Celebrated Korean actress Song Hye-Kyo stars in The Glory, a drama about a woman who takes revenge on those who cruelly bullied her years ago.
It’s safe to say that at one point or another in our lives, we’ve all felt the need to get revenge on someone who wronged us. There is certainly a tipping point in all of us when it comes to letting others get away with bad behavior. While the environment doesn’t matter, an outwardly aggressive personality is often found in high schools where the youth lack parental supervision. The victims of bullies are afraid to stand up for themselves because of the retaliation that would come from all sides.
A new South Korean drama on Netflix called The glory this epidemic goes one step further and controversially puts power back in the hands of the unjust. The audience follows a scorned woman named Moon Dong Eun from the past twenty years to the present day, and the audience sees how she was severely abused by five other students during her high school career.
Her bullies stalk in hopes of revenge
While these scenes may be a trigger for those who have gone through similar experiences, these scar moments help bring to light the epidemic that is currently happening not only in that country but around the world. Specifically aimed at one person, what The glory shows a woman named Moon Dong Eun (Song Hye-Kyo) who is so traumatically engulfed by these events that she devotes her entire adult life to following in these people’s footsteps. Figuring out where they live, what they do for a living, and who they marry is her primary focus. She even strategically places herself as an elementary school teacher in the same classroom as the daughter of the main bully to intimidate her main tormentor.
The drama also does not deviate from the psychological and mental effects exerted on Moon Dong Eun. Even though her plans seem well thought out and coming together the way she wants, the woman develops morbid medical symptoms when contemporary triggers force her to slow down and take care of herself first and foremost. While rightly determined to never stray from the path of cold-hearted vengeance, she must also tend to her own wounds at the same time, such as the scars that cover her entire body and the anemia that affects her immune system.
The cast makes this show a must see
South Korean actress Song Hye-kyo strikes a perfect balance between a character who is applauded by the audience but also somewhat intimidated. a twisted confidence to the troubled moon Dong Eun. Similar to Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawlershe shows a person who only becomes attractive to others through their darkest intentions.
As such, the characters of Joo Yeo-Jeong and Kang Hyeon-Nam, played by Lee Do-Hyun and Yum Hye-Ran respectively, both end up in Moon Dong Eun’s social circle for different reasons. The former is entranced by Moon Dong Eun’s mystery and tries to make romantic advances, while the latter finds a friend who constantly validates her for what she has to offer in detective work. The actor and actress both bring a performing repertoire that makes these characters unforgettable. Lee Do-Hyun may be familiar to some, as he starred in Netflix’s Sweet home. Yum Hye-ran has won numerous accolades in her career, including the Best Supporting Actress award and the Best Couple Award.
You wouldn’t feel Moon Dong Eun’s plight if it weren’t for the actors and actresses who brought the evil adversaries to life. While watching The glory and seeing these countless bullies act out their sadistic fantasies on a helpless girl who only wants to continue college, their devotion to these ruthless high school students drives the public to support Moon’s plan to work, however shocking.
The main culprit is Park Yeon-Jin played by Lim Ji-Yeon who has a part in it Money Robbery: Korea – Common Economic Area. Park Yeon-Jin ends up marrying a successful construction magnate and works as a weather forecaster himself. Park Yeon-Jin tries but slowly fails to hide her overwhelming fear when it comes to Moon reappearing in her life. The actress’s ability to quickly shift emotional tone makes her great for this shrinking character The glory.
Jeon Jae-Jun, Lee Sa-Ra, Choi Hye-Jeong and Son Myeong-O, who flank Park Yeon-Jin and join in the high school brutality that happened many years earlier, all have lavish lifestyles that crumble effortlessly with Moon Dong Eun’s subtle strikes in their social lives. While they are all still friends and interacting with each other, they snap in an instant, almost ready to literally kill each other. Even though this is Park Sung-Hoon, Kim Hieora, Cha Joo-Young and Kim Gun-Woo’s first lead role in a Netflix production, they easily rise to the challenge and form a group of people whose once-happy lives are now complete changed. broken in a way they never expected. Not only do they lend a distinct personality to the group of clichéd kids, but they also provide distinct but haunting individual weaknesses for their only nemesis to use against them.
The first part of The glory ended on one great cliff hanger that leaves the door wide open for a more revealing look at Moon Dong Eun’s plan for her past ghosts. This will be exciting for fans of the Korean drama when it returns for a second outing on the streaming platform from March 2023. Revenge never felt so redemptive.