Perfect Marriage Revenge (2023) - Kdrama Review
-May contain major spoilers-
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| Photo source: MBN |
Summary Ep. 1
Han Yi-Joo (Jung Yoo-Min) is a painter and the eldest daughter of Hanwool Financial Group, of which her father Han Jin-Woong (Jeon No-Min) is the chairman. She was adopted when she was a child by Lee Jung-Hye (Lee Min-Young), who ignores and mistreats her. She also has a sister, Han Yoo-Ra (Jin Ji-Hee), who, like their mother also treats her badly. Yi-Joo is married to Yoo Se-Hyuk (Oh Seung-Yoon).
Yi-Joo goes to her family house to give her mother the photorealistic family portrait she has been working on. No one is at home and while she is looking at pictures of her mother and sister together she decides to call her mother's secretary, Mr. Kim Jae-Won (Do Yu), who tells her that her mother and sister are at the VIP party and charity auction at the Han Gallery (owned by her family). Mr. Kim asks Yi-Joo if he wants him to pick her up as he also needs a document from the house. Yi-Joo tells him it's not necessary as he must be very busy and that she will bring him the document. Yi-Joo decides to take the painting with her to the gallery so she can give it to her mother. In the parking lot of the gallery, she finds her husband's car (who was ignoring her calls) and when she calls his job they tell her that he has resigned (as she is picking up his resignation letter from beside the car). She calls her mother-in-law who tells her that it must be Yi-Joo's fault that he resigned because he wants to find a better job at her dad's company so he could be acknowledged as a son-in-law.
She manages to meet with her husband (who was filming Yoo-Ra presenting a painting like a lovesick puppy) who tells her that he has something to say to her after the event and that she should not get angry Yi-Joo asks him "Why would I be angry?" and tells him that he must have a reason and she trusts him.
Yi-Joo shows the painting to her mother and sister who don't like it, her sister laughs at her and her mother tells her that since she is married they are no longer family and to get rid of the painting. Some clients see the painting and compliment, it so Jung-Hye and Yoo-Ra have no choice but to exhibit it.
Yi-Joo meets Seo Do-Guk (Sung Hoon), CEO of H-Terrier an interior designing company (the ex-job of Yi-Joo's husband) and grandson of the founder of Taeja Group, one of the most important companies in the country. Do-Guk helps Yi-Joo (who was trying to clean the side of her painting) by giving her a handkerchief and alcohol and they strike up a conversation when he tells her that the painting is amazing and that he read that "the goal of hyperrealism is to convey that no matter how realistic something looks, it's still not real".
Yoo-Ra (who is allegedly in "marriage talks" with Do-Guk) and Se-Hyuk appear and Yoo-Ra asks Do-Guk if her sister is amazing and tells him how impressed she was (Heh!). Se-Hyuk tells Yoo-Ra to stop and Yoo-Ra asks him if he even loves Yi-Joo because she heard it was Yi-Joo who confessed first. Yi-Joo says that he doesn't have to express his love for her to know because she knows from all the time they spent together.
Yoo-Ra also mocks Yi-Joo's love language and Do-Guk defends Yi-Joo by saying that she must love Mr. Yoo a lot to have painted him that handsome and is enough to make any man jealous. Yoo-Ra tries to make Do-Guk jealous by telling him that she never noticed how handsome her brother-in-law is she grabs Se-Hyuk by the arm and asks if they look better together. Se-Hyuk gets nervous and shoots hearts towards Yoo-Ra with his eyes. Yi-Joo excuses herself and goes to wash her face in the bathroom. Outside the bathroom she runs into Do-Guk who is leaving the event, she thanks him for taking good care of her husband, and he tells her she must be very naive because her husband doesn't consider her family. Yi-Joo sees Yoo-Ra and Se-Hyuk looking at her painting together and laughing.
One of the clients from before stops Yi-Joo and asks her if she can see a painting by the famous artist Sun Jin. Mr. Kim asks Yi-Joo for the document, but she tells him that she left it in her car.
At the auction, the lady wins Sun Jin's painting and exposes it as a fake. The lady says that it must have been replicated by Yi-Joo. Her mother asks Yi-Joo to take the fall for her and promises to get her a lawyer. Mr. Kim, confesses that it was all a plan by Yi-Joo and him and he has proof because all the transactions of the shell company that has the funds from the sales are in Yi-Joo's car.
As a shocked Yi-Joo is walking through the gallery, she sees her husband confessing his love to Yoo-Ra who rejects him. Yoo-Ra knew all along about her brother-in-law's feelings and says that only a dense person like her sister couldn't see his feelings for her. When Yi-Joo confronts Se-Hyuk, he gives her some divorce papers and tells her that's what he was planning to tell her after the event.
Yi-Joo runs away from the police and starts driving while crying. Her mother calls her and tells her that she should shoulder the responsibility for the family's sake. Yi-Joo gets hit by another car and later by a truck.
At the hospital, Yi-Joo is in a critical condition but conscious, her mother enters her room and disconnects her from the machines while telling her how she has hated her from the start and that Yi-Joo shouldn't have been so nice, but should have been more greedy.
Jung-Hye leaves and tells Mr. Kim to reconnect her, he does so and makes her listen to a mysterious phone call.
Yi-Joo dies as she prays to God to give her one more chance as she bitterly regrets the life she has lived.
Yi-Joo wakes up exactly a year before her fateful day and in her wrist, there is a shiny mark with the day of her death. She is going to get revenge on those who wronged her starting with her husband (who is again her fiancé) as she has to go try on wedding dresses with him. A the dress trials, she goes berserk and breaks up with Se-Hyuk while telling him that she knows that he has always been in love with Yoo-Ra. Yi-Joo decides that to get revenge on her sister she has to marry the man her sister loves, Seo Do-Guk...
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Thoughts
Perfect Marriage Revenge is a makjang with all the letters SPOILER I mean, Yoo-Ra eats a paternity test, that's over the top SPOILER END and it becomes more so towards the end. I'm chronically allergic to makjang dramas but in this case, I found it really captivating probably because it has a good pace thanks to its short length.
When I read the synopsis of this Kdrama I never thought how much I was going to like it and it even ended up becoming one of my favorite Kdramas of the year.
To be sincere, the acting had some weak spots, especially Se-Hyuk's acting, but it didn't bother me much. Jung Yoo-Min's character, Yi-Joo, is very endearing and you can't help but root for her even though at first she seems really dumb. Sung Hoon's Seo Do-Guk is the ideal male lead who does a great job protecting his wife from her awful family. I LOVED Seo Do-Guk's family (except his brother of course), especially his mom and sister. I found that Lee Min-Young overacted a lot, but I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe it's a character trait because Jung-Hye is a very scheming woman. Jin Ji-Hee portrays a mean-spirited character again (like Princess Minhwa in TMETS [Review]) and she does a great job once again. The only Kdrama I watched where Ji-Hee didn't play an awfully mean character was Schoolgirl Detectives (It's a really good drama [Review]) and she was still a bit mean, ha!
The soundtrack was good one of my favorite musical (?) moments in this drama is in episode 10 SPOILER When Yoo-Ra questions her mother to know if she was lying SPOILER END and that dramatic string music plays in the background.
I recommend this drama if you like to watch over-the-top dramas with satisfying endings. I had such a great time watching this drama that I seriously recommend it.
Rating
Acting - 6/10
Plot - 9/10
Romance - 10/10
OST - 9/10
Cinematography - 8/10
Overall Rating - 8.5/10
Extended Drama Info.
Quantity of Episodes: 12.
Run Time: 70min/each.
Release Date: October 28, 2023.
Network: MBN.
Based on: Perfect Marriage Revenge by Lee Beom-Bae.
Directed by: Oh Sang-Won.
Written by: Im Seo-Ra.
Music by: Jeong Tae-Kyung.
Starring: Jung Yoo-Min, Sung Hoon, Jin Ji-Hee, Lee Min-Young and Oh Seung-Yoon.
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