Updated: October 15, 2021
“Reflection Of You” (2021) is a new Korean psychological-thriller drama, starring Go Hyun-jung and Shin Hyun-been. The story revolves around two women with an entangled past whose lives will cross paths again.
It premiered on October 13 through JTBC with a nationwide viewership rating of 3.6%, according to Nielsen Korea. New episodes are also available weekly on Netflix.
Here are three interesting points to love this new series:
1. It is artistic and full of mysteries.
The drama begins with dark colors, cryptic paintings, and a haunting scene. A voice of a strange woman utters, “I think about hell. Though alive, I think of the world as hell. To me, hell is watching my loved one die for me. So I’m not in hell yet.”
It follows two interesting characters with a twisted relationship.
One is Jung Hui-ju, portrayed by Go Hyun-jung, a successful painter, writer, mother of two, and married to a wealthy man. She seems startled to encounter a woman who resembles someone in the past and strangely meddles in her family’s life.
Another character is Gu Hae-won, a woman who lives a double life, portrayed by Shin Hyun-been. She is “Hannah” who studied in Germany and loves paintings, at the same time, “Hae-won”, a mysterious artist, called by students as “Mimi”, short for a crazy art teacher. She acts like a creepy psycho and walks around in a green coat—outwardly looking delicate, yet inwardly raving insanity.
The story and plot overall, with two episodes out so far, is interesting, intriguing, haunting yet insanely artistic. It will keep you glued to the series with its mysteries and psychological-crime-thriller theme.
2. Casting and performances are great.
What is more interesting about this thriller drama is the casting of two great actresses who are equally outstanding in portraying their mysterious and creepy characters.
Go Hyun-jung is one of the top stars in South Korea who took home the Grand Prize (Deasang) award at the 48th Baeksang Arts Awards and SBS Drama Awards in 2010, to name a few. Her successful work as an actress include the series, “Queen Seondeok” and “Daemul”.
On the other hand, Shin Hyun-been is one of the Hospital Playlist casts, who portrayed the girlfriend of Dr. Ahn Jeong-won in Pediatric Surgery department. You will be surprised and impressed to see her totally different performance in “Reflection of You”, showing her versatility as an actress.
3. The cinematography and musical score are impressive.
The way its cinematography and background score put life in the story is impressive. Whether it’s a twisted shot or a detailed image, the camera work and sounds perfectly convey the creepy turn of events and dark emotions of the characters.
Strikingly, the shots, color grading, lighting direction, pacing, and music all compliment the mood of important scenes, heightening the horrifying vibe. Everything meshes together to portray a profound message.
For instance, as Hae-won walks the empty streets and lies down on the floor with a blank stare, it feels like a journey of a mysterious and desolate woman, whose eyes permeate pain, sorrow, and revenge. You will get hooked in her character and intrigued on what comes next.
This drama creatively illustrates that life is like a piece of art where one must look deep enough to see that there is more than what is casually seen.
Rating: 9.3/10
With two episodes out so far, “Reflection of You” manifests uniqueness, creativity, and mastery. This drama is definitely a work of art and is worth the stream on Netflix.
Cover photo: JTBC Drama
KORB 