My Liberation Notes
Director: Kim Seok-yoon
Writer: Park Hae-young
Cast: Kim Ji-won, Son Seok-ku, Lee Min-ki, Lee El
At the end of a particularly exhausting day, Yeom Mi-jeong (Kim Ji-won) stands before Gu-ssi (Seon Seok-ku), a reticent and alcoholic tenant, as he downs his daily soju. “Why do you drink every day? Would you like me to give you something else to do?” she asks, tears pricking at her eyes. “Worship me,” she orders him. This is the beginning of their strange contract, one that hinges on the courageous belief that if they worship each other – not just love; love isn’t enough – until the end of spring, they will transform one another. My Liberation Notes is a patchwork of such aches and joys. At its centre are three siblings – Mi-jeong (Kim Ji-won), Chang Hee (Lee Min-ki), Yeom Gi-jeong (Lee El) – each battling shades of shame, loneliness and indignity. Over the course of the series, however, they find gradual liberation through the fleeting connections around them, finding solace in their renewed understanding of the same, dreary existence. My Liberation Notes, written by My Mister’s Park Hae-young, weaves such a rich tapestry of perspectives and experiences into its narratives that it seems like a loving ode to life itself – random, frustrating and freeing.
Through the Darkness
Directors: Kim Jae-hong, Park Bo-ram
Writer: Seol Yi-na, Kwon Il-yong
Cast: Kim Nam-gil, Jin Seon-kyu, Kim So-jin
Through the Darkness’s Korean title translates to “Those Who Read the Hearts of Evil” – a telling title. The series is loosely based on a non-fiction novel of the same name, co-written by South Korea’s first-ever criminal profiler Kwon Il-yong and former journalist Ko Na-mu. Sounds familiar? If you’re still upset about Mind Hunter being cancelled, you might find some solace in the similarities this Korean thriller series shares with its American counterpart. Directed by Park Bo-ram and written by Seol Yi-na, the show is set in the late Nineties. We meet Song Ha-young (Kim Nam-gil) and Guk Yeong-su (Jin Sun-kyu) as they labour to create Korea’s first Behavioural Analysis Team, dedicated to understanding the minds of serial killers instead of simply prosecuting them. Unlike the slow burn that is Mind Hunter, Through the Darkness moves at breakneck speed, placing the narrative at the centre of the crimes that unfold in real-time. While this makes for episodes that do not overstay their welcome, the gory visuals lead to the occasional fetishisation of violence. Still, Through the Darkness remains one of the best Korean dramas of 2022. It shines in its multi-faceted depiction of a nation gripped by violence: The sexism in the police force, the horrors of child abuse and the role of the media in its portrayal of these cases. Special shout-out to Kim Joong-Hee as the serial killer Nam Ki-tae, his performance managing to look both deranged and achingly vulnerable.
Twenty-Five Twenty-One
Directors: Jung Ji-hyun, Kim Seung-ho
Writer: Kwon Do-eun
Cast: Kim Tae-ri, Bona, Nam Joo-hyuk
Twenty-Five Twenty-One is, first and foremost, a tale of passion. Not between a man and a woman – although we get plenty of that, too – but between two fencing rivals: Na Hee-do (Kim Tae-ri) and Ko Yu-rim (Bona). The sport brings them together and drives them apart, the push-and-pull making space for sparkling chemistry and eventually, a once-in-a-lifetime friendship. Set between 1997 — when Na Hee-do was a naive 19-year-old – and 2022, when she’s the mother of a sulky teenager, the drama looks back at Hee-do at that messy past when she became a champion fencer and grew out of childhood. Through the flashbacks, we learn of Hee-do’s friendships and her first love – all brilliantly embodied by the effervescent and perenially-watchable Kim Tae-ri. Written by Kwon Do-eun (who also wrote Search: WWW), the series stumbles in its last episode but for the most part, Twenty-Five Twenty-One remains a charming ode to youth and dreaming big.
