Are we loved because of how we look? Or because who we are? ‘The Beauty Inside’ is a 2015 film that develops around these two questions, and leaves us with a feeling good sensation at the end.
The Beauty Inside
Written by Kim Sun-jung and Noh Kyung-hee, and directed by Baek Jong-yul, ‘The Beauty Inside’ tells the story of Woo-jin, a guy that suffers from an strange condition that makes him turn into a different person physically everyday.
He started changing faces and body on his eighteenth birthday and since then has lived a lonely life mostly accompanied by his best friend Song-beck and his mother.
Woo-jin designs and creates wooden made furniture, his company is well known for its modern and quality designs. One day while browsing in a furniture store he meets Yi-soo (Han Hyo-joo) an employee at the furniture store, he develops a crush on her and starts visiting the furniture store everyday with a new face.
He engages in small talk with Yi-soo every time he visits the shop and waits until he wakes up as a handsome man to ask her out.
Fearing that he won’t be able to see her again, Woo-jin decides to stay awake for days, hoping to be able to spend more time with her, she also starts to like him, but after he falls asleep in the subway he decides to not contact her anymore, as he doesn’t want to share his secret with her.
Yi-soo in the search for answers visits Woo-jin’s home, where she discovers his secret, and decides to take her time to accept whether she can love him and stay with him just for the person he is inside rather than how he looks.
She decides to continue her relationship with Woo-jin and the two agree in him finding her everyday by holding her hand.
Fearing to not recognise him one day and feeling anxious about their relationship, Yi-soo starts to break down to the point of taking pills for anxiety and insomnia. After a breakdown, Woo-jin finds out about Yi-soo’s situation and decides to stop seeing her and move to another country to not make her suffer.
Yi-soo’s anxiety gets better, and she spends time reflecting the reason why she loves Woo-jin. After healing and understanding that she loves him for who he is, she decides to look for him, and finds him in Czech Republic. She confesses her feelings for Woo-jin, soon after he proposes and she accepts.
In the end scene of this movie we see Yi-soo candidly embracing every single physical appearance of Woo-jin, regardless of the look, race, gender and even age.
Top Actors, Top Acting
‘The Beauty Inside’ has a lengthy list of A-list actors that take the role of Woo-jin, this list includes big names such as Yoo Yeon-seok, Park Shin-hye, Park Seo-joon, Lee Jin-wook, Seo Kang-joon, Lee Dong-wook, among many others.
I really liked how slow-paced and candid this drama was, both characters were beautifully written and portrayed. Every single actor and actress personifying Woo-jin understood the personality, feelings and life of this character.
Woo-jin’s friendship with Song-baek was absolutely adorable, these two characters supported and helped each other out, which was extremely nice to see.
Overall, ‘The Beauty Inside’ is a feel-good drama that will make some people question if they are loved for who they are or how they look. Check out the trailer below.
