Red Pill / Blue Pill
A great comparison in the film referring to The Matrix's Red Pill/Blue Pill choice. Does one choose to stay in a happy fantasy or choose to face unpleasant reality?
The Trunk (트렁크) is a 2024 8-episode drama with each episode being an hour long. This drama features middle-aged leads who are mostly Xennials with Seo Hyun Jin (1985), Gong Yoo (1979), Jung Yun Ha (1986) and firmly millennial Cho I Geon (1992).
This drama is directed by Kim Kyu Tae, who also directed dramas like It's Okay That's Love (2014), Moon River Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016) and Live (2018) and based on the book "The Trunk," written by Kim Ryu Ryung (and adapted to film by Park Eun Young), who also wrote Elegant Lies (2014) and Punch (2011).
The Trunk is brooding and introspective. There are elements of mystery, although sometimes foreshadowing is overdone. Most events are predictable, but there are a few good surprises. The chemistry between characters is muted, and that fits the vibe of the show. This is an adult-rated show with drugs, smoking, nudity (woman's breasts, man's buttocks, soft sex scenes), suicide, blood and violence. It ends with a hopeful, positive note.
~~Plot
This is a story about Han Jeongwon (ML) and Lee Seoyeon (2FL), a toxic couple, and their journey of separation as well as No Inji and Yun Jio's independent trauma resolution.
In a manipulative effort to confirm Jeongwon's dedication, Seoyeon divorces him and employs a spouse-for-hire contractor to test Jeongwon. Broken by extensive childhood trauma and emotional manipulation from Seoyeon, Jeongwon experiences nightmares, depression and self-medicating with unknown drugs he receives from Seoyeon. He holds that he still loves Seoyeon but goes along with her spouse-for-hire plan with her promise that if he lasts one year, she will reconcile with him.
No Inji (FL) has been plagued by guilt since her youth. She feels that she inflicts bad luck on those she loves and takes up marriage contracting to feel less lonely in her life. Her marriage contract with Jeongwon is her 5th marriage, but she still holds on to her first love, whose life, she believes, was destroyed by her. She also navigates the unwanted attention of Um Taeseong, her violent stalker of the last 5 years.
In spite of their age difference, Yun Jio (2ML) truly loves Seoyeon. He is willing to put forth the devotion and affection that she seeks, but her intent is finding ways to control Jeongwon.
Simultaneously, we watch snippets of the future unfold as detectives recover a luxury brand luggage trunk from a lake and then a body. They work to untangle the means, motive and opportunity from the primary characters to bring justice to the victim.
~~Technical
I watched this on Hulu, and there were several times where the screen cuts were overlong, but that could have been Hulu's editing for potential commercial breaks. The camera work and audio was stable. I liked the use of focus/out-of-focus when the actors are in the same scene, which contributed to the characters' themes of self-absorption.
The settings were grand and impersonal, which fit the theme of the show. The lake setting was beautiful in nearly every shot, especially with the fog. The cinematography was underutilized for me and the could have provided more mystery or foreshadowing.
The English captioning was sufficient. I had one pet peeve were some times that Korean "No" was written as "Uh, No" and I'm not sure why. There were 2 or 3 times that the captioning had more written than I had time to read and I had to go back. There were also a few confusing conversation translations that didn't quite make it understandable in English, but the context made up for that in those situations. It was direct as possible, and anything that might be lost in translation was reiterated later.
~~Recommendation - 9.5/10
I really enjoyed watching this. I watched it in one sitting. There were a few parts that were skippable, all non-dialogue.
It is deep, but I never felt overly sympathetic to the characters. I did not cry or feel like anything was terribly unfair or unrealistic. The actors were all great for me, although everything had kind of a muted, drugged feeling, which I feel was part of the story. My favorite character was Um Taeseong. Kim Dong Won's acting was the best of everyone. Then again, I often have a thing for unhinged but believable characters. There was never any comedy, a few times I cracked a smile but even the humor felt a bit bleak.
The story felt cohesive, although the additional storyline with Jeongwon's best friend felt out of place and under developed. There could have been more backstory Inji's family, there were a lot of things unsaid. Seoyeon had no history other than being obsessed with Jeongwon, but sometimes that's enough explanation. The ending was hopeful, although not quite complete. It allows the viewer to decide on the final ending.
The Trunk (트렁크) is a 2024 8-episode drama with each episode being an hour long. This drama features middle-aged leads who are mostly Xennials with Seo Hyun Jin (1985), Gong Yoo (1979), Jung Yun Ha (1986) and firmly millennial Cho I Geon (1992).
This drama is directed by Kim Kyu Tae, who also directed dramas like It's Okay That's Love (2014), Moon River Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016) and Live (2018) and based on the book "The Trunk," written by Kim Ryu Ryung (and adapted to film by Park Eun Young), who also wrote Elegant Lies (2014) and Punch (2011).
The Trunk is brooding and introspective. There are elements of mystery, although sometimes foreshadowing is overdone. Most events are predictable, but there are a few good surprises. The chemistry between characters is muted, and that fits the vibe of the show. This is an adult-rated show with drugs, smoking, nudity (woman's breasts, man's buttocks, soft sex scenes), suicide, blood and violence. It ends with a hopeful, positive note.
~~Plot
This is a story about Han Jeongwon (ML) and Lee Seoyeon (2FL), a toxic couple, and their journey of separation as well as No Inji and Yun Jio's independent trauma resolution.
In a manipulative effort to confirm Jeongwon's dedication, Seoyeon divorces him and employs a spouse-for-hire contractor to test Jeongwon. Broken by extensive childhood trauma and emotional manipulation from Seoyeon, Jeongwon experiences nightmares, depression and self-medicating with unknown drugs he receives from Seoyeon. He holds that he still loves Seoyeon but goes along with her spouse-for-hire plan with her promise that if he lasts one year, she will reconcile with him.
No Inji (FL) has been plagued by guilt since her youth. She feels that she inflicts bad luck on those she loves and takes up marriage contracting to feel less lonely in her life. Her marriage contract with Jeongwon is her 5th marriage, but she still holds on to her first love, whose life, she believes, was destroyed by her. She also navigates the unwanted attention of Um Taeseong, her violent stalker of the last 5 years.
In spite of their age difference, Yun Jio (2ML) truly loves Seoyeon. He is willing to put forth the devotion and affection that she seeks, but her intent is finding ways to control Jeongwon.
Simultaneously, we watch snippets of the future unfold as detectives recover a luxury brand luggage trunk from a lake and then a body. They work to untangle the means, motive and opportunity from the primary characters to bring justice to the victim.
~~Technical
I watched this on Hulu, and there were several times where the screen cuts were overlong, but that could have been Hulu's editing for potential commercial breaks. The camera work and audio was stable. I liked the use of focus/out-of-focus when the actors are in the same scene, which contributed to the characters' themes of self-absorption.
The settings were grand and impersonal, which fit the theme of the show. The lake setting was beautiful in nearly every shot, especially with the fog. The cinematography was underutilized for me and the could have provided more mystery or foreshadowing.
The English captioning was sufficient. I had one pet peeve were some times that Korean "No" was written as "Uh, No" and I'm not sure why. There were 2 or 3 times that the captioning had more written than I had time to read and I had to go back. There were also a few confusing conversation translations that didn't quite make it understandable in English, but the context made up for that in those situations. It was direct as possible, and anything that might be lost in translation was reiterated later.
~~Recommendation - 9.5/10
I really enjoyed watching this. I watched it in one sitting. There were a few parts that were skippable, all non-dialogue.
It is deep, but I never felt overly sympathetic to the characters. I did not cry or feel like anything was terribly unfair or unrealistic. The actors were all great for me, although everything had kind of a muted, drugged feeling, which I feel was part of the story. My favorite character was Um Taeseong. Kim Dong Won's acting was the best of everyone. Then again, I often have a thing for unhinged but believable characters. There was never any comedy, a few times I cracked a smile but even the humor felt a bit bleak.
The story felt cohesive, although the additional storyline with Jeongwon's best friend felt out of place and under developed. There could have been more backstory Inji's family, there were a lot of things unsaid. Seoyeon had no history other than being obsessed with Jeongwon, but sometimes that's enough explanation. The ending was hopeful, although not quite complete. It allows the viewer to decide on the final ending.
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