Marriage Contract

The summery of this one is deceptive as it tells the story of a poor girl marrying a rich guy.

In actuality this series focuses on the characters misery with lingering shots on each actor as they cry (not the sexy Hollywood cry with just tears, these are full blown wails with chest beating and voice getting choked in your throat cries) throw tantrums and lash out at each other with every ounce of venom they can muster.

The plot is pretty basic and story wise there isn't much beyond what's in the summery however each actor, even minor roles that were given nothing, make their part feel more like a real human than a character on screen.

This drama has the best child actors I've seen in any series Korean or otherwise in the role of Eun-Sung. She was amazing and should be included as a main role herself.

I can't recommend this one easily as it aims to break your heart and is the first korean drama I've seen with a devastatingly sad ending. More so because they got you to care about these characters each and every single one. Watch with a big pint of ice cream and a box of tissues on stand by!

I'll not write a consistent summary, this can be found on Asianwiki. I'll write why I rated 10, why I like this, what I found great in the filming technique and acting. There are at least three main characters: Ji Hoon who wants to save his mother by a deadly liver disease; Hye-Soo a single mother who want to be a transplant donor, she herself find to be very ill; Hye-Soo's little daughter Eun-Sung who is truly adorable at only seven years old .

First, I like the pace of film, well balanced. Secondly, in this drama are a few scenes filmed from many angles, I like enormous that is not a lazy filming technique. And so many well framed scenes: bedtime late conversation between mother and daughter, some wonderful hand grips, a few nice hugs, the harsh conversations of the main characters with Ji-Hoon's father, an amazing godfather, literally. Thirdly and the most importance for me is Eun-Sung's acting (actress Shin Rin-Ah): I'm in awe how the filming team managed a child, clever indeed, to perform a lot of brilliant scenes, to sustain long dialogues. She is the cherry on the cake, without her all drama is void. I emphasize again, I'm enchanted how the crew ,director, writer, managed to highlight the girl. I feel and that good chemistry between mother and girl; praises for this to actress Uee.

I don't usually watch films that are very sad but this one was different . Make no mistake I cried almost every episode but it was also very heartwarming and so well acted with messages of such selfless love through adversity. The main actress was brilliant so much so that you forgot she was acting and her daughter was just adorable. Loved the character progression and glimpse into life in Korea. Very different to Hollywood programs/films and found myself thinking about it for weeks after watching. Truly touched my heart.

This was my first Korean drama and I binged it in one weekend. Although it's quite lengthy sometimes you get quickly attached to the 2 main characters and how the cold hearted playboy falls for those 2 ladies. I was so eager to see how things were going to unfold given the fact that we learn the leading lady had a terminal illness from the get go. Lovely story and the little girl gives an awesome performance.

I loved this drama but it was also very frustrating as someone who is not familiar with Korean culture. Lots of deep pauses and politeness and nobody really responded to questions put to them out of politeness/ respect. Imagine the difference if people just communicated directly. I'm not convinced the subtitles were 100% accurate either, which probably didn't help- some of the lines seemed callous but I wasn't sure if this is Korean humour to use insults to deflect their emotions or bad translation.

Despite the frustrations, got absolutely hooked and very attached to the characters especially the little girl, who deserves all the awards possible. In fact all the actors were brilliant and their roles were very genuine. Was expecting more from the ending, it kind of just finished.