Little Women (2022)
Quick Take: Little Women (2022) starring Kim Go-eun, Nam Ji-hun, Park Ji-hoo, and Wi Ha-joon. 8.5/10. 12 episodes, 77 minutes each.
Synopsis: Three sisters are left on their own by their irresponsible parents. The two older ones are working; the youngest one, a talented artist, is still in school. A rich family bribes Oh In-hye, the youngest sister, to let her painting be passed off as their daughter’s work, and then they’d pay for both girls to go to art school abroad. The father of the rich family is running for public office, and he’s evil; the mother of the rich family has a tree in the basement that grows deadly orchids, and she’s even more evil. There’s embezzled money that’s gone missing, dark dealings going back to the Viet Nam War, and then Wi Ha-joon turns up to help only he may be evil, too. Take notes.
Review: Any similarity between this drama and the famous novel is entirely accidental. Bags full of cash, murder, and evil plots going back fifty years are all pretty standard stuff, but once I got confused I never was able to straighten this plot back out. Watch for the lovely surprise cameo in the shoe store! And take notes.
Rewatchable - 2, Compelling - 2, Plot/ Story/Writing - 8, Acting/Casting - 10, Production - 10, Bonus - 2. The main cast members tried really hard to make this work.
Notes:
Kim Go-eun
lived in China for 10 years, ages 3 to 13, and is fluent in Mandarin. In her first film, A Muse (2012) she played the lead role, but took a hiatus from acting to finish university. She has been active in films and dramas since 2014, most notably Cheese in the Trap (2016), Guardian: The Great and Lonely God (2016), The King: Eternal Monarch (2020), and Yumi’s Cells (2021).
Nam Ji-hun
successfully transitioned from a career as a child actress to lead roles. See her also in Suspicious Partner (2017), 100 Days My Prince (2018), and The Witch’s Diner (2021).
Park Ji-hoo
starred in the indie film House of Hummingbird (2018) as the 14-year-old protagonist and also starred in the popular Netflix zombie series All of Us Are Dead (2022). She won Best New Actress awards for both.
Wi Ha-joon
was born on the island of Soando, where his family runs an abalone farm. When he moved to Seoul at age 18, he had to learn the Seoul dialect. See him also in Something in the Rain (2018), Romance is a Bonus Book (2019), 18 Again (2020), Bad and Crazy (2021), Squid Game (2021), Gyeongseong Creature (2023), and The Worst Evil (2023).