hong_ringo

She's just not a good actress.

Chinese version is still so much better.

obv not

Regardless of blood ties...they still grew up as siblings right? and for that to suddenly turn into romance...is a bit...

Lee Soohyuk as grim reaper...again?

❤️

Umm, True Beauty definitely boosted all the cast’s IG followers, but I wouldn’t call her ultra-famous. Even saying she’s well-known might be a stretch. She’s recognized, sure, but mostly only among international K-drama viewers. To the general public, she’s just “that actress I’ve heard or seen on TV sometimes.” Definitely not a household name. Maybe a B-list at best? Which honestly is not bad.

Some people here keep saying the lead actress is overrated, and I'm beginning to get why. First off, I don’t think she’s a bad actress. Her acting isn’t distracting to me, aside from her voice (which I personally find a bit too whiny at times), but her performances feel too similar across roles. Sad, happy, scared, etc... she delivers those emotions exactly as needed, but she really doesn't bring anything beyond that. Which is why I often find her characters and acting too bland, and frankly, forgettable.

Then I think about actresses her age like Kim Sejeong, Kim Hyeyoon, or Shin Yeeun, who I’d say are just as pretty and arguably better actresses. They portray their characters with more personality, so their acting felt more memorable. Yet despite a hit performance, their next works are often lead roles in small productions with rookie or unknown actors, or supporting roles in big productions. It makes me wonder, why and how she consistently lands lead role with bigger actor in bigger productions without a particularly strong portfolio, hit, or skill. I think I’m starting to really see why people call her overrated.

Nope

Wait… they’re PRODUCERS!? That means they either put in their own money, took a smaller salary for a cut of the profits, or used their name as a guarantee to lock in extra funding. Damn, there’s a good chance they won’t see a cent of that back. I doubt it’ll even hit $15m at the box office. Beside, even without extravagant marketing, this is a global release, the costs will still run into the millions. Realistically, they’d need around $25m just to break-even, even if I’m lowballing it. At this point, OTT might be their only hope.

Although I’ll admit her acting has never been particularly impressive, I don't really dare to speculate why she kept getting casted. I think she simply landed this lawyer role because she’s worked with this production company before on Find Me in Your Memory, so they probably already know she’s reliable and pleasant to have on set. In the entertainment industry, having connection and being easy to work with can sometimes matter more than raw talent, unless, of course, you’re truly an exceptional actress (which she's not).

Beside, Whale Star: The Gyeongseong Mermaid is still just a rumor, and she hasn’t officially announced that she accepted the role. Personally, I think she’d suit the noble lady character far better than the mute servant female lead. If she does end up playing the servant in the Gyeongseong era, though… well, her look and style might feel a bit too modern and her voice perhaps a touch too whiny. I like MKY, but I have to admit her image feels too fancy and luxurious, a miscast as the plain Sua. Then again, I’m coming from the perspective of someone who’s read the original webtoon, for viewers unfamiliar with it, the live-action version might work just fine. The story alone should be able to hard-carry this entire production.

But she wasn’t cast that often, she had a 3-year gap between My Dearest Nemesis and The Interest of Love. Beside, True Beauty, despite its mixed opinions, was a huge commercial success.

I’m honestly confused by these kind of comments. Just because you personally liked it and are really vocal about it doesn’t mean everyone else feels the same. There are plenty of slice-of-life K-dramas and C-dramas on this site with high ratings, this just isn’t one of them. It’s decent, sure, but not as amazing as some of you are making it out to be. 7.9 or 8.0 seems about right for what it is. 8.4, though? That’s pushing it.

They may have presold this movie to 113 countries. But realistically, with only about US$4.5m earned in Korea (its main market) during the first week and around US$1m in Taiwan (a top market for imported Korean films) over five days, followed by a steep second-week drop, it’s hard to imagine the film will make significant profits elsewhere.

I doubt its first-week box office in most other countries will even hit US$500k, let alone US$1m. Except maybe for Japan and SEA a.k.a the other top markets.

Best case scenario, it might just break-even if a streaming deal comes through (because of the star-studded casts), but I doubt it. After all, the budget is US$21m and marketing budget usually adds another 30-50%.

Does it look like they can earn US$30m?

The production budget was reportedly around US$21m, excluding marketing costs, which typically add another 30–50%. It’s unlikely that distributors offered a high enough minimum agreed sales to fully cover all of that. That’s rarely how film sales work, people still need to show up and penalties usually aren’t substantial enough to offset poor box office performance. With such a star-studded cast and producers behind previous blockbusters like Along with the Gods, they may have presold it to 113 countries, but realistically, with only about US$4.5m earned in Korea (main market) during its first week and roughly US$1m in Taiwan (top market for imported Korean movies) over five days — followed by a steep drop in its second week — it’s hard to see the film generating significant profits with the rest of the countries. At best, it might just barely break even, but I have my doubt.

That assuming they cover all US$21 million of the production budget, but I doubt any distributors would agree to such a high minimum. It probably just to help minimize the producer's losses. Beside, they also need to cover for marketing budget too which if it's the same as Hollywood, is the same amount or maybe more. To break even, movie usually need to make double their budget. Then again, the producer's previous collaborations, Along With Gods, with their distributor (Lotte Entertainment)

Let me get this straight, you're saying LJS has range, and even though people are criticizing his acting in this drama, it's fine because the role demands it. But for MKY, you admit she keeps picking similar cheerful roles, yet we also shouldn’t judge her? Huh?

Sure, the script plays a part, but if an actor takes on a role that doesn’t suit them or can’t carry, I think it’s completely fair to point that out. It’s not like they were forced into it at gunpoint. They chose the role because they like the script, and that choice comes with responsibility. Past work doesn’t give anyone a free pass from valid criticism, especially when their recent performance falls short. You can still respect what they did before and still call out when something now doesn’t work. So yeah, I can say LJS is a good actor, just not in this one. And as for MKY, she’s been consistently just okay, never really WOWed me.

Day 1 - $864K - release date
Day 2- $482K - more than 40% drop from first day
Day 3- $600K - coupon campaign + start of weekend (Friday)
Day 4- $1.4M
Day 5-$1.25M

This movie was released on July 23, just two days before the Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism and the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) began distributing 4.5 million discount coupons, each worth ₩6,000 off cinema tickets. That timing might explain the sudden uptick in ticket sales, which won't last, since most Koreans seem to be using the coupons for F1 and My Daughter is a Zombie instead. This film is more likely to earn the bulk of its box office revenue from international markets. For audiences unfamiliar with the original source material, it’s reportedly just an okay action movie. But for people who consumed the novel and webtoon, it sucks.

I don’t get why people keep calling it the "lawyer version of Hospital Playlist" when it doesn’t even come close. Sure, the cases are interesting, but nothing lingers with me. I guess it's enjoyable enough to pass the time when there's nothing to watch, but it really lacks something. I would even dare to say that it's boring. Honestly, not for everyone.

The drama was written by a lawyer and it shows (and not in a good way). The concept is great in theory, Hospital Playlist, but with lawyers. But the writing execution and focus outside of the legal cases feels a bit all over the place, cliché, and sometimes too slow/draggy. So I can understand why this drama isn't everyone's cup of tea.

That said, I don’t agree with people decisively rating it super low or high when we’re only 4 episodes in. Like, just hold your rating in your head for now and wait until the drama actually ends to rate it.

So far, I’d say it’s holding at 7.0 to 7.5 in my head.