From left, actors Park Hae-soo, Jeon Do-yeon, Kim Go-eun, and director Lee Jung-hyo pose at a press convention and screening for the Netflix sequence “The Value of Confession” at CGV Yongsang I’Park Mall in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
3.5/5 stars
Lead forged: Jeon Do-yeon, Kim Go-eun, Park Hae-soo
Acclaimed Korean actresses Jeon Do-yeon (Crash Course in Romance) and Kim Go-eun (You and Every thing Else) face off within the dynamic small-screen thriller “The Value of Confession,” a homicide thriller balancing status and pulp with a wealth of twists.
Daring performances and punchy scripting by Kwon Jong-kwan — higher referred to as the director of Unhappy Film and Proof of Innocence — make the present a binge-worthy expertise, although persistence is required to navigate the slower, predictable first half earlier than reaching the dizzying, eyebrow-raising second act.
Jeon is An Yun-su, a free-spirited artwork instructor married to a painter and mom to a younger daughter. Her completely happy life shatters one night when she discovers her husband stabbed in his studio. He dies in her arms, leaving her grief-stricken.
Following her husband’s funeral, a darkish chapter begins as she turns into the prime suspect in his homicide.
With damning proof mounting in opposition to her, she is distributed to jail, the place she awaits trial. There, she meets inmate Mo-eun (Kim), additionally awaiting trial for poisoning an prosperous couple and lingering on the scene, against the law for which she has been dubbed the “Witch”.
Mo-eun approaches Yun-su with a harmful proposition. She is going to take the blame for the homicide of Yun-su’s husband — she has confessed to the opposite crimes already — in return for a grim favour, therefore the present title.
Kim Go-eun as accused poisoner Mo-eun in a nonetheless from “The Value of Confession.” Courtesy of Netflix
Pursuing Yun-su is police officer turned prosecutor Baek Dong-hoon (Park Hae-soo, Squid Sport season one), who turns into more and more fixated on her following Mo-eun’s confession, which he doesn’t consider.
Coming to Yun-su’s assist is her variety and idealistic new lawyer Jang Jeong-gu (Jin Seon-kyu, Aema). These and different characters increase the scope of the story as soon as Yun-su is set free on bail.
Jeon, as common, delivers a compelling flip because the mom and widow whose life takes a darkish flip. Though Dong-hoon is satisfied of her guilt, the present is much less involved with deceiving the viewers.
Whereas we doubt she murdered her husband, the stress stems from her new circumstances and her relationship with Mo-eun, and whether or not they may reshape her ethical boundaries, notably as she fights to guard her younger daughter.
Jeon Do-yeon, left, as An Yun-su, an artwork instructor accused of homicide, and Jin Solar-kyu because the lawyer Jang Jeong-gu in a nonetheless from “The Value of Confession.” Courtesy of Netflix
Extra opaque is Mo-eun, a personality who’s artful, meticulous and seemingly unhinged.
The function is a powerful showcase for Kim’s versatility as a performer. Although the essentially contrived nature of Mo-eun’s improvement strips the character of the nuance of a few of her finest roles (as in final 12 months’s romcom Love within the Massive Metropolis), it stays a magnetic efficiency.
There’s a nuanced evolution within the shifting sympathies between these very completely different girls and loads of pleasing psychological gymnastics, however “The Value of Confession” additionally provides a spread of different thematic treats.
Amongst these is the media circus that builds round Yun-su and Mo-eun, inserting uncommon stress on the attorneys and prosecutors assigned to their instances.
Park Hae-soo as prosecutor Baek Dong-hun in a nonetheless from “The Value of Confession.” Courtesy of Netflix
The sequence garnered consideration lengthy earlier than manufacturing, initially for Kwon’s buzzy script and later for its turbulent casting. Director Lee Eung-bok (Candy Residence) and stars Tune Hye-kyo (The Glory) and Han So-hee (My Title) have been initially connected, however all departed, citing scheduling or inventive variations.
But it’s now exhausting to think about the present with out leads Jeon and Kim, who each lend an aura of respectability to a narrative that from time to time skirts near being trashy enjoyable relatively than a brooding psychological thriller.
Considerably much less noticeable is the contribution of Lee Jung-hyo, the “Crash Touchdown on You” director who stepped in to take the helm.
Whereas his route is slick, the present not often excels stylistically, and the tone and pacing aren’t at all times constant. Tight procedural sections are typically undercut by incongruous melodramatic detours serving as filler.
Jeon, left, and Kim in a nonetheless from “The Value of Confession.” Courtesy of Netflix
Not each twist lands with a snap, however that’s the value you pay with a densely plotted present like “The Value of Confession” which peaks a bit of too early however stays involving from begin to end.
“The Value of Confession” is streaming on Netflix.
Learn the article at SCMP.
