficult life and this series represented some kind of catharsis. No likeable characters. Few happy moments. I guess there is an audience for this kind of show but it ain't me. Someone commented that it should have been a movie. I guess the powers that be recognized it sucked so it was limited to 8 episodes. One episode would have been plenty.

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When an 8 episodes drama felt like a 16 episodes drama.

Contract marriage is one of my go-to genres but the way they did it here was not your typical contract marriage.

The plot : The ex-wife (with issues) planned for her ex-husband (also with issues) to marry other woman while she herself marries to another. Thus began their mutual toxic relationship in the drama until the ex-husband met now his new wife (who also had her own share of trauma) which after living together her presence slowly become significant in his life. Then after facing a series of incidents together, began their process of healing.

For an 8 episodes drama you would think just how hard it can be to finish one. But it took me 7 days to complete watching. Even watching in 2x speed still feel too long. Plot got repetitive especially in the first half. Just when I feel like things started to get interesting , we are back to 0 again.

This was me while watching,

Ep 1 : Feel like the longest 1 hour of my life.
Ep 2 : Watching my cat sleeping is better than watching this.
Ep 3 : Still feel like the longest hour ever in my life.
Ep 4 : Why I am still watching ....
Ep 5 : Now things are getting interesting.
Ep 6 : We getting somewhere..
Ep 7 : Urgh. Not this obsessive woman again .
Ep 8 : Okay...

What this drama has :-

🔸️Contract marriage
🔸️Broken main leads
🔸️Toxic unhealthy marriage
🔸️Annoying unhinged ex-wife
🔸️Lot of stalking
🔸️Snailed-paced storyline
🔸️Okay mystery
🔸️Gong Yoo and Seo Hyun Jin who have great chemistry with each other

If you liked these elements in your drama well good news ,this is the drama for you.

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Unique and subtle.

It’s good, a worth watch. But I felt something is missing. I could feel what the director wanted to show, but it sometimes came off guard. The editing is not good, with many things cut out due to fitting it into 8 episodes.

The first half was superb, well-engaged, but later it gets a bit dull as scenes became repetitive without much progression. There’s also an issue with the screenplay—it could have been more intact and expansive. Instead, it felt very congested, limiting the story’s potential. I think it really needed some unanswered questions to be talked upon, so Season 2 is a must.

By the way, I loved this series so much—that’s why I talked a lot about its minor problems. I absolutely loved the performances, the cinematography, the production value, the score, and the direction. Well, that’s it about it.

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Boring, Bland, and Unfulfilling

What is there to say about The Trunk? Normally I start my reviews with a brief summary of the show so people who haven't seen it may know what to expect. But I have no idea what to put here because honestly this show is just...nothing. The official premises provided on MDL, wikipedia, and even Netflix promise a mystery show about unraveling murder and a powerful company. Yeah, no, don't expect any of that.

I think that is where a big issue of this show lies - it is not what it is promised to be at all. The fact that this show is advertised as mystery is to me, false advertising, especially in regard to 'a whirlwind of secret behind the NM company' when in reality the murder is really second fiddle, and the NM company is practically not involved at all. Instead the show focused on the twisted relationships between four people - the ML, the FL, the ML's ex-wife, and her new husband. The problem is that it's really not written well. The relationship between the ML and the ML's ex-wife is particularly written as though it should be complex, but instead it's infuriating. The ML's ex-wife's actions are bizarre, and unjustified, and considering she is the driving force between a lot of the show it's hard to enjoy it when she's constantly on screen being a terrible person.

The other selling point of this show is supposed to be the relationship between the ML and the FL. This has the same issues as the plot does in that is underdeveloped. This show clearly suffered from being 8 episodes - it either should have been shorter (like a movie) so it didn't meander so much or way longer (like 16 episodes) so it could actually explore what it wanted to. Instead its stuck in this in between where nothing it touches on really gets fleshed out, and man does it want to talk about so many things. The ML and the FL's relationship is especially rushed - we don't really get to see why they work for each other, why they click aside from that they help each other heal (kind of). It isn't unique to them - you could replace one of them with a different person and the love line could stay practically the same.

On the technical side I will say the cinematography is gorgeous - it is certainly a beautiful show to look at, but that's really the only thing about it I can say was positive. I was very disappointed by the soundtrack, especially because the ML is a music producer. Maybe it is on me for expecting that that would mean more care is put into the music, but there was nothing noteworthy about it. It would have been a great way to weave the technical with the story - if the ML is a music producer you can use music to symbolize his feelings, his life, but there is none of that. It's just another aspect of the show where you can see so much potential in it, and then its just...not used.

Speaking of potential, this feels like a real waste of good actors. I do think that Seo Hyun Jin is particularly stand out from the cast when it comes to acting - she was amazing in her role. On the other hand, I expected more from Gong Yoo. But I don't think that's necessarily his fault when he is given a character who's default mood is 'miserable.' I've seen better from him (even his cameo in Squid Game was more intriguing than this), but again, I think he did well for what he was given. The other actors are fine, but again, it feels like a misuse of a lot of talented people who could have devoted this time to far better projects.

At the end of the day The Trunk is immensely disappointing, especially if you went in wanting to watch it for the mystery aspect (don't even bother). If you watched it for the drama you may enjoy it more but even then things are so contrived and frustrating it's hard to get through. The only reason I can think of to watch this kdrama is if you want to be mad? Like if you really need someone to hate and get angry at this will be perfect, but otherwise don't waste your time - there are far better kdramas with these elements. There isn't anything unique to this drama that you can't find done somewhere else with more nuance and better writing.

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been craving for a romance with a little bit of darkness and this gave me that

for the name and synopsis the show didn't have much to do with the trunk. the poster conveys the essence of the show more than the title.
the first half was very good, the narration changes from the two past situations to the present mystery kept me on the edge of the seat. from the second half onwards the mystery lost its appeal cause we knew what it was.
i liked the character, our cold fl and traumatized co-dependent ml and a insane and evil side characters. their romance might be a pure one, maybe not even love, just affection coming out of a deep place of trauma and loneliness but it was still a good watch.

the cinematography made the show and the way the house was used was great.

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Well-acted, beautifully directed story that fell apart due to poor writing execution

SUMMARY:

Strengths:
- There are some really subtly romantic scenes and moments + some really spicy scenes that had emotional weight
- Despite all the mental illness, the ML/FL/2FL/2ML dynamic was more refreshing and mature in its presentation than you'd fine in other dramas
- Gong Yoo.
- Stunning visual storytelling -- beautiful framing, colors, sets, lighting.
- The background and groundwork of the emotional arcs of the characters were interesting and well thought-out
- Explored the ideas of marriage and what it means to society in a thoughtful way
- Music was PERFECT

Weaknesses:
- Plot fell apart by the end, characters emotional journeys were rushed or sloppily handled and in the end unsatisfactory
- Some uneven acting at times (though not anything truly awful)
- Some use of silly cliche tropes that had no place in a mature drama like this
- The romance ended up feeling somewhat flat overall, and inconsistent, as sometimes I felt little chemistry and other times a lot
- The thriller plotline was not well integrated, and didn't really hold interest or have a strong place in the story

Watch if:
- You can easily get lost in visuals and ascetics (cinematography/directing/music/sets)
- Have a fat crush on Gong Yoo,
- Are interested in the topic of marriage and what it means to society today
- Enjoy romance with a slight thriller element
- Aren't as picky about the plots or character arcs being perfect, you're in it for some entertainment and to enjoy the ride
- Enjoy merely exploring emotions and what is underneath various mental illnesses or addictions or personality types

Skip if:
- A realistic emotional journey of a character is really important to you in a story
- You feel unsatisfied if the plot doesn't come together well in the end
- Don't like open endings
- You are looking for a squees and butterflies crack drama type of romance
- Not really into thriller or depressing themes like abuse -- OR really into thriller elements (as I don't think they were well executed here)
- You don't wanna see boobies on screen (there is one nude scene, though I feel it was used well as a way to highlight the mindset and emotional state of one of the main characters. Did not feel egregious).

DETAILED BREAKDOWN:

--Story: 5/10

This drama fell prey to a fatal flaw common to k drama romance/thrillers. Despite the writer framing the story as if they were tied together, the thriller/murder plotline was almost wholly unrelated to the relationship and characters emotional plot arcs. But the writer played out the drama as if they were inexorably intertwined. In fact, the writer could have taken the entire thriller plotline out, and not only would it not AT ALL have changed that main relationship or character plot-lines, it would have actually made the story BETTER.

What does this mean for the show? It means that when the plot-lines for the character arcs (for the FL it's fully grieving her fiance abandoning her, for the ML its coming to terms with his mother's suicide) naturally progress and resolve, instead of being able to move forward with their new emotional states and understanding the world, and move their relationship to some sort of new place because of it, the characters revert back and get stuck in the very same emotional states they should be past now. All because the thriller plot arc has not yet resolved, even though the tie to their emotional arcs is flimsy at best.

So we get silly tropes like noble idiocy and a FL who suddenly throws her entire emotional journey out the window to act exactly like she had at the very beginning of the show, before any growth had happened. And we get one of the main side characters going to prison instead of getting any sort of satisfactory emotional end to his character, all because SOMEONE needed to have killed the stalker. And that's where the show ends.

This all played out as a final third that fell so emotionally flat I stopped really caring about the characters. I was gonna write this review immediately after but genuinely forgot the show even existed for a week. It didn't leave an impact on me because of the way the writer mishandled the story. Which is truly a shame.



--Acting: 9/10

Gong Yoo's Jeong Won was so human, and I loved how he did not try and overplay him as an unrealistic suave ML character to make him appealing, but instead he tried to show the parts of JW that made him lovable, even if those parts were also what contributed to his weaknesses and flaws. Gong Yoo always brings such a great vulnerability and groundedness to his characters. He really was the heart of this show.

Seo Hyun Jin had some great moments, and is clearly talented, but I often found her portrayal too robotic in trying to show the withdrawn, coldness of No In Ji. I wanted to see more subtle moments of the fire and pain just underneath the surface, which we got sometimes but were blaringly absent at others. Without those I felt detached from her character, and really only felt her show her underlying humanity in scenes with Gong Yoo, I think because he brought out more warmth in her from his acting style. And really, their chemistry works mostly because Gong Yoo completely sold being madly in love w her. She often seemed indifferent to him, and again, without those little micro-expressions and tells that show she actually cares deeply but is hiding it. She also never seemed to really get a handle on her character, but I chalk that up in a big part to the inconsistent writing. By the end of the story she has not grown at all, which derailed the impact of the whole show. And I can't help. but think a different actress may have been able to bring it all together better despite the flawed writing.

Jung Yun Ha did a good job of keeping ex-wife Lee Seo Yeon from becoming a cliche psychopath crazy bitch character, she always kept the character grounded in deeply buried pain and sadness. I fully bought that she believed everything she was saying, and was deluding herself as much as everyone else. I felt enough sympathy for her to be able to enjoy her story arc, even if I still did not like her or approve of what she did. I also felt she was too ignored in the last few eps (because of the boring stalker plotline) and they wrapped her character up too quickly and sloppily. But the actress managed it well and her performance also stood out to me.

The other actors did fine in their roles, though no one stood out to me as going above and beyond. But no one was bad enough that it took me out of the drama. Overall the ensemble was well cast and performed well.

--Visual/Directing: 10/10

Truly gorgeous sets, framing, lighting, etc. I am glad I watched this show just for the beauty of the visual storytelling. I think it elevated the writing well above where it could have been in less deft hands. Truly a talented team working on this aspect of the show.

--Music: 10/10

Love the OST, really love the score and use of horror/industrial music. Flawless soundtrack overall.

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