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[Ishani's Picks] Shin Hyun-been & Go Hyun-jung's "Reflection Of You" Is The Revenge Thriller We've Been Waiting For And Here's Why You Shouldn't Miss It

The second half of 2021 is looking extremely promising in terms of new content such as films, dramas, variety shows and more. One such drama that recently began broadcast and is streaming worldwide through Netflix is "Reflection of You", starring Shin Hyun-been, Go Hyun-jung, Choi Won-young and Kim Jae-young in the leading roles.

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"Reflection of You" is a revenge thriller where the story revolves around a middle aged woman Hee-joo, who begins painting as a way to provide catharsis to the loneliness that haunts her even when she's not alone. She meets a bright-eyed art student bubbling with life, Goo Hae-won (or Han-na as she knows her), who teaches her how to paint but most importantly, gives her purpose for the first time in her life. Years later, Hee-joo is an established painter with no trace of Hae-won in her life.

Spoiler Alert!

The narrative starts in medias res. Hee-joo's daughter has been punished corporally at her school for disrespecting her art teacher, who slapped her to the point of rupturing her ear drum. She meets the teacher the next day to discuss the situation and ends up assaulting her out of provocation. As the teacher walks out, she's reminded of the young woman she once befriended. Something tells her to check her records and she finds out that it's a woman named Goo Hae-won with completely different specifications than Han-na. However, a chain of circumstances lead her to doubt Hae-won's true identity. Paranoia creeps into her head and renders her hysteric as she struggles with the fact that Han-na might have returned and things come to a head when Goo Hae-won shows up to her doorstep and introduces herself as her long-lost acquaintance Han-na. There's a fear in Hee-joo's eyes that betrays her past: something must have gone terribly wrong.

"Reflection of You" is so brilliantly paced that it will leave you at the edge of your seat for hours on end as you anticipate the slightest developments. Each character, no matter how insignificant they seem, holds a deep mystery behind their amicable and often even evidently hostile facade. Right from Hee-joo's daughter Ri-sa to her husband Ahn Hyeon-seong, there's a world of secrets being kept from Hee-joo.

Despite being on the receiving end of Goo Hae-won's rage, Ri-sa keeps mum about why she got punished. At the same time, Hyeon-seong has secretly been keeping an eye on an almost comatose patient in Ireland, who we later find out is Goo Hae-won's husband.

There are obvious implications of severe betrayal between Hae-won and Hee-joo, with the latter having an affair with Hae-won's fiance (and in all likelihood, birthing his child), imitating her work and perhaps even stealing it. As a matter of fact, Hee-joo seems to have completely stolen Hae-won's life from her, right from her lover to her talent. It will be interesting to see how Hae-won reclaims her power and her future and Hee-joo confronts her past.

Needless to say, Shin Hyun-been and Go Hyun-jung are marvellous in their characters, embodying their mystery to the fullest. Shin Hyun-been is masterful in expressing the storm that is brewing inside Hae-won while retaining the calm of a tiger stalking their prey. On the other hand, Go Hyun-jung could not have been more convincing as chaos personified.

From the writing (original novel by Jung So-hyeon, adapted to screenplay by Yoo Bo-ra) to the cinematography, "Reflection of You" is nothing short of a masterpiece. After all, it is art's purpose to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable and that is exactly what is epitomised through this drama about art, revenge and blood.

If you haven't started watching "Reflection of You" yet, catch it on Netflix every Wednesday and Thursday alongside its broadcast in South Korea on JTBC at 22:30 KST. Don't forget to share your thoughts in the comments down below!

By Ishani Sarkar.

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"Reflection of You" is directed by Lim Hyeon-wook, written by Yoo Bo-ra, and features Go Hyun-jung, Shin Hyun-been, Choi Won-young, Kim Jae-young, Kim Bo-yeon, Shin Dong-wook. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2021/10/13~Now airing, Wed, Thu 22:30 on jTBC.

 

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