Beauty Inside (2018)
4/10
Like a car crash I couldn't look away from...
22 April 2024
The contradictions in the fantasies being sold to young girls have never been as in-your-face as they are in this K-drama. But the mesmerizing acting of Seo Hyun-jin somehow holds this hot mess together.

Her love interest is a robotic, poker-faced, rich dude who suffers from the "disease" of face blindness or prosopagnosia. Not to worry. He's found his perfect mate in the FL, who suffers from a condition that changes her into some random-looking specimen of humanity every so often-be it a child of 10 or a sore-encrusted old bald guy.

Whatever the case, folks, True Love conquers all. The most ludicrous scene in this series is the pledge of eternal love between the ML and the aforementioned bald guy. Not that bald guys aren't lovable! But even Lee Min-ki, the ML, who has serious acting chops (see his performance in BECAUSE THIS IS MY FIRST LIFE), can't bring himself to gaze enthusiastically at his newly transformed sweetheart. There's a Japanese proverb that says: "If there is love smallpox scars are as pretty as dimples." Ah! If only it were true.

The other over-the-top romance--like an impending car crash you can't look away from--is between an actor who could pass for an sweet-faced 14-year-old boy and a troubled, but fabulously rich older woman. To be fair, it's not clear how old these two are supposed to be. (In real life, they're almost the same age.)

The dialog between these two is beyond idiotic. "I'm bad, but you're good." "I love you because you're so pretty." Not since Scrooge McDuck have the rich been such an easy target. As in most K-dramas, they're all greedy and offensive. But there's hope for those who recognize True Beauty.

More than once, my suspension of disbelief was hanging by a strand over the Grand Canyon. When the FL transforms from one body to another, do her clothes change with her? The 10-year-old's duds conveniently enlarged when s/he changed back into adulthood. Not so with some of the other transformations.

The last two episodes are 90% filler. Don't waste your time.

The schmaltzy song that played over and over and OVER in the background getting louder and louder and LOUDER was enough to drive me screaming into the night.
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