The Suspicious Housekeeper (2013)

Profound, idiosyncratic mixture of different genres, coherently combined to form a new whole

The story is surprisingly exciting and complex, with an inscrutable main character and her mysterious past. Basically it's a thriller. At the same time, however, the story also offers plenty of food for thought and/or empathy about modern educational concepts. In any case, the story falls outside the scope of the usual KDrama stuff. On the side, one also gains some impressions of life in the middle class, of the difficulties of single parents (although men have it a bit better than women), of bullying at schools or of abusive parents-in-law.

A central storyline revolves around the now: the employment of Park Bok-nyeo in a family with a single father and 4 children who are dealing with their traumatic recent past - the suicide of the mother/wife. The second central plot line works in the background and deals with Bok-Nyeo's own traumatizing past, which shapes her behavior to this day. It is inevitable that both strands eventually become entangled.

Choi Ji-woo marvelously represents the housekeeper Park Bok-neyo. She fulfills her tasks calmly, patiently and disciplined. Always clearly demarcated without ever pulling a face (in 20 episodes)! (Ok, maybe once...) However she can hide well behind her role as a housekeeper and like that escape her own inner emptiness, as she herself is emotionally broken and limited in her ability to relate. Her own traumatic past is now catching up with her and threatens to turn her current life upside down again. But she is older by now, more mature and thus she tries to face her fate emotionally strengthened and resolutely and prepared to get over it to some extent. In the process eventually she offers a variety of psychologically and pedagogically valuable interventions in the everyday life of all family members. It's not all cliché, but offers touching, funny and very serious moments.

So this is not a love story. "Suspicious Housekeeper" offers an idiosyncratic mixture of different genres that are coherently combined to form a new whole with a surprisingly profound entertainment value. All actors, up to the 4 kids, contribute to the living impression of the overall work of art.

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