Sometimes a show comes along that is so insightful, so unexpectedly profound and so transcendently beautiful that you are left without adequate words to describe it. This is that show.

Lee Sun-kyun plays Park Dong-hoon, a numb middle-aged engineer in a tired marriage who finds himself entangled with Lee Ji-an, a very young, almost unsocialised woman played with an extraordinary subtlety and quiet intensity by IU. Ji-an has been tasked to help get rid of Dong-hoon by the CEO of his company, Do Joon-young (Park Young-min) who is having an affair with Dong-hoon's wife. Ji-an wiretaps Dong-hoon's phone and finds herself identifying with his unhappiness, even as she is drawn to his inherent kindness.

Surrounded by a cast of unhappy and dissatisfied people, this is a show about middle age and about failure but in the end about how our lives are enriched by kindness and community. Ji-an is a damaged young woman who has endured almost unimaginable tragedy but through her relationship with Dong-hoon they are both able to heal and to finally pursue happiness.

The performances of the entire cast are extraordinary but it's the sparse script, off-kilter cinematography and haunting pensive OST that give the show a sensibility that's hypnotic, almost mesmerising. It’s melancholic and a little weird – but in the kind of way that people are a little weird. It’s grim and there’s very little joy in it but the tone and lack of joy is presented in a way that makes it analogous to the disappointments and mindless drudgery of middle-age.

But beyond the themes of failure and the cold darkness of winter as a metaphor for dissatisfaction, this is a show about the triumph of kindness. Portrayed so often as a weakness, it is instead Dong-hoon's kindness that is his greatest strength. It is kindness, community and love that is celebrated and through that celebration this show finds a beauty that transcends mere television.

It is, for now, the best show of 2018.