BbalanceD

What made this experience for me more riveting than most viewers was having read the book. It does not follow the storyline exactly and the script writers selected different aspects to highlight this dark drama. The premise of renting marriage partners for a 1 year contract with the ability to cancel and divorce with or without fault was briefly sketched but not well disclosed.

The ML, played by Gong Yoo, gives a nuanced performance of a person scarred by first his mother's suicide then his pregnant wife's attempted suicide and subsequent death of their unborn child.
His current relationship is due to a contract marriage and when he begins to show too much attachment to the FL, played by Seo Hyun-jin, she abruptly ends it leaving him grieving.

His ex wife, although now also in a contract marriage, is shown to be still obsessed with him and deranged enough to install cameras in his home, threaten suicide and plant suicide pills in his studio.
Add to the mix another stalker who is a psychopath and also obsessed with the FL threatening to kill the ML and boasting about having already killed someone and the tensions are running high.

The trunk theme is based on the importance of the two trunks in the story.
One belongs to the ex-wife and is stolen by the psychopath convinced he will find damming evidence about the organisation and be able to expose them for putting him in a mental institute.
The second trunk belongs to the ex-wife and it too contains emotionally damming items.
The tension is slow paced, dark, brooding and oppressive a lot like how the relationships are featured. Use of lighting, music and atmospheric sounds keep the noir aspect.
The ending is hopeful and open ended.