Unraveling The Mystery In The 2024 K-Drama "The Trunk": Review
The only reason I had to seeing this series was because "Gong Yoo" from "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God" and "Squid Game" starred in it. The series has a bit of a weird storyline and new faces on the cast but I figured it'd be something different to see "Gong Yoo" in such a storyline and it turned out way better than I had expected.
Spoiler alert! I would recommend this series anytime to whoever loves some mystery and enjoys how contract marriages works in movies but not without the downsides that this story has in store. What is a story without some scenes to leave it's viewers or readers trying to understand or solve, it makes the whole experience exciting.
The series "The Trunk" was released in November, 2024 and is starred by Seo Hyeon-jin, Gong Yoo and Jung Yun-Ha. Directed by Kim Kyoo-tae the director of "Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo" and "It's okay, that's love". A mini series of 8 episodes that focuses on deep mysteries in marriages with entangled secrets.
I had thought this story will have less of romance scenes as the cast is of older characters and how the first episode played out, starting with a marriage agreement with no exciting scenes before it. But I got hooked until the end as all the excitement are brought in slowly, it will be understandable if viewers give up on 1st episode.
I was made to almost not like the character played by "Gong Yoo" because of how deeply hurt he is from a past incident. While some of his actions are not clear, his fear of the Chandelier in his mansion was very clear and it was so sickly to watch his past replay again because of his wrong choice in marriage before the contract.
"Seo Hyeon-jin" had me on a roller coaster with her role, she is a romantic on one side and a dull perfect wife on the other side. Her contract with fifth and last client (Gong Yoo) felt forced and too perfect at first but it got exciting from when she found out it was all staged by his divorced wife to satisfy her love for being in charge over her man.
I think this series has two villains and the first is the former wife "Jung Yun-Ha whose reason for doing all she did made no sense to me. She got jealous at first, started to erase everything about her rival who isn't even aware she is one, she lost a child she purposefully tried to kill and she feels her man needs to be punished for everything.
The story shares a darker side of what jealousy and unsettled past can cause, even though Jung Yun-Ha tried to make up for all she did, I still didn't find her character appealing but it was a great end for all of us as her actions brought together, two hearts that were meant to be. I got pissed at Seo Hyeon-jin for holding unto a past.
The second and most annoying villain "Kim Don-won", a stalker of Seo Hyeon-jin with no history of why he started stalking her. I got a hunt that he was once a husband she had to make contract with and he didn't want to let go but it could have been stated more clearly than it was. He kinda really messed up the story in my own opinion.
And another aspect of the story is the unnecessary screenplay they gave the other characters especially the couple who were not in any form of contract and had two kids that the mother is tired of caring for. It just kinda makes marriage seem impossible and uninteresting if it is not staged or contracted which is not cool.
And then, there is also "The Trunk" itself in the story, a well designed box-like trunk that is said to cost a fortune. Honestly, I didn't get the idea of the trunk they were trying to portray in the story, it is said to be given to the lady who goes on a contract marriage from the company she works for, but of what essence? I didn't get it till the end.
Overall, I enjoyed the series and just a warning, it has some intense adult scenes so it's not advised to be seen by children lol. A good ending to keep viewers imagining, no comedy but not boring to see, some satisfying scenes and lessons to learn from keeping too much to oneself. It's a good story, you should check it out.
Other images are screenshots from the movie
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I wanted to start watching the drama at the beginning, but I decided not to watch when I heard the stalker is also a villain with no history. In recent times, I have seen a drama, and there was such a character, and it messed up the story, and it was boring and illogical.
This story didn't get boring at all, it was just not okay that the villain didn't have a history to back up his annoying actions.
In that case I will try to watch it later. I think my recent experience won't allow me to see it soon.
I haven't watched The Trunk yet -I've only come across a few intense edits on instagram -but your review gave me such a detailed look into the story and characters. It sounds a lot deeper and more emotional than I excepted, especially with Gong Yoo in such a complex role. Now I'm genuinely curious to watch it and see how everything unfolds
You should see soon, it would be worth the watch for you regardless of the little spoilers hehe.