Netflix K-drama Reflection of You: Go Hyun-jung stars in moody melodrama heavy on style but light on story
- A mother’s inability to protect her child from being attacked by her art teacher reveals dark secrets in the latest Korean melodrama-thriller to hit Netflix
- Go Hyun-jung, Hospital Playlist’s Shin Hyun-been and Kim Su-an (Train To Busan) star in what could be a compelling mystery – what’s missing is a narrative hook
Reflection on You, a new moody melodrama from JTBC featuring Go Hyun-jung and Shin Hyun-been, opens with every mother’s worst nightmare, as a teenage daughter winds up in hospital after being beaten by none other than her teacher.
The mother in question is a successful artist but unable to protect her child and, despite clear video evidence, the school board – led by her overbearing and uncaring mother-in-law – seems unwilling to act.
This all happens a few minutes into the opening episode. As the series really begins, we see fragmentary images of what looks like a bloody crime scene – though we don’t yet know if what we’re seeing are snatches from a flashback or a terrible event yet to pass.
Though many of the elements remain the same, the focus on children and themes of possessive motherhood are downplayed somewhat in Reflection of You, which has stylised elements and more personal backstories.
