Review – Secret

This is one of those old school melodramas that just punches you in the face repeatedly and you ask for more while weeping.  Talk about some sad, twisted fates.  I adored it.  Soap opera galore!  Stories about guilt are always fascinating – especially when you find an actor who can really pull it off.  But guilt mixed with remorse mixed with sheer desperate drive to push forward despite it all?  That’s the second male lead.  His performance wore me out.  He’s truly unlikable in every way, so of course I found him mesmerizing as a character study.  I do love my wretches.  Damn, he was damned.

Plot in a nutshell:  After an unfortunate accident, a young woman takes the blame for a hit and run accident, even though it was her boyfriend who was responsible.  Her boyfriend quickly, ruthlessly, abandons her to pursue his own career and ambitions while she rots away in prison with their child (oh yeah, you can have babies and keep them in Korean prisons, apparently!)  At the same time, the lover of the woman who was killed in the hit and run goes on his own quest for vengeance against them both, further complicating their already complicated lives.

This drama is drowning yourself in a bucket of sorrow waiting for that one redeeming moment… and it does come, but geesh… you’ll be swallowing that gallon of tears and human suffering for a long, long time.  You have to be in the mood for this kind of drama.  It’s awesome… but it’s also uber melodrama.  If you are in the mood for a classic melodrama – look no further.  Melodramas can provide some of the most intense emotions you can ever imagine, but they can also drain you dry like a vampire.  You have to be prepared going in.

I liked the main couple, and their romance was awesome and different… but I wouldn’t exactly call it a comfortable ride.  Think of the worst things that could come between you and your lover – that is what these people have between them.  It’s harsh.  And it’s wonderful.  IF YOU ARE IN THE MOOD.  If you are… it’s like crack cocaine.  If you’re not in the mood for melodrama, don’t even bother.

Overall Rating – 8/10.  Being Responsible For Your Own Messed Up Life Is Ample Melodrama, Don’t Add Someone Else’s.