K-Drama

You play it smart, “The Glory” [Biased Cine Review]

■ Long biased review short: A slow but painful revenge play is addictive, that’s what “The Glory” is.

A revenge play where the victims are left to die slowly, is steadily addictive. OTT platform Netflix series “The Glory” (directed by Ahn Gil Ho) made a clever move, raising expectations for the series’ Part 2.

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“The Glory” is the story of a woman called “Mun Dong Eun” (Song Hye Kyo), whose soul was broken by school violence when she was a child, betting her whole life on taking her desperate revenge on the bullies. Star writers Kim Eun Sook and Song Hye Kyo collaborate again after KBS2’s “Descendants of the Sun,” but to challenge a new psychological revenge drama, not romance. On top of that, Lee Do Hyun, Lim Ji Yeon, Park Sung Hoon, Kim Hieora, Kim Gun Woo, Cha Joo Young, and Jung Sung Il also join the cast for the 8-episode first part of the series.

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The characters are colorful. In particular, it is thrilling just to watch the cracks start to appear between the bullies. There are several layers to Moon Dong Eun’s revenge as the bullies, who used school violence on her in high school, have different classes, different interests, and purposes depending on what they have and who they are after becoming adults. This is why Moon Dong Eun’s revenge game in Part 2 is expected to be even richer.

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As expected, the characters’ line are chef-kiss flawless. Kim Eun Sook’s word game do not seem to only shine in romantic works. “From today, your every day will be terrible. It’s gonna be horrible and irritates you. You won’t be able to stop it or get rid of it. I’m going to be your very old rumor,” “I learned the game of Go quickly. Its purpose is clear. It’s a game where you win if you take down the house that your opponent has built carefully. It’s beautiful,” ‘If you die, you’ll go to heaven. Because you are already living in hell.” Once the viewers hear the main character’s lines, they will never forget throughout 8 episodes.

The actors’ performances are impeccable. Song Hye Kyo’s expressionless face showing how dead inside she is is a plus point. Her acting here is more stable and has a clearer purpose that that shown in the soft romantic ones. The smile she shows occasionally when with Yeom Hye Ran is the only bright detail of the drama.

Lim Ji-yeon the glory

Actors such as Lim Ji Yeon, Park Sung Hoon, Kim Hieora, Kim Gun Woo, and Cha Joo Young are specifically cast to fit the villain roles of “The Glory. With their acting skills and synergy, they raise the viewer’s anger to the end. The child actors playing their childhood are also a perfect fit.

However, “The Glory” might be your favorite, or not. The relationship between the characters and the speed of building up the characters’ narrative may feel somewhat slow. The speed only accelerated from the end of episode 3.

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A loveline is indeed something that shouldn’t be in revenge stories. The story is too pink for Ju Yeo Jung (Lee Do Hyun) to be able to jump into fire for Moon Dong Eun. For this reason, the title of “senior and junior” between them also slightly prevent viewers from getting immersed in the series.

The show is available for streaming on Netflix right now.

Source: Sports Kyunghyang

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