As Madeline would say 'once you start, you cannot stop".
Anna is a Coupang play drama based on ‘Intimate Stranger’ by Chung Han-Ah. The drama is about Lee Yu Mi (Bae Suzy) a girl who has Ripley’s syndrome, and it follows her from her teenage years up to her early adulthood and how she lies each step of the way, one always bigger from the last, the unraveling of her lies & how she deals with everything in between. I have not had the privilege of reading the book, so this review is just about the drama itself.

From the first time, I saw the synopsis of the drama I was very intrigued by it, and it was very different from Suzy’s previous picks, so I was very excited to watch it. Starting with performances, I can see Suzy’s dedication to the role. You can tell she worked hard to convey the way anna felt during key moments of her life and every moment where her life changed as she lied. However, I was quite disappointed with the accuracy of her performance in how she conveyed the character. At certain points, she is meant to feel bad for lying but we only see that towards the end but not during the show. The duality of a woman that is meant to look strong outwards but is crumbling inwardly was attempted but not to the satisfaction of my liking. I found that everything was linked more to the fact that her pride led to every single lie she told.

The personality disorder (Ripley’s syndrome) is defined as “a false situation or context, while another could also represent failing to fulfill what is required” either in social deception or self-deceit, coined from the novel The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Hayes (Analysis of Ripley Syndrome). A calculated series of plans and practice to obtain and satisfies her desires by committing fraud. Ripley’s syndrome is often met with people who have no shame, and their desires drive them to do the worst of things (The uncanny and Diagnosis of Mr. Ripley). Yumi engaged in social deception but not self-deceit. I think the drama tried to dive into the self-deceit aspect of the syndrome but failed halfway and you can find that with Suzy’s performance as well. It showed the levels she took to deceive people around her and people who cared about her to satisfy her desires and needs. Her depiction of the role kind of came off as discomfort and greed rather than guilt or shame. On the brighter side, I praise Suzy's portrayal of her relationships with her parents and how that fueled her desire for a state of peace she thought could be attained by lying, you could see throughout the drama how her parents were huge forces in everything she did, Suzy did her best to depict that in her performance. It showed how in each stage she thought it would be the last, but it just kept on going. For her not being the strongest of actresses she carried the role to a very decent point

One thing I loved is the cinematic perspective of the drama. Lee Joo Jung, the director, took the audience through defining moments of Yu mi’s life without making it feel short felt or too overwhelming. It was enough pieces to allow me to have a full perspective of Yu Mi’s life without wanting more. The end did feel rushed, and it might be due to the editing issues between Lee Joo Jung and Coupang. I am yet to see the director's cut so I am not sure if it would have been better and more packaged than the present one. The drama is a great perspective into the lives of different personalities and social classes. It shows the strive that a lot of people have in their lives, to reach a level of wealth and success. Yu mi embodies the smaller amount of people who will do whatever it takes even if it means crossing a moral boundary. The rest of the cast performed well, however in terms of character planning there was much to be explained. I found myself getting used to or liking the story of the other characters and then they would be cut off or certain aspects of the storyline would be left unfinished. It was quite unsatisfactory.
Overall, it’s a short watch with 45-55 minutes in each episode. It embodies a lot and it’s a new step toward Suzy's ability as an actress. There was more to be said that wasn’t but in all things, the end was not left empty. I recommend this as a light watch with very little expectation.

I also cited some of the articles I took info from, the student in me couldn’t help it. (APA style-best citing format ever). also the link for Madeline's one little lie leads to another- a banger

(2018). The Uncanny and Diagnosis of Mr. Ripley: a Freudian Approach. Retrieved from https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/the-uncanny-and-diagnosis-of-mr-ripley-a-freudian-approach-2/

Analysis of Ripley Syndrome Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/health-sciences-medicine/1430398-ripley-syndrome

Madeline-One little lie leads to another retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAYtdZlqYPI