CAUTION: This review contains minor spoilers. I won’t dive deep into every character or their storyline to avoid giving too much away. Instead, I’ll focus on the main characters while keeping the spoilers light.
I finished The Trunk and surprisingly, it was really good. I Didn’t think I was going to enjoy it based on the first episode. After the first episode, I didn’t watch again until 3 days later, because it was not making sense to me and it didn't help that Gong yoo’s character was extremely annoying. But as I continued watching the series, the storyline slowly started to fall into place, and I couldn’t wait for the next episode. This series was the perfect fusion of romance and mystery.
The Trunk is a Korean Netflix Drama starring Gong yoo as jeong-won and Seo Hyun-Jin as In Jil, about a couple that takes a year break from each other/their marriage; at the wife’s (Seo-yeon) demand, demanding that they both marrying other people. This demand was made by the wife because her husband (Jeong won) did something that made her very upset her. The arrangement was her way of continuing to control him, while seeking revenge.
At first I found Jeong-won to be extremely annoying. I guess it’s because I didn’t separate the actor from the character. I’m not used to seeing Gong yoo in this light. I’m used to Gong yoo’s character being the hero or the comedian. Ok.. wait, there was one character who did have a similar trait to jeong-won, Ki-hong from A Man and a Woman. Ki-hong had that same timid temperament, but outside of that he was a sweet guy. Jeong-won on the other hand is not only timid, he's also emotionally unstable, with no composure and frequently triggered, then he acts out on those triggers. by
Maybe if it was played by someone else, it would’ve been less irritating. But like I said earlier, as the series went on, everything fell into place and I now understand why Jeong-won is the way he is. Transforming my initial dislike in empathy.
Jeong-won's personality made me love his new wife; in-jil. In-jil was the opposite of Jeong-won. She’s patient and slow to anger. Which is the best way to interact with people you have to deal with in the real world who have Jeong-won's type of personality. You have to remain calm and eventually they will calm down… In-jil was so empathic yet, not a push over doesn’t take sh*t. She allowed noone to cross her.
The chemistry between them formed very slowly, but honestly, that made it feel stronger and healthier...
Which made Jeong-won’s ex wife furious. Yes, the ex wife—Seo-Yeon that put all of this together. Whenever Seo-yeon saw Jeong-won starting to come around or getting comfortable with in-jil, she would lose it. But the second Jeong-won was sad or angry? Oh, she was living for it. She would be elated, so elated that I swear she was getting off to his pain. Seo-yeon is a boss babe—always in control, always ten steps ahead. She runs her life like a chess game, which is good for her inside the office/business, but bringing that same energy home to her husband is what I think caused the downfall of their relationship and eventually got them in this predicament.
Visuals and Cinematography
The visuals in 'The Trunk' were stunning! The wide shots and gloominess adds to the thrill and pain of the series while capturing the beauty of the Korean landscape. I did find a flaw within the editing, I don’t know if it was just me, but I swore I saw a clash in the series at least 2 times. Don’t know what that was about..maybe it’s just all in my head like Tae-Seong.
The cinematography towards the end was ethereal, it lowkey gave me butterflies. I loved how the lighting became noticeably brighter. I’m not sure if this was intentional, but I interpreted it as a visual representation of life becoming brighter after healing. When they reunited, it felt like a scene straight out of a 2000s rom-com—the lighting, the music, the camera angles—all of it came together beautifully.
