Korean revenge stories are basically a subgenre of their own at this point and this is another one you don't wanna miss. After the very good My Name (2021) we have yet another—and bigger—winner in the form of this newly-released title (it says 2022 but it finished only a couple weeks ago)

Watch the first episode and tell me this is boring. That's right, you can't.

It's also full of surprises. Don't expect much action though, that's just not what this is about.

I think what sets this story apart from other revenge stories in this genre is the fact that we follow the antagonists quite a bit. A lot of screentime is dedicated to them actually, and yet it works so well because they're so colorful, dynamic, and multi-layered as they progressively sink deeper into the protagonist's schemes. We even see glimpses of humanity here and there. It's a delight sometimes to simply watch the chaos that seems to follow them around unfold. Their lives are a hypnotic, convoluted mess to watch, and it's definitely what I enjoyed the most in this show.

Well, aside from the acting. The leads killed it of course but a shoutout too to the young actresses playing the main protagonist (Jung Ji-So) and the main antagonist (Shin Ye-eun) in their school years, now that was some brilliant acting. They'll be ones to watch for sure.

Word of warning on the first episode though: it gets pretty intense. Sexual assault, torture, psychological abuse… I've seen worse, graphically, but due to the context, the amazing performances and directing and the score here it's just so… harrowing. So yeah, trigger warning I guess.

But it's really well made, and necessary. How else are we gonna root for someone who's essentially dead set on ruining a bunch of people's lives in return for what they did?

Because they deserve it. Without question.