What turns a sufferer right into a killer? Netflix’s eight-part sequence “As You Stood By” challenges viewers with this uneasy query by the harrowing journey of two girls who can now not endure a cycle of violence.
The drama follows Hui-su, performed by Lee You-mi, a once-promising youngsters’s guide creator whose life is shattered by her marriage to Noh Jin-pyo, a controlling and abusive husband, portrayed by Jang Seung-jo. He tracks her each transfer and inflicts brutal assaults, whereas his household ignores her struggling.
With nobody to assist, even police studies and escape makes an attempt fall brief. More and more determined, Hui-su is approached by her childhood pal, Eun-su, performed by Jeon So-nee, who has carried guilt after dwelling with home violence as a baby. “Let’s kill him,” Eun-su says.
Tailored from Hideo Okuda’s novel “Naomi and Kanako,” the sequence reframes the story for a Korean setting. It begins from Eun-su’s viewpoint within the first episode, then shifts to Hui-su’s within the second, revealing how they arrive at their drastic alternative. To convey Hui-su’s traumatized state, Lee You-mi misplaced weight to succeed in simply 37 kilograms in the course of the shoot.
Regardless of depicting disturbing violence, the sequence refrains from graphic imagery. “We had been cautious to not sensationalize,” mentioned director Lee Jung-lim. “I attended counseling classes twice every week and spoke with survivors. I wished to make their choice comprehensible with out triggering those that have lived by it.”
After killing Jin-pyo, the 2 girls enlist the assistance of an undocumented immigrant — additionally performed by Jang Seung-jo — to impersonate him and stage his disappearance. Surprising developments observe, accelerating the story’s rigidity.
Lee You-mi, left, as Hui-su and Lee Moo-saeng as Jin So-baek in “As You Stood By” / Courtesy of Netflix
A key supporting position is performed by Lee Moo-saeng as Jin So-baek, a meals distributor who aids the ladies. Altering this character from feminine, as within the unique novel, to male was deliberate.
“I believed there must be not less than one compassionate grownup male,” Lee mentioned. “However the girls’s company is unbroken — they’re those who push the plan ahead.”
In contrast to the unique novel, which ends in escape, the sequence concludes with the 2 girls turning themselves in. “That ending was important,” Lee mentioned. Jeon So-nee added, “Homicide is feasible solely in fiction, however inside the story, I wished to indicate Eun-su and Hui-su making the choice to reclaim their lives.”
The drama additionally exposes the cruelty of bystanders. Jin-pyo’s mom, a high-profile feminist scholar, brushes off her daughter-in-law’s bruises with, “Did you fall once more?”
His sister, a revered police officer, warns Hui-su that urgent prices dangers a false accusation go well with. In the meantime, a neighbor observing quietly from under extends silent sympathy and assist.
Jang Seung-jo portrays abusive husband Noh Jin-pyo in “As You Stood By.” Courtesy of Netflix
“Home violence is handled as a personal problem, but it surely’s a social actuality,” Lee mentioned. “The sequence invitations viewers to assume deeper about what it means to face by in silence.”
“As You Stood By” is greater than a thriller. It asks what justice seems like when the system fails — and who shares accountability when a sufferer is pushed too far.
This text from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Occasions, is translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Occasions.
