REVIEW 'The Price of Confession': Jeon Do-yeon, Kim Go-eun in prestige pulp
From left, actors Park Hae-soo, Jeon Do-yeon, Kim Go-eun, and director Lee Jung-hyo pose at a press conference and screening for the Netflix series "The Price of Confession" at CGV Yongsang I'Park Mall in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
3.5/5 stars
Lead cast: Jeon Do-yeon, Kim Go-eun, Park Hae-soo
Acclaimed Korean actresses Jeon Do-yeon (Crash Course in Romance) and Kim Go-eun (You and Everything Else) face off in the dynamic small-screen thriller "The Price of Confession," a murder mystery balancing prestige and pulp with a wealth of twists.
Bold performances and punchy scripting by Kwon Jong-kwan — better known as the director of Sad Movie and Proof of Innocence — make the show a binge-worthy experience, though patience is required to navigate the slower, predictable first half before reaching the dizzying, eyebrow-raising second act.
Jeon is An Yun-su, a free-spirited art teacher married to a painter and mother to a young daughter. Her happy life shatters one evening when she discovers her husband stabbed in his studio. He dies in her arms, leaving her grief-stricken.
Following her husband's funeral, a dark chapter begins as she becomes the prime suspect in his murder.
With damning evidence mounting against her, she is sent to prison, where she awaits trial. There, she meets inmate Mo-eun (Kim), also awaiting trial for poisoning an affluent couple and lingering at the scene, a crime for which she has been dubbed the "Witch".
Mo-eun approaches Yun-su with a dangerous proposition. She will take the blame for the murder of Yun-su's husband — she has confessed to the other crimes already — in return for a grim favour, hence the show title.
Kim Go-eun as accused poisoner Mo-eun in a still from "The Price of Confession." Courtesy of Netflix
Pursuing Yun-su is police officer turned prosecutor Baek Dong-hoon (Park Hae-soo, Squid Game season one), who becomes increasingly fixated on her following Mo-eun's confession, which he does not believe.
Coming to Yun-su's aid is her kind and idealistic new lawyer Jang Jeong-gu (Jin Seon-kyu, Aema). These and other characters expand the scope of the story once Yun-su is let out on bail.
Jeon, as usual, delivers a compelling turn as the mother and widow whose life takes a dark turn. Although Dong-hoon is convinced of her guilt, the show is less concerned with deceiving the audience.
While we doubt she murdered her husband, the tension stems from her new circumstances and her relationship with Mo-eun, and whether they could reshape her moral boundaries, particularly as she fights to protect her young daughter.
Jeon Do-yeon, left, as An Yun-su, an art teacher accused of murder, and Jin Sun-kyu as the lawyer Jang Jeong-gu in a still from "The Price of Confession." Courtesy of Netflix
More opaque is Mo-eun, a character who is crafty, meticulous and seemingly unhinged.
The role is a strong showcase for Kim's versatility as a performer. Though the necessarily contrived nature of Mo-eun's development strips the character of the nuance of some of her best roles (as in last year's romcom Love in the Big City), it remains a magnetic performance.
There is a nuanced evolution in the shifting sympathies between these very different women and plenty of pleasing psychological gymnastics, but "The Price of Confession" also offers a range of other thematic treats.
Among those is the media circus that builds around Yun-su and Mo-eun, placing unusual pressure on the lawyers and prosecutors assigned to their cases.
Park Hae-soo as prosecutor Baek Dong-hun in a still from "The Price of Confession." Courtesy of Netflix
The series garnered attention long before production, initially for Kwon's buzzy script and later for its turbulent casting. Director Lee Eung-bok (Sweet Home) and stars Song Hye-kyo (The Glory) and Han So-hee (My Name) were originally attached, but all departed, citing scheduling or creative differences.
Yet it is now hard to imagine the show without leads Jeon and Kim, who both lend an aura of respectability to a story that on occasion skirts close to being trashy fun rather than a brooding psychological thriller.
Somewhat less noticeable is the contribution of Lee Jung-hyo, the "Crash Landing on You" director who stepped in to take the helm.
While his direction is slick, the show rarely excels stylistically, and the tone and pacing are not always consistent. Tight procedural sections are sometimes undercut by incongruous melodramatic detours serving as filler.
Jeon, left, and Kim in a still from "The Price of Confession." Courtesy of Netflix
Not every twist lands with a snap, but that is the price you pay with a densely plotted show like "The Price of Confession" which peaks a little too early but remains involving from start to finish.
"The Price of Confession" is streaming on Netflix.
Read the article at SCMP.