‘The Glory’ Part 1 review: A terrific Song Hye-Kyo in a disturbing tale of bullying and revenge While scenes with graphic violence in its initial portions are hard to watch, ‘The Glory’ leaves you angry at the injustice that the protagonist faces and subsequently gratifies once the retribution begins
In a particularly disturbing scene from The Glory, Netflix’s latest original K-Drama, high school student Moon Dong-Eun (Jung Ji-So) asks her classmate and bully Park Yeon-Jin (Shin Ye-Eun) why she is being subjected to such extreme bullying. “Even if I do this, nothing will happen to me and nothing will change for you, ” retorts Yeon-Jin, as she continues inflicting violence on Dong-Eun.
The Glory is not an easy watch, nor is it a run-of-the-mill revenge thriller. Queen Bee Yeon-Jin has nothing to fear. She is rich, entitled, and leads a clique comprising four others that picks on their underprivileged classmate Dong-Eun. The group is violent beyond measure and is confident of there being no repercussions for their actions. As Dong-Eun suffers at the hands of her bullies, she’s constantly reminded that no one will protect her. The school authorities, teachers, and her mother are all a part of a system that has wholly failed her. In some way or other, everyone around her is complicit in the horrors she is subject to.
Watch A New Teaser For 'the Glory', Kdrama Starring Song Hye Kyo
Storyline: After being incessantly bullied in high school, a woman returns years later with an elaborate plan to seek revenge on her tormentors
Several K-Dramas have turned the spotlight on bullying in high schools, some more sensitively than others. In shows like the cult favourite Boys Over Flowers, the rich, entitled male lead is shown to lead a clique that often bullies their schoolmates, but we hardly delve further into this as the show progresses. Romance shows like True Beauty and My ID Is Gangnam Beauty both had their female leads bullied for their looks. More recently, gritty K-Dramas like Extracurricular, Revenge of the Others, Weak Hero Class 1, and even the zombie apocalypse thriller All of Us Are Dead, either centred around bullying or prominently featured it.
After being pushed to the edge, our protagonist in The Glory vows revenge. There’s no question of redemption here and through some extremely graphic scenes of violence and bullying, the show makes sure that the viewers are left rooting for and invested in every step of Dong-Eun’s carefully planned quest for revenge, one that has no boundaries.
Song Hye Kyo Breaks Silence About Nudity In 'the Glory'
The violence is not for the faint-hearted (viewer discretion is recommended), and there are potential triggers regarding suicide ideation, violence, and sexual assault.
Dong-Eun (Song Hye-Kyo) grows up clawing her way through physical, social, and economic hardships and positions herself at a place that she is most sure will strike fear in the heart of her chief tormentor from high school. She takes over as the homeroom teacher at Semyeng Elementary where Yeon Jin’s (Lim Ji-Yeong) young daughter is enrolled.
There’s little that has changed for the gang of bullies. If they were despicable and depraved as high schoolers, they are remorseless and unrepentant as adults. The hierarchy established within the clique owing to their social backgrounds, the ensuing jealousy, and distrust, is one of the major aspects that Dong-Eun mines while unravelling her elaborate scheme.
The Glory” Auf Netflix: Diese Fragen Muss Teil 2 Des Düsteren Rachethrillers Beantworten
Revenge dramas, like 2021’s My Name, that have a strong protagonist and engaging writing, often end up taking the predictable route. In The Glory, however, writer Kim Eun-Sook and director Ahn Gil-Ho take a disturbing, gory premise, powered by intriguing characters, all while ensuring there’s a constant sense of unease and dread that looms large. The writing dwells on the trauma that Dong-Eun is left with and how it manifests itself in her, mentally and physically. If her itchy burn scars are a reminder of the physical violence, she’s shown to have a breakdown when she hears meat sizzling and is left repulsed and shaken when she faces off with one of her bullies who sexually objectified her.
At the helm of things is Song Hye-Kyo, delivering a career-best performance as Dong-Eun. Hardened by the violence and abuse she’s faced, Dong-Eun is seemingly dead on the inside and maintains a passive, haunted exterior for the most part. There’s also the subtle manic glint in her eyes when she knows her presence is making her adversaries squirm, and the rare smiles are reserved for the seemingly endearing Jo Yeo-Jeong (Lee Do-Hyun) who is smitten by her. It is a challenging, nuanced character and one that Hye-Kyo brings alive to perfection on screen. It helps and is much more impactful that the theatrics, like when she meets her former bullies after decades, are kept to a minimum.
Largely one-note and reprehensible, the supporting cast who play the roles of the bullies have less of a challenge at hand and yet manage to give it their loathsome best. Shin Ye-Eun, who plays the high school version of Yeon-Jin, is especially terrifying. While the affable and warm Yeo-Jeong might seem like a role straight up Lee Do-Hyun’s alley, the writing throws a surprise. There’s a lot of nuance and intrigue there, and we’ve barely scratched the surface in the first eight episodes of the show.
The Glory Netflix K Drama With Song Hye Kyo Airs On 30th Dec
In this first of the two parts, The Glory effectively sets up the stakes for an intriguing, tangled tale of revenge. The eight-episode format and the length of the episodes greatly benefit the show and it is hard to miss director Ahn Gil-Ho’s expertise in keeping the viewers hooked. This is very reminiscent of his previous outing, the superbly engaging Happiness.
While the graphic violence in its initial portions is hard to watch, The Glory leaves you angry at the injustice and subsequently gratified once the retribution begins. It is going to be a long wait for the second part of the K-Drama, which is scheduled to drop in March.'The Glory' star Song Hye-kyo says that the show's director kept telling her to 'act even crazier' when her character is 'declaring war' on her old bullies
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The Glory Star Song Hye Kyo Wins Her First Best Actress Prize At Baeksang Arts Awards, Latest Tv News
The Glory star Song Hye-kyo said that, during one scene in The Glory, she was continuously told to act even crazier until she reached a level that the director found appropriate.
The Glory follows Moon Dong-eun (played by Song), a woman who resolves to take revenge on her childhood bullies through a painstakingly planned, multi-year plan. In the show's third episode, Dong-eun confronts her old bullies in the same school gymnasium where they repeatedly assaulted her years prior.
In a Netflix Korea commentary video, Song and screenwriter Kim Eun-sook reflected on the scene, which Kim called horrifying and said Dong-eun was basically declaring war.
The Glory' Starring Song Hye Kyo, Lee Do Hyun To Stream On Netflix Soon
When we were filming that, I wasn't sure how much she was expecting, Song said, referring to Kim. I wasn't sure how far I should go, but the script said... I'm not sure if I can say this, but it said I should act like a crazy bitch.
In the scene, the group of bullies gathers at their old school to celebrate the group's ringleader, weathercaster Park Yeon-jin (Lim Ji-yeon), who is receiving an alumni award. Dong-eun confronts them before the ceremony, and unnervingly claps and cheers for Yeon-jin when she receives the award while the rest of the audience is silent.
I had in my mind how crazy I should be, so we did one take of it, but then, Director An came and said, 'Act even crazier, ' Song said, referring to director and producer An Gil-ho. So I think the intensity kept going up.