After a few years I finally got myself to watch the movie adaptation of the 2016 drama ‘Cheese In The Trap’. Back when it was released in its series format this drama totally caught my eye for not having what was considered back in the day the ideal leads. It was one of the first dramas I saw touching on sensitive subjects. Let’s talk about this 2018 adaptation and its similarities with the actual series.
Let’s Eat
Directed by Kim Je-young, and written by Soonkki and Kim Juan-ah, ‘Cheese in the Trap’ tells the story of Hong Seol, a regular university student with big dreams but a tight budget.
Hong Seol (Oh Yeon-seo) works several part-time jobs to be able to pay her university fees and living expenses. She is rather introverted around people she is not comfortable with, but once she becomes close to someone she is very talkative and outgoing.
In college she meets Yoo Jung (Park Hae-Jin), a senior in the same university with a mysterious and cunning personality. He comes from a wealthy family, and tries to maintain good relationships with everyone around him.
Yoo Jung and Hong Seol did not start the relationship on a positive note, he was rather cold and slightly rude towards her, and she sensed something off about his personality.
One day Yoo Jung invites Hong Seol to eat, she decides to go with him and to her surprise she starts seeing a new side of his personality that is more likable and approachable. They both end up liking each other romantically and decide to start dating. However, his past mistakes, and mysterious events challenge their relationship.
Family and Friends
Hong Seol’s best friend and roommate Jang Bo-ra (Sandara Park) is a lovely girl who really tries to support and help her as much as needed. She stands up for herself and is not afraid of confronting people bothering her or her friends.
Yoo Jung however has a rather more complicated relationship with his family and friends. He was raised with Baek In-ho (Park Ki-Woong) and Baek In-Ha (Yu In-Young), but family issues and misunderstandings changed his relationship with In-Ho tremendously and they are more enemies now.
From In-Ha’s side, she tries to be on good terms with Yoo Jung, helping him every time he needs, even if it is for rather questionable situations. The Baek siblings also have a difficult relationship with each other, since their childhood life wasn’t easy, and as a consequence they both have grown apart.
Differences with the drama
The movie version of ‘Cheese in the Trap’, had to downsize the story tremendously to fit 16 episodes in almost 2 hours, and as viewer I have to mention that the plot for the film felt rather rushed and it missed part of the character development in the drama version.
Hong Seol’s family and friends had a bigger role in the series, and in the movie we just get interactions with her friends. Originally in the series she lives alone, however, in the film version she lives in the dorm with Bo-ra.
Yoo Jung’s relationship with his father is better perceived in the drama, and so it is his dynamics with the Baek siblings, nevertheless, his personality came off as strong as in the series, Park Hae-jin went even deeper in the character for the film adaptation.
One of the main differences is how the plot was cut short for the film, there were a lot of sub-plots that weren’t added, and as a viewer of the drama it felt as if it lacked development.
Overall, the film does give a good gist of the story, and if you haven’t watched the series, this movie would be good to be very well rounded at a plot level. You can watch the trailer below.
