In this week’s drama review we are talking about another Netflix production with incredible acting, a solid story, and an impressive actor line-up. Today we are talking about the first season of the drama ‘The Glory’.
Revenge and Rebirth
Written by Kim Eun-Sook, and directed by Ahn Gil-Ho, ‘The Glory’ touches on sensitive topics such as high-school violence, PTSD, power abuse and negligent parenting.
Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo) once dreamed of becoming an architect, but her dreams and life were crushed once she became the target of constant bullying and physical abuse.
Her bullies were a group of classmates who were well-off, and their privileged position led them to become bullies, who imparted physical abuse and committed crimes without any consequences.
Park Yeon-Jin (Lim Ji-Yeon), Jeon Jau-Jun (Park sung-Hoon), Lee Sa-Ra (Kim Hieora), Choi Hye-Jeong (Cha Joo-Young) and Son Myeong-O (Kim Gun-Woo), were the perpetrators of all the crimes and constant abuses, but none of them showed any remorse for their actions.
Led by Yeon-Jin, this group of friends not only bullied Dong-Eun until she became mentally unstable, but also committed many other crimes that led their victims to death.
After dropping out from school, Dong-Eun made it her life’s purpose to become Ji-Yeon, and become the nemesis of these friends until they paid for their crimes.
A New Life
Now almost forty years of age Dong-Eun has saved enough money and gathered enough information to start off her plan, in a twist of faith in her favour she encounters allies with the same purpose as her, taking justice in their own hands.
In this first part of the series, Dong-Eun faces once again her tormentors, her determination to destroy those who did her wrong is big, but some wounds never heal and she faces the pain that those memories bring at times.
While planning and executing her plan she meets Joo Yeo-jeong (Lee Do-Hyun), a brilliant man with psychological issues that are yet to be untangled. He takes an interest in her after teaching her how to play ‘Go’, and after finding out of the pain she has lived with and becomes her ally.
Acting and Plot
‘The Glory’ touches upon very sensitive topics, and the cast does an amazing job with the complexity of their characters. Song Hye-kyo takes her acting skills to the next level, and this drama is one of the best performances of her already lengthy career. The rest of the cast follows along and they pull off incredible performances that make viewers feel the emotions and root for Dong-Eun to accomplish her plan.
The next part of this drama will be out in March 2023, and we cannot wait to watch where this story will take the character and story to. In the meanwhile you can watch the first eight episodes on Netflix, and watch the trailer below.
