The Trunk

A very different tale than usual melancholic dark dramas. Acting was so perfect, well you don't expect anything less from these actors.
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.

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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.

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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 English

It 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 reading
a 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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I thought there were some really positive things about this drama, but I also had some issues.

The cast was really strong and I thought the chemistry between all of them was great. The complexities of the relationships were written well, and I really enjoyed the compelling scenes between the two female leads. There were some twists I didn't see coming, which is always a nice surprise.

What I struggled with was the time jumping in the first couple of episodes causing me so much confusion. I understood that there was mystery surrounding the trunk, but I didn't know what was present day or flashback. I also felt at times that this drama had a bit of an identity crisis. I was invested in the struggles of the ML and was really interested in how the FL coming into his dynamic with his ex would play out. Then, rather abruptly, the focus shifted to the mystery almost as if the director suddenly remembered it was supposed to be part of the story. The romance was slightly disjointed because of that and I was left wondering what their relationship actually was.

In the end, I feel that it was an entertaining drama despite its flaws.

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Delight between how to love yourself and how to love another

One measure of love which might perhaps be the greatest measure of love, maybe the understanding of another’s need despite how strange, how orthogonal and unusual they might appear to be. Here in this drama is demonstration of the laws undergirding the reciprocal nature of love in sheer delight. Learned through life’s best teaching tool; suffering, the show etches deep into our hearts that in every relationship of trust and tenderness, each is the guardian of the others particularity. That if we are to grow into the full bigness of heart we desire as human beings, we must love a person not because of the compliance they can give, but for their particularity and how special they are. At the center of this recognition is the incredible work by the cast members and writers. The cinematography is nothing to praise in particular but the cold fall backdrop and dimly lit cage like brutalist house being complimented by the warmth intimacy of our leads allows for this story to be delivered in a way that is delicious to the eyes as well.

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A short tale of Love, lost and found

In Ji gets hired as a contract wife for Jeong Won. The relationship is going to last for a year and there is a manual to help them in sync.

A big trunk is the center of the story. Decorated with tiny flowers, In Ji carries it with her when she moves to a new place. Her living with Jeong Won starts on a difficult note till the grieving man finds himself falling for her. But Soo Yeon is not allowing the change of heart.

The modern take on contract marriage is quite gruesome and concerning. The way marital graphs are changing, it is raising concern among the audience. The latest take on fake love is vicious. Girls are not fighting for love anymore. It is more about who is holding the bigger key. The baggage from past life and relationships is leaving a scar that is impossible to heal. Have we stopped believing in love as well?

There is no word to define how powerful Gong Woo makes his character. His eyes speak words louder than him. The dream scene of killing In Ji invoked a thousand pain without a single word. Hyun Jin gifted a stellar performance after such a long hiatus. Her smoking yet soothing chemistry with Gong Woo made the ride more thrilling. But the cream of the tale is Yun Ha. Her portrayal of Soo Yeon is the perfect seasoning. She is savage, brutal yet so painful. Her fight is with her own desire and soul.

We all carry a trunk with us. Sometimes we let the stuff inside it decide our destination. And sometimes we change the baggage according to our wishes.... the choice is ours you know.

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