short incomplete history
This drama deserved more episode and way more time. thats not a bad drama to watch, but dont deserve your time.the drama is interesting, contrat marriage is always a must watch, but this is a mess somehow. I understand the main point being the tunk, but like, u just see it after 5 episodes. the drama is more dramatic, melacholic n suspicious, however it's a sacrifice understand whats exatcly happening n what the tunk is about.
All of characters are interesting, but they dont have time to be introduced. all of them dont have a proper history introduction, u need (most if time) conect the points alone to really understand whats is happening.
the drama is beautiful, the characters, the places, the houses, the clothes. Everything os beautiful. but, again, most of the times a lot of directors or producers use colors to create a scene where the history is told, but this drama feels just like a beautiful n shallow history.
im little upset because i love most osf the actors here n i love their actings. the saved the drama, but what makes a drama its the history, n not the acting.
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Mature drama with great acting.
It is a mature drama about relationships without sugarcoating. I was hooked from the start and could not stop watching it. The storytelling is great, as you will find out more about their past in each episode and understand them more. I don't know why the comments are so negative. I really like the drama.The acting is amazing. Also, the production and cinematography are great.
They did a great job with casting, as Hyun Jin and Gong Yoo are a perfect fit. I love their chemistry and the way they communicate with each other.
It will make you long for them and hope for him to get away from the toxic relationship. It will make your blood boil as well as it will make you happy to see glimmers of hope.
I recommend watching it if you want to see something totally different from a rom-com.
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Poorly executed.
The story could've been good, like the overall story had something that was kind of good, but so poorly written overall. Everything feels too long and there is some stuff that doesn't make a lot of sense. On the last episode you'll be pressing that +10 seconds button. A ton.Acting was good and the music were simple but really liked it.
Other than that ... Quite ... bland ?
I wouldn't recommand it, but it gave me a good laugh from time to time cause of some unexpected scene I guess, so if you've got nothing to watch, and you're bored, you could watch that and kill time.
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This review may contain spoilers
More weird than thriller...
The TrunkGenre: Mystery, Romance
Episodes: 8
Streamed on: Netflix
Plot Summary:
A mess. A big sloppy mess. So you have a divorced couple, using a marriage company for societies “elites” as the ex-wifes punishment (you’ll find out later) to the ex-husband. So while she’s manipulating and cucking him at the same time, she’s paired him up with a woman she thinks he’ll hate, but they end up falling for each other. There’s also a creepy stalker and the wife-for-hire has other issues. A sloppy mess.
Characters & Cast:
Main Characters: Ships.
Gong Yoo ⇒ Han Jeong Won
Seo Hyun Jin ⇒ No In Ji
Villains: Notable actors.
There really aren’t many good characters in this story, and depending on which aspect of the story you’re focusing on, there are villains everywhere.
Best of OST:
Ok, one of the most redeeming things about this whole drama is this track.
https://youtu.be/T8CvJNt8ILI?si=j_wzYkBVteWhLJ8l
And the Kyuri version is just as good, both earn a spot on your Spotify playlist.
https://youtu.be/PM09KnppR3w?si=JrHdnL7eMU5glS-X
Most of the rest of the OST is pretty average, or worse it feeds into the awkward silences. But a couple other tracks are interesting, but not something I’d listen to regularly.
https://youtu.be/a-mdCYLMq5M?si=2aULUzaAkdLc1hx5
Gripes:
I don’t know if they where trying to portray sexual tension, but I swear half the drama was just awkward silences. For an 8 episode drama, this felt like it dragged on far too long. I think we get an editor in, and make this a 2-3 hour movie, and I wouldn’t feel like I wanted all these hours of my life back.
Like I mentioned above, there are really no likeable characters in this drama. Likeable actors for sure, Seo Hyun Jin is one of my all time favourite actresses, and I hear Gong Yoo is pretty popular too I guess. But I like to like at least one person in the drama’s I watch, otherwise I just don’t feel invested.
Re-watch:
**Would I watch it again?**
No… well maybe part of episode 2—am I right guys!?— but really, no.
**Would I watch it with my brother?**
Not even close to anything he’d be interested in.
**Would I watch it with my kid?**
No… just no.
Final Thoughts:
A sloppy mess. Half of the running time was awkward silences, the other half was mostly horrible people doing horrible things to each other. Edit this down to a movie and I think it would serve the audience much better. It’s a short drama, that was too long. It’s such a shame, because I feel like I was looking forward to this drama for so long.
Rating:
5.5/10
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This review may contain spoilers
Misleading Title ...
The overall story, once it gets interesting, is good,Gong Yoo and the female lead are excellent. Worth watching? Yes! ... once
First, "The Trunk" is a red herring. It has little actual relevance to the plot.
It's supposed to be so valuable - worth billions, yet every main character seems to have one.
Best scene - the fake wife thumping the real wife. Full marks for satisfaction!!
Worth watching just for this.
Finally, while the story was unique and well thought out, the amount of effort put into the ending was very disappointing ... AFTER EVERYTHING THEY GO THROUGH ... the writers give us a vague ending?
I'm sorry, but it wasn't cute, and it didn't cut it. Very underwhelming ending. Thoroughly lame.
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Appreciated by emotionally intelligent people
The Trunk talks about emotions or the lack of exposure thereof, the characters have complex thoughts about their own lives, everyone has done something bad that controls their life or experienced a bad moment that also controls their life. Despite this, The Trunk also talks about mental health, trauma and loss, and how important it is to always have a support network to get out of the pit. It also demonstrates and teaches deep feelings and experiences. It's a series that can be appreciated by emotionally intelligent people.Was this review helpful to you?
Love or Obsession?
The Trunk was a lot more than I expected it to be, and I mean that in a good way. Contract marriage plotlines aren't typically something I go for, but this one seemed interesting enough to get me to watch it, and the shorter length of it made it especially easy to watch. I didn't expect to get so hooked on it!Han Jeongwon (Gong Yoo) is currently going through a divorce that he doesn't want, and he's so desperate to keep his wife that he will do whatever she wishes to convince her; however, she insists on signing him up for a one year-long contract marriage with a woman of her choosing, and tells him that if he makes in through, she'll take him back. Jeongwon agrees, believing it the only way to win back his now ex-wife. The contract marriage should be straightforward, but it's anything but. Between the anxious drug addict main character, a contract wife with too many secrets, a controlling and manipulative ex-wife, and the ex-wife's new boytoy, there's bound to be conflicts. Things escalate further when the characters are towing the line between falling in love and convincing themselves obsession is the same thing as love.
This show did a great job at portraying the relationships. What I thought was super interesting was the dual timelines: one starting at the beginning of the contract marriage, and one about 5 months into the contract where the police are investigating the found trunk in the lake. The back and forth allowed for some excellent foreshadowing and parallels, though it did feel like they could have tied it all together a bit better. I thought that the contract wife's storyline was super interesting, but I just wish it had been a little more worked into the show. I actually quite liked the ending of the show, though it wasn't what I had expected for this one. I would say that it's best if you watch not just for the romance, but more for the rich people drama. Overall I'd say it's worth the watch considering how much they manage to do with only 8 episodes.
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This review may contain spoilers
Not Your Typical Kdrama
I enjoyed this show immensely. The story was fresh, the production was beautiful, and the ending was satisfying. I can only think that all the negative reviews are from people that were just looking for a different kind of show.I felt that chemistry abounded between the main leads. It was made very clear that the desire was not for passion but for contentment.
I'll admit that I didn't understand why Ji-O loved Seo Yeon, but I believed he did. The side characters built a contrasting world convincingly.
I won't forget these characters. I was left feeling peaceful.
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highly underrated!
i hardly give 10s, but this easily tops my top list. because this is one masterfully done show!everything in this show is done on such a nuanced and subtle level, that it was utterly disarming to experience. so much so, that i was left completely in awe of it.
if you liked “call it love” and “the glory”, i definitely recommend this to you in particular. it’s kind of a mixture of both: more eerie and mysterious than the first (back stories are only slowly uncovered and it's also a whos-done-it), less clear-cut revenge, slower and more healing/genuine romance between broken people than the latter.
rarely will you come across a show, where everything - from the story, dialogue, cinematography, the way the scenes are cut, the music (or lack of it) up to the acting - is mend together so masterfully that it can create such a pain drenched, twisted and at times eerie atmosphere only for it to be genuinely saved by the tender grace of two characters. the simple truth, that innocence is not lost but being buried within us and therefore resurrectable, if we are mindful, is uncovered breathtakingly slow. so in my opinion, at it's core, this is a romance.
the trunk depicts - and very elegantly so - the difference between deeply hurting people choosing the untwisted path of wanting to love genuinely and longing for one's own return to innocence over obsession and self destruction. slowly, and only bit by bit, unraveling the consequences of the leads’ choices, light is shed on on how fated relationships can play into one's own healing process if we are conscious enough to recognize and allow them into our life.
i tend to rather dislike how the idea of fated human bonds is used in stories as it is often boiled down to the hollow idea of this one-in-a life-time-match of eternal love, that needs to culminate in a lifetime’s happy marriage to count as such. i don't deny fate. but depictions hardly match my experience of it. this one does.
love in and of itself is eternal by nature. but it's not exclusive or single minded. it just doesn't flow as humans wish. its nature is to be left free so it can flow towards you in it’s own time and way. we can’t control or force it, but despite knowing that, it’s the most common human thing to try bend the will of the one’s closest to us towards what we want. making them stay by our side by whichever means possible, so we’re not lonely, is the first step towards that. much later, tainted by pain, anger and our own history with each other, we are no longer able to see what we once loved in our counter parts. or ourselves. but cynically enough we seem unable to let go, so love would find us again, clinging to that one person beside us. now merely a stand-in, a reminder of the beauty we once found in each other and deep down long for, we choose to sacrifice everything for it, despite knowing it's an illusion.
one massively complex matter to work through! but the trunk manages brilliantly.
it very distinctively shows, where boundaries lie within a loving relationship to be able to keep alive and around what we love within each other. and they apply to any kind of emotional state we are in. orbitting around the fl, an excellently written and acted character, who perfectly balances her strength with vulnerability, it understands exactly where a person ends and another begins and what it needs from one side to the other to keep a relationship in whichever state a healthy one. deeply hurt and despite her own impactful history on relationship/marriage, with the smallest of movements, the least words said, the fl knows exactly how to stay herself in every situation she's placed in, simultaneously creating a surrounding where others are put into place or shown what belonged to them before it was taken from them. to pull this off with a character, that's anything else but perfect, is nothing other than stunning to watch. the stage being cleaned up like that is much different from doing it by trying to control it. hence, the tango - a perfectly matching metaphor.
the development of the show is slow, there’s only a few brawl-ish scenes and there’s no real suspense. so it mainly runs on subtleness. so you do have to like that. but, and in defense: it never ran boring as i have experienced it with other slow-burners.
last, i should mention that for asian standards it should be quite mature in terms of nudity/bed scenes. not so extraordinary for western standards, though. as a western raised watcher i think the physical aspect of a relationship has equal impact as the emotional ones towards the quality of the bond between people and is an important aspect to recognize underlying dynamics of couples - exactly as is shown very excellently by comparison of all couples depicted. so in my eyes it’s a necessity to understand the message carried throughout the story.
masterpiece, no less. so, enjoy!
ps. and one tiny hint towards expectations, because the plot summary is indeed rather misleading: the trunk acts more like a metaphore than as the keeper of the big secret to be revealed. so keep an open mind and you won't feel betrayed!
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This review may contain spoilers
-10 for unnecessary scenes that thankfully I could easily skip...-10 for the psycho ex..........
-5 for the stalker that yeah I wasn’t focusing but idk what he wanted...
-1 for the “marriage company” which actually had no real reason to exist
-1 for some age stuff
+10 for seo hyun jin
+2 for age appropriateness tho same aged was sketchy
+5 for cinematography
Overall it’d have been enough as a healing drama, even the mystery would’ve worked better if it had actual reason
Something like the movie of SYJ and KJW, Another way, two broken lost souls and thus, this should’ve been even shorter
Ml going through an abusive dad and a controlling wife that drugged him was enough
Like she could’ve just died, and he’d live mourning her and realize later how bad she was
Fl’s one ruined relationship was enough, the whole arranged marriage company was ridiculous like that PMY drama
The trunk, it had nothing in? Why was the stalker so stalkery
Atleast make it like little women and make it about a lot of money
And the ex literally sees him since childhood struggling and thinks Ill do that too
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Sleek, beautiful, noir. Loved it.
This drama is not going to suit everyone's taste. But for a nordic sucker for a noir atmosphere and grown up, complex and flawed characters this was a total dreamboat and a bag of chips.No work is flawless, its just a question if it matters to me or not. In this case I did not give one f***k and enjoyed every exquisite minute of gorgeous cinematography, intrigue and deliciously dysfunctional everything.
The 8 episode format is perfect so at no point did I feel frustrated with a banal side plot or unnecessary complications or pointless montages/scenes.
The OST was to me tasteful and understated, but very powerful and gave me goosebumps every now and then. Nothing unnecessary, just perfect and the power of silence has it's own life in this sound world.
I could feel that this is based on a book, theres a literary and disciplined feel in the visual language. I was overall pleasantly surprised and satisfied that this did not slip into cliché. As much as I love a good cliché it would have subtracted from this lovely gem.
Thank you Trunk!
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A Slow-Burn Journey Through Healing and Romance
I keep my reviews concise and spoiler-free, focusing on the key points. I also watch every episode without fast-forwarding to provide a fair perspective.This drama is a slow-burn experience, deeply atmospheric and intentionally paced, which may not appeal to everyone. Its genre leans heavily on mood and introspection rather than fast-paced thrills.
The visuals and OST are excellent, with the soundtrack predominantly instrumental, perfectly complementing the drama’s somber tone. The darker, muted visual style enhances the story's weight, even in daylight scenes. Despite its slow pace, the show is packed with hints, questions, and layers of trauma and conflict that immediately draw you in if you're willing to adjust to the rhythm.
At its heart, the drama is a poignant exploration of depression and healing, focusing on deeply broken characters navigating their way through a toxic environment, self-sabotage, and the possibility of redemption. The darker themes are balanced by sweet, tender moments during the romantic parts, giving the story a sense of hope amidst the gloom.
The chemistry between the leads is undeniable, with their interactions feeling grounded and mature. The romance is handled differently from most dramas, offering a more nuanced and realistic portrayal of relationships. However, the story misses opportunities to delve deeper into certain side characters, who could have added more depth to the narrative.
While some of the story arcs build strong initial intrigue, their resolutions may feel a bit less impactful than anticipated. Similarly, the thriller and investigation elements are underwhelming, failing to deliver the tension or complexity they seem to promise. They could have been either improved or omitted entirely to focus more on the characters' emotional journeys.
The drama’s brevity might leave you wanting more, and its pacing and tone might have worked just as well, if not better, as a film. Nonetheless, it remains a compelling and beautifully crafted story for viewers who appreciate mature, introspective storytelling.
If you’re open to slower-paced dramas with strong visuals and a focus on emotional healing, this one is well worth the watch. Just don’t expect a gripping thriller, it’s more about the journey than the destination.
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