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Loved the show, hated the ending
initially, after finishing this show, I gave it a 10 rating. But after sitting with it for a few hours, I realized I was really upset by the ending and lowered my rating. I really don’t understand why she left him in the end. I mean, at first it was to protect him, right? Once the threat was gone, what was her reason? If it was because she needed some time alone after years of suppressing her trauma, then okay why didn’t she just say that she needed some time and space? I never understand these dramas where people leave each other like this. He was nothing but supportive, protective, and loving to her, even through dealing with all his trauma. Such an unsatisfying ending.Other than that, I enjoyed every episode up until the end.
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Broken people searching for closure and trying to heal.
This was dark perhaps but not in a bad way; the darkness added dimension to the inner turmoil of the characters.Han Jeong Won played by Gong Yoo and his ex-wife have a mutually destructive relationship, she's manipulative, controlling and quite frankly unhinged; He's rudderless, tormented and searching for an anchor - the two of them are completely wrong for each other as neither one has what the other needs.
The arrival of Noh In Ji into Han Jeong Won's life starts the process of healing for both of them because she is also a wounded soul; we get insight into her life and her struggles with stalker Eom Tae Song.
Han Jeong Won and No In Ji gradually fall in love as they create a safe space for each other, and help each other deal with the antagonists in their lives (his ex-wife and her stalker)
The story telling is non-linear, so the story line jumps forwards and backwards without any cues for the viewer to keep track, I quite liked this element though it's probably not for everyone.
Han Jeong Won's house is architecturally impressive and can actually be considered a character in the story as it plays such a big role in the narrative.
The music is good, some of it is suspenseful and the rest is so emotive and beautiful, It really accentuated the story beautifully.
Some cons from my perspective: it took me up till episode 3 to figure out the flow of the story - the murder investigation, the flashbacks and the current narrative were shown interchangeably as scene progressions with no "2 years ago" or "5 years later" markers for the viewer.
Also, I though there were too many unfinished conversations especially between the male and female leads, I understand that this is a dramatic device, but I found it frustrating when the female lead left a lot of questions which were posed to her unanswered.
Something else that isn't explored adequately is the backstory of the ex-wife. What exactly led to her derangement prior to the baby story?
I like dramas that explore the inner landscape of characters, Trunk did so evocatively, and I was drawn into the emotional and mental turmoil of the characters. The slow burn love story is portrayed in a human and realistic way with unfinished sentences and hanging questions. Right up to the end Han Jeong Won and Noh In Ji were so wary of their love that they required a double confirmation of its existence, I thought this was very apt considering the emotional terrain that had been travelled by the characters.
The acting in this is excellent by all especially the main leads, the ex-wife and the stalker. Hats off to the cast.
I gave this drama a well deserved 8/10.
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The Arranged Marriage Trope takes a Dark and Twisted Turn
Love does blossom in these arranged marriages as it always does, but not before it’s revealed what these arrangements are truly all about.Seo Yeong, SFL, has been married to Jeong-won for a mere three years when she decides it’s more fun to divorce him and punish him for making her miserable by immediately marrying someone else, via an arrangement, while arranging for him to take on a new wife, which she claims will ultimately save their relationship. Though divorced, she keeps a close eye on his new marriage via hidden cameras, uses his past trauma to gaslight him and supplies him with copious amounts of drugs to keep him malleable to her manipulations.
The ML, Jeong-won, is utterly pathetic until the FL, Noh, accepts the job as his new arranged wife. She immediately upsets his life, in a good way, which facilitates much needed growth for him and an interesting relationship between the two. In the mist of all the manipulations, cat fights and trauma,, there is a stalker, who is somewhat at the center of the story. His obsession with Noh is exactly what you’d expect out of someone who is delusional and deranged. However, as crazy as he was his actions brought an interesting yet terrifying element to the story.
Though the ML was a pitiful mess, the reasons for his brokenness made him endearing and thus a character to root for. The FL had her own traumas that had left her stuck and in a dark place, but she was not one to tolerate BS. The way she took on the manipulative SFL was perfect. And for once in a K-drama she , the FL, did not allow herself to be mercilessly slapped and bullied. Loved it!
The acting in this was very good as was the writing. All of the characters had great chemistry. It is a mature series so there is foul language, violence, sex and some nudity. It’s only 8 episodes. Thus easy to binge. Really good series.
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If I cant have it, I will destroy it
I'm a fan of Kim Kyu Tae director's dramas. I followed his dramas since A love to kill. I especially love his collaborations with Noh Hee Kyung writer, like on Its Okay Thats Love & Our Blues. Their collaboration drama show excellency on potraying human fragility & raw emotion within beautiful yet bitter atmosphere. Paradoxically, this "bitter & ugly truth" tendency become a healing drama.When I watched The Trunk trailer, I wondered why Kim Kyu Tae become director for thriller/crime drama. I know that it is not impossible, because he had directed Iris, one of the memorable action-conspiration drama.
After finished watching The Trunk, I feel like this drama is remind me to A love to kill, also seems like dark version of Its okay thats love.
The trunk depicts dark and depresive side of human mundane life. Love has destructive side, that as powerful as, its ability to empower and heal human scar. From someone who give up in life & powerless in relationship, then our hero & heroine become someone who protect their partner bravely. Allso finally they have clarity about the problem, & their own flaws.
The acting, directing, cinematograhy, & editing are top notch. But the script would be better if it can give audience more layer for Um Tae Seong character. The chemistry between Gong Yoo & Seo Hyun Jin is beautiful. I want to praise Kim Dong Won (Um Tae Seong), & especially Jung Yung Ha (Lee seo yeon) for their great performance.
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Cinematography and directing was an art. The mystery around murder itself was handled very gracefully. Usually when there is non-linear story telling, it tends to overdo itself and we keep jumping the time to lose focus on the main aspect of the story. This wasn't the case here and you don't lose the anticipation and grip of main story flow. Characters being consistent, plot being equally paced, it gives sense of a well made and thought drama.
The story of healing of the characters from their past is done well but you only end up sympathising with them as the backdrop of these dark past is so bizarre you hardly co-relate. Nevertheless, it felt natural in this plot dimension itself.
A worthwhile watch, a fresh concept and equally fresh execution.
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Mature, Understated, but Beautiful
If you're looking for a romantic drama or a mystery/thriller drama, then look somewhere else. This felt more like a meditative exploration of what relationships can look like. I personally loved it. I loved that it was a wholly mature, no emotional melodrama BS that kdramas are known to dish out on popular demand. I wish they delved more into the backstory of NM agency instead of being this shrouded in mystery organisation. That would've added more depth to the story. Other than that, I loved the acting, the cinematography, the story, and most importantly, the framing of the story. Its not always that we see mature, muted, understated kdramas, and I truly think we need more of these.Was this review helpful to you?
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Most memerable drama of 2024
I enjoyed Seo Hyun Jin in Another Miss Ohh and The Beauty Inside, which I coincidentally watched only a couple of weeks ago, and so I was really interested to see how she would do in this new drama and wow I was not ready for how great she would be! The show hooked me quickly with its mysterious plot and the asymmetrical, curved, modern, wealthy yet cold and emotionless interiors or the main settings contrasted with where the FML comes from, not wealthy yet equally cold and emotionless. The cool tone of the lighting and the stark cinematography reflects how the characters feel no connection anymore to the world around them, the tone at times is so dark and foreboding that it felt difficult to watch, and found myself taking breaks to steady myself to watch further. The circumstances of the arranged marriage between the ML and Seo Hyun Jin's character is never really explained in a way that made any sense to this viewer, and one sort of has to set that aside and just accept that they have been thrown together into this situation. The reward for doing so is seeing the outstanding performances of the two leads portraying characters with hearts so broken come slowly back on line. Many of the most emotionally powerful moments of the film having little or no dialog whatsoever, with much being expressed through the eyes and small, silent kindnesses and affirmations, and I think it takes both great acting and mature, authentic chemistry between actors to pull that off, and they did in spades. Whereas I frequently forget a drama almost as soon as the final credits start rolling. I feel Seo Hyun Jin's performance, and also that of the other actors, was such that this show will stay with me, much as My Mister did before it, for a long time to come.Was this review helpful to you?
Highly recommended!!!
I binge watched this series. I loved many many aspects of it. The cinematography was outstanding, the story wasn’t simple, which I appreciated a lot and the acting was simply phenomenal!It is not one of those series that I'd want to rewatch, but still it was very well done.
I enjoyed the ride!!!!
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Masterpiece Drama in 2024
I really loved the story! It might not be super realistic, but the way each character has their own flaws makes it feel so relatable and human. Even though I’ve watched it once, every time I rewatch it, I always catch new details that make me want to keep coming back.That said, I feel like Soyeon’s character is a bit of a weak spot. I just couldn’t find a good enough reason to excuse her behavior as an ex-wife or as a person. But then again, if they’d gone too deep into Soyeon’s perspective, it might’ve overshadowed the main storyline, which would’ve distracted viewers from the leads. So yeah, the gap in Soyeon’s backstory is kinda a double-edged sword.
All in all, I think this drama is super artistic with amazing acting. Sure, there are a lot of details that get left behind, but considering it’s only eight episodes, it makes sense.
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The soul in the trunk
I apologize for my EnglishIt is not easy to “define” the genre of this series. And it is not easy to put into words the emotionality it left behind.
Because “The Trunk” is figurative, it represents the soul and the journey, arrival and departure. It represents short-term and long-term memory. It represents the expertise developed in the perilous ways of life. “The Trunk” is everyone's black hole into which we throw, voluntarily and involuntarily, what we call “junk” for our psyche. At the same time, it is the place where we store the “scents” and “sensations” that define being “alive.”
Few times do trailers deflect expectations so profoundly, and even fewer times is the product so memorable to the point of countering those unmet expectations.
However, viewing the series requires a fair amount of mental stability so that one does not passively endure the tidal wave of emotionalism, which is brutal, raw, cynical, and intimate for long stretches.
Once again, Korean scriptwriters, actors, and actresses are extremely skillful in portraying the dark side of the human soul. Depictions that are never grotesque but almost always “disturbing” because they are extremely real or realizable. The negative in the series is not utopian but sadly anchored in reality.
From the first moments, the rhythms are deep, psychically tribal, flanked by music and settings that support the “dark” and “noir” framework of the plot. High praise to the music, it enters directly into assonance with 21 grams and leads the mind to live the optical experience firsthand. Special mention to the architecture of the protagonist's house, initially I interpreted it as the bony cavities of birds. Large spaces of emptiness encompassed in “slender” but strong structures. This impression changed as the plot progressed. After the first few episodes, with the knowledge of the protagonist's “illusions,” the house's architecture became a representation of the encephalon, with its bright places and cramped spaces in which memories lurk. To then become, until the end of the series, the soul, the “the trunk” of the protagonists, but also the curse that each one hides inside. And it is on this last development that the architecture and interiors reach the pinnacle of visual representation. From the “hallucinogenic” chandelier to the spiral ramp/slide in the “Archimedes screw” imagery of the involution and evolution of the soul. Even the materiality of the walls, rough, and porous, marry the essence of beauty to perfection. The unpolished, the need to come to appreciate the essence only through consciously experiencing suffering.
And this catharsis, emblematic but not sensational, again, not utopian but realistic, envelops the protagonists, whom I identify in four characters. The main couple consists of Seo Hyun Jin (the wife, No In Ji) and Gong Yoo (the husband, Han Jeong Won). The second couple was composed of Jung Yun Ha (the first wife, Lee Seo Yeon, of Gong Yoo) and Jo Yi-geon (the husband, Yoon Ji-o, of Gong Yoo's first wife).
A masterful performance by Seo Hyun Jin, a soul troubled by the most intimate betrayal and the perpetuation of the most visceral social bullying. Wife by “contract,” detached, seemingly emptied of feelings and emotions. Polished beauty that unfolds becoming pure roughness, pure emotion, warm.
Gong Yoo confirms the acting prowess already appreciated on the big and small screen over the years. Here we find him in a mature, complete, confident acting guise. He enacts the “lost” and “hallucinated” soul of a son “psychologically raped” by his father, family, life, and everyone but especially himself. Fascinating his “chase” to rebirth, nothing superhuman, everything rough, harsh, bitter, true, and alive.
Special mention to Jung Yun Ha, the charming first wife of Han Jeong Won, intelligent, cunning, bewitching, a mantis in the body of a "Medusa". This chimerical image formed in my mind as the episodes passed. And as a "Medusa", she is the cause of her demise, her pain. It does not retreat in its treachery, its viciousness, its brutality of control and domination over everything and everyone.
Jo Yi-geon, victim and perpetrator, accomplice and protagonist, fits perfectly into this trio of characters. In the space, marginal to the trio, she best expresses her acting characteristics in staging the brutality of being used while experiencing the darkest love.
Interspersed with them is the avowed “villain,” Kim Dong Won (No In Ji's stalker Um Tae Seong), who cynical viciousness does not let on but portrays it without physical reins and with extreme reasoning. Ratiocination disarms the viewer because its brutality is not embellished but is naked, unadorned, and internal to those who perform adorable pastry gems.
“The Trunk” represents a psycho-social journey of destruction and rebirth, with this phoenix-like soul leading us in questioning ourselves about being protagonists of our own lives, with mercy and compassion for ourselves.
Finally, as sleet, hope and “forgiveness” appear.
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Cryptic...in a good way.
Upon seeing the leads and not even readinga word of the synopsis, I immediately knew that 1.) The chemistry was going to be 5-Alarm-Azula-Blue-Fire-Flames-Spicy and 2.) The kiss scenes were going to send me to another dimension, another timeline, another universe, another plane of existence!
Sooooo....check and MOTHER.Flipping. CHECK.
Now, plotwise, the dynamic between Seo Yeon, Jeong Won and In Ji reminded me a lot of Never Let Me Go(moreso the book, than the film) where two people who were perfect together from the beginning and should have fallen in love and been happy together much earlier, are forcibly separated by a third person, who sees they are meant to be and ruins it, just to come back around to it when it inevitably falls apart.
Cinematography is beautiful, and was reminiscent of Scandinavian set shows and movies like Wallander or A Man Called Ove, where the weather and nature is almost its own character and you can feel the cold through the screen. That being said, this was released at the cusp of Autumn/Winter, which was a very fitting time, it fits the aesthetic of the show wonderfully.
The acting is on point from every actor and I really enjoyed how the main couple did not waste time. Jeong Won, once he got over his hesitation, was just hauling ass with his feelings and was ready to risk it all at the drop of a hat.
Idk about other reviews on here but if you like cryptic shows(which I do) that are mysterious and have you wondering what happens next, but also explore deeper, darker emotions between damaged people who are starved for love, then you will really like this show. Highly recommend!
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Trauma Healing needs time, and so does this Drama
Facing the trauma, and working through it needs time, and we could follow the main characters going through their healing process, which was done tactful and subtle. The pacing was perfect for it.The acting and writing was allover fantastic. I‘d like more backstory for the exwife though, and a few more details here and there to answer some questions. The ending is logical and gave me hope for a healthy future.
If you can engage with the story, I think you’ll find something to reflect on.
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