The Trunk (2024)

Mind that MA rating on Netflix

I'm writing this for those who --like me-- have latched onto kdramas because they enjoy watching a well-crafted story without being subjected to the barrage of smut and morally "progressive" agendas that litter American shows. The Trunk was a suspenseful, interestingly-directed psychological drama with a healing story at its core... and a couple borderline pornographic scenes that were unnecessarily graphic... and yet another sexual minority character portrayed as a victim. I wish the streaming services now dabbling in kdrama productions would let the genre be itself, rather than remaking it in the image of American shows that use sensationalized content to make up for sloppy storytelling.

Read More

Clunky Acting and Pacing

The premise of the marriage contract was okay for me personally. I also enjoyed the tension and slow build up of the relationship. I also enjoyed the soundtrack and ambience of this drama, seemed to be a good fit for the story it was trying to tell.
The issue I took with was the weird transition from somber to suddenly light-hearted and almost childish behavior from grown adults. I also hated the random change of mind from the female lead at the last episode, this sudden push away is so cliche and common in kdramas and this one was no-exception. Lastly, the villain was also written pretty lame imo.

Read More

psychological drama

This series has decidedly strange and particular Plot. It makes us reflect on how toxic relationships exist and shows the perspective of those who see marriage as a pure employment contract.
With slow scenes, nude scenes and many strange situations. Half the time you ask yourself "why"... and you find yourself at high sea.
There is this obsessed control freak woman (no words) who claims to have everyone at her feet and treats them like slaves and pulls strings as if they were puppets.
She will find bread for her teeth with the new bride.
I honestly didn't understand the end. Both sad but divided? With everything they have experienced...

Read More

A Hollow Shell

“The Trunk” is a drama that presents itself as a story about fake marriages, manipulation, control, love, inner trauma, and more — but often remains at the level of superficial conflict and underdeveloped ideas.

The characters are the show's biggest weakness. The male lead is a weary man with post-traumatic experiences who never had a healthy model of love and therefore can’t recognize toxicity. His ex-wife controls and belittles him, but lacking his own identity, he continues clinging to the past. Sounds intriguing, but this dynamic never evolves. He doesn't have a breakthrough, doesn’t change — he just passively exists. The female lead, who could have been a turning point — cold, reserved, but deeply wounded — also receives no proper development. Her emotions and tragedies are presented as mere background. We don’t see how these events shape her caution or determination. She essentially remains a secondary character in her own story.
The toxic ex — a vivid image, but one-dimensional. We get no hint of her vulnerability or backstory. She exists just so the viewer can hate her and sympathize with the male lead. It’s convenient, but not honest — and definitely not deep. The same applies to the side characters: the stalker is just a stalker with no logic, the female lead’s husband is merely a shadow of a tragedy, thrown in for drama and left undeveloped. All the supporting characters feel like functions rather than real people — they fulfill roles but have no personal stories that affect the plot.

Narratively, the show hints at many things but completes none. There are sexual scenes but unspoken traumas; a major theme of control that is never properly explored; fake marriages that carry neither emotional nor plot significance. Atmospherically, this could’ve been a tense, deep, dark exploration of human loneliness and the inability to form connections — but instead, it became a half-baked romantic melodrama with psychological ambitions it never dared to pursue.

Conclusion — pretty visuals, interesting concept, strong cast, but the script is a mess. No climax, no transformation, no resolution. The characters don’t grow, conflicts don’t escalate, important themes hang in the air. Everything feels like it’s on the verge of something deeper, but it never becomes more than just a pretty wrapper. The potential was there — for a psychological drama, for a subtle emotional thriller — but instead, we got a collection of ideas with no development.

Read More

Slow Paced, Dragged Out

I was really looking forward to this drama as it was Gong Yoo’s comeback drama (save his minimal parts in Squid Game), and I literally didn’t know anyone else in the cast and it seemed like it would be kind of a psychological thriller given the title and the description of the drama.

However, I think it’s a little misleading because where they do find this trunk, it took them a long time to get to it and even when they did they like didn’t care about it lol and I think that’s saying something bc they found the trunk and the body and were trying to piece together this crime alongside all of this backstory and lore with the characters, but it was kind of confusing because is it happening in real time are we watching a flashback, idk I just don’t think they did that good of a job differentiating the timelines as well as not making the trunk the focus of this story as the title would have you think.

The drama’s production was outstanding tho, the production quality and the angles that they shot at were so good and the color saturation was very dark and dull-toned which really gave like an indie-feeling to it and not your typical kdrama production.

This drama is VERY slow paced and I have to admit I did doze off quite a few times throughout it. It definitely felt long but I’m so glad it was only 8 episodes because any longer and I probably wouldn’t have finished it lol. There really wasn’t any action which I feel like is what made it seem slower than it was. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about it being a contract marriage and why, and I felt very confused for at least half of the drama because there was just so much going on and not enough elaboration really on any of it. Although I do like how you find Jeongwon and Inji slowly open up to each other about their trauma and you can tell that very quickly into their fake marriage that this one was different for Inji.

The psycho ex-wife was a little over the top, every time she came on she pissed me off and I’m like WHAT NOW!? Jeongwon and Inji really had such great chemistry with each other and I honestly liked how they went about with the ending. It’s not your typical love story BY FAR, I love that they were able to open about their trauma, work through it and just learned how to be and live by themselves after getting out such toxic relationships instead of just jumping into the next one. If it’s meant to be it’s meant to be and I loved the idea of if they met by chance at least twice, then it was meant to be and I love how the color of the drama became so bright and fun once they started living their own lives, it was really refreshing compared to the dark and slow ominous feeling of the rest of the drama.

Where this drama has its downsides, it has some equally good upsides. I was a little disappointed but I think the acting really made up for it, I mean have you ever seen a bad Gong Yoo drama? I don’t think I would recommend it, unless you like Gong Yoo lol and I definitely wouldn’t rewatch it. It really had nothing to do with the trunk and everything to do about psychological/verbal abuse which I don’t think is something you normally see in kdramas. Soyeon hiding the cameras in that fucking chandelier just like his father did with his mother was absolutely diabolical. What a psycho.

But overall, it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either. It would be a good drama to watch if you’re feeling a little lowkey/mellow.

Read More

Even those who commit the most despicable acts are worthy of love.

When I first started watching, I was really confused. I couldn't understand why a wife would force her husband to enter into a contract marriage with someone else just so they could get back together. It seemed convoluted and almost diabolical. As the story unfolded, I realized that it truly was twisted and diabolical. The wife wasn't the only one with issues; many of the characters were emotionally damaged or traumatized, suffering lasting negative effects. And I think this is what humanized them and drew me in to the story.

One key takeaway from this drama is that a broken person can easily break you. However, it also highlighted the importance of genuine human connection and empathy—like a kind word, a comforting hug, or simply being present for someone; these can help heal a broken spirit if not completely change a person's life. But I think the most important message was that even those who commit the most despicable acts are still worthy of love.

Behind every great drama is a talented writer and director, and that is so true in Seo Hyun Jin (my favorite actress of all time), Gong Yoo, Jung Yun H and all the other cast member's great performances. Well done!

Read More

When your trunk get heavy, let it go

My overall positive verdict is that it's no masterpiece. I feel like it falls a bit victim to its glossy cinematography - you sort of expect the story to be just as polished. Unfortunately every character apart apart of fl, ml and 2fl feels undercooked, especially 2fl's husband - frankly a noticeably weaker actor, and him being the killer in a tackled on mystery which feels like was just thrown in to hook the viewers in what is a pretty thin in plot drama wasn't really satisfying with his 2d past trauma motive . I think focusing on the underexplored wealth disparity between the nm employees and Jeong Won and Seo Yeon could have been more interesting - it only really came up during the leads' argument in episode 7 - or entirely centering on the leads' emotional development as a couple. Speaking of their relationship - while I did find it very interesting with all the contradictions and nuances, I was a bit lukewarm on the chemistry. It made sense in the first half, but by the ending episodes I would have liked to see less poised therapy speak and more relaxed body language (hats off to Seo Hyun Jin for portraying her character's aloofness while maintaining a very caring facade as a wife, but her stiff body language by the time she has fallen in love felt odd ).
For a more "mature" product (ugh don't care for that word, since here in mdl there is a mini civil war going on in the comments about any people daring to criticize the show obviously not having enough of a high iq or precious life experiences lol) I actually really liked how some of the recent trendy kdrama tropes were mixed in. We've seen a lot of childhood love and and reconnection romantic stories the past year, and having Seo Yeon be his childhood sweetheart made her all the more twisted and pitiful. In Ji and Jeong Won's previous meetings were also quite realistic, without any of that "they were actually really close as children but simultaneously forgot about it yet remembered enough to think of each other as long lost loves" nonsense. I think a lot of us had some brief moments were we really felt a connection to a stranger, so I found the flashbacks oddly moving. Frankly would have liked for them to actually discuss their brief encounters in length and earlier - "are we kind-of sort-of fated to be together?" worked here yet really came up in the end to make things ~poetic~ .
On a separate note, the series should've either went easier with the 2fl's nudity or made the sex scenes before the leads more explicit (or at least not have them be so vanilla, Jeong Won expressing his attraction to In Ji felt like he was reciting a legal document). Her getting the passionate slightly "edgier" scenes felt like the evil = intense sex trope.
Overall, the series was advertised as a mystery melodrama, but seemed to be too scared to indulge in its pulpiness and too dour to justify its length. Still, it's been on my mind for a bit after finishing, which is always a positive. I'm also blaming my heightened expectations.

Read More

Ok but isn't that a bit of a drastic decision to make over a cancelled wedding?!

I would love to have a conversation with the scriptwriter of this show. I would love to know how they read THAT book and came to the conclusion to write...this show! lol
It's like if someone read Jane Eyre and ended up adapting it as a musical about learning the alphabet.☉_☉ That said, this is not a bad show or anything, it's just that the similarities to the source material are very slim, including the genre and I also wonder if this was meant to be this dark and elegant and highbrow from the start or if the show just changed themes as the high profile names started to get attached to it...you see, this show has every single cliche element of an average rom-com kdrama!
If I told you a show has:
1. Fake, contract marirage
2. Childhood connection
3. A crazy evil second female lead
4. A stalker with evil superpowers following the Fl around
5. A gloomy male lead with a tragic and sad backstory
6. A romance with a murder mystery subplot
7. Meddling auntie neighbour
8. Quirky tomboy best friend and baby-crazy, secret investigator friend
9. A small event in the FL's past leads her to some drastic career choices
What show would come to your mind?! 'Cause I think so many average Kdramas can come to mind...and the answer here is actually The Trunk. But then this show couldn't be further from your typical kdrama! It's so atmospheric, dark, and the production quality is off the chart!
...but I would say the plot is not as great as the rest of the show. For one, it's slightly melodramatic. If you squint, there are so many plotholes and a lot of choices and actions make no sense. And while I think the creators worked hard to preserve the essence of the novel's message, I think they lost a bit of its nuance in favor of adding flashy plotpoints like abusive parents and homophobia and actual love stories. That said, I like some of these additions and overall, the whole thing works and these details aren't really the main attraction of this show anyway. Because the main point is...
The Chemistry. Holy meow! First of, I think dramaland citizens generally over exaggerate the chemistry connection of actors on popular kdramas. Two actors will do the bare minimum but because the trope is a popular one, people will see natural chemistry where there is none! So many times, I see people just say two actors have chemistry because they're both the two most attractive people on screen in a show. That's not chemistry...that's buying into the show promotion bs, dearies! Actual chemistry means the actors seem to have this magnetic field between them, that even when there are so many others in a scene with them, it's like the two of them are swaying to the same wavelength. Their eye contact seems to hold secret conversations btween just the two and the actors just naturally play off of each other's acting choices. And that's the thing! You have to first be a good actor, to then make actual choices about your acting and then have an equally good actor play against you with their equally dynamic and responsive acting choices! It's...it's a big deal! Not everyone can do it! but my god...Gong Yoo and Seo Hyung Jin sure can! The best thing about this show was how the two of them managed to make the bare minimum plot work! You know a show is good when it gives you the illusion that you have just witnessed two soul mates reunite when the characters just barely had two positive interactions! That's sorcery! That's skill! That's admirable. And this show manages to do that so it's worth a watch for only just that if literally for nothing else.
Which, of course, it's not the only attraction of this show. Jung Yun Ha's acting is another part of this show that adds to its worth. I hope she wins some awards for this. She deserves the recognition. She was so good, she brought Seo Yeon to life and what an interesting character because she was so unhinged and disturbing in some ways but she was equally valid in other ways and I was so conflicted if I hated her for some of her actions or wanted to defend her for some of the other actions. To manage to capture both empathy and disgust, she sure showed some great skills. Granted, the character is very well-written too. Overall, the whole cast is really good but the four main ones stand out. This was my very first Gong Yoo show and guys...I get it. I GET IT! Who is this man?! How is he this charming?! How can someone so unconventionally attractive capture the viewers so quickly? He's too good! A bit dangerous! I wanna see more! lol
In addition to an amazing cast, the production, set design, lighting and special effects in this show were so good. This looks like a drama one would like to watch because it's a feast for the eyes...though in a drab way! There's no explosion of colors or textures. The whole thing is in earth tones and everything and everyone is so subdued but that's sort of the point here. So it's like...having a fancy dinner made of one ingredient! Well, maybe three ingredients.
Also this show is going to get the rare honor of having THE BEST soundtrack of any kdrama ever. It was so good, that 10/10 stars is actually for the music. I loved the music so much I sat through the credits just to listen to it more. Well-played, for a show with a music producer as a main character.
Rewatch: Yeah, no...
Negative: Why do Kdramas have weird pauses when they wanna make high quality dramas?! It doesn't make any sense why people pause so much in their conversations. Also...so many plotholes, so many unnecessary baits that lead nowhere, so many character moments that were abandoned halfway through...lol the script could have been better. hehe
Overall: This is a rare case of me enjying a show with a subpar plot as I usually care the most about plot but this show was too good in other aspects that the weaknesses of the plot are almost forgivable. This would have been a perfect 10 if the plot was a bit better. Highly recommend it though.

Read More

wonderful

Brilliant!
I didn't have high expectations. I started watching because of the actors.

It's impossible not to watch something produced by the talented and wonderful Gong Yoo and the phenomenal Seo Hyun Jin.

But wow!!! I loved it. It went way beyond my expectations.

Impeccable acting, amazing script, perfect OST, and stunning chemistry.

The entire supporting cast was wonderful... the psychopath, my goodness! Excellent performance.

I never thought I would see Gong Yoo so handsome and flawless... I was so impressed that I'm even thinking of rewatching the unforgettable Coffee Prince (2007), by the way, one of my all-time favorite dramas.

Anyway, highly recommended!

Read More

Y’all crazy. This show was soooo good tf

I don’t understand why ppl are talking so much trash about the show. I will admit it started slow but I’m a person who likes watching a slow burn show. The build was soooo good. The ML was so damaged and his ex wife keeping him drugged up just to need him is some nasty work.ML not liking the FL at the beginning made the story so much better as you watch both of them win damage(in different ways ) slowly start to comfort each other and start to like each other was really amazing to watch. The FL was so detached from the world and was basically on autopilot all the time even with the stalker she barely flinch and then you slowly started to watch her come alive. The first fight scene between FL and the ex wife had me shook and that was the real first time you saw FL start to care and I felt myself become excited ….. and then second fight scene between FL and ex wife had me shocked because she was really pissed .

The ending was my least fav part because it is such a Korean drama thing to do and I was hoping for something more original and fresh/new but I’m not mad at them finding each other again after everything and I was even rooting for the ex wife and her fake husband because they both crazy and deserved each other .

Read More