When I start meditating on romantic dramas, I don’t declare them as my favorite genre, I’m not really a fan of them, my thing are mysteries, action, blood, (Chill out girl…) complots and all that. Despite this, I appreciate a good romantic drama, where the protagonists make us sigh and delight in their love. And “The Beauty Inside” is one of those dramas that I will keep both in my mind and in my heart. I will tell you why, but first a brief account of the story.
Story
Han Se Gye is an actress of great renown and popularity, with many entanglements in her intimate life, all because of the strange phenomenon she suffers where for an entire week of each month, her body changes to a different body and a new identity. And Seo Do Jae is a fantastic man, who has everything, intelligence, physics, dreams and future as the heir of a conglomerate. Unfourtunetely, he suffers from Prosopagnosia, the inability to recognize faces, due to a car crash he had when saving an old woman.
At first glance it seems like both have two perfect lives, but the secrets they hide have caused many emotional wounds that will gradually heal over the course of their story. Their lives begin to connect, when Han Se Gye starts to cause problems to Seo Do Jae, who directs the Airline of which she is the model and that by the constant controversies that Han Se Gye has in her life is giving a bad reputation to the company. Seo Do Jae is looking for her everywhere for her to take responsibility and cancel the advertising agreement they have.
Going to the hospital where Han Se Gye is hiding, they find each other, but Seo Do Jae doesn’t recognize her because of her rare illness, he talks badly about her and she responds to his words by throwing his phone through the air. Seo Do Jae all confused goes back to his office and finds that Kaila, an important p
artner is going to cancel the agreement they had because Han Se Gye is no longer their model, and they had only accepted to work with them, since the CEO’s daughter is a loyal admirer of the actress. Although Seo Do Jae no longer wants to work with Han Se Gye, he has no choice but to give in due to Kaila’s demands, but now the problem is that the actress no longer wants to be the model of his company.
However, Seo Do Jae does not stand idly by and uses his cunning to commit Han Se Gye to continue her advertising contract. By donating $100,000 to help low-income youth in Han Se Gye’s name and if she does not cooperate, he will reveal that it was all a vile lie of hers and that she used the donations only for her personal benefit. After refusing to accept, Han Se Gye has no choice but to agree and now has to travel with Seo Do Jae on his business trips.
In the course of their working relationship, both begin to realize the secrets they hide from the outside world and begin a struggle to manipulate and destroy the other. The big problem is that at every step they take, they come closer to each other’s secret, their lives intertwine and love between them begins to emerge.
Review
“The Beauty Inside” was the drama that lead Mondays and Tuesdays nights on private networks, and one of the most sought-after and commented dramas in recent months. Why did this happen? was it only for its two protagonists, Seo Hyun Jin, and Lee Min Ki? let’s talk about this now.
When we want to see a good romantic drama, what do we look for? let’s think a little… an entertaining story with a good plot, an unique chemistry between the protagonists, good performances by most of the cast and an excellent soundtrack. Maybe you have other requirements, that I invite you to comment, but let’s start from these.
The story of “The Beauty Inside” called my attention from the beginning, based on the adaptation of the film “The Beauty Inside” which in return is based on the book “Every Day” by David Levithan. In addition, the changes that were made with respect of the film on the phenomenon of Han Se Gye and the change in her role, in my opinion gave a good touch of originality to the drama.
The story, in general, was very entertaining, the comedy was well managed and the two personalities and past full of scars of the two main characters, developed well, there was no loose end, except for the possible cure of Han Se Gye’s illness, that we will discuss later.
Although the two protagonists were covered to the fullest, it did not happen the same with the supporting couple of Lee Da Hee and Ahn Jae Hyun. One of the biggest mistakes of the drama and my greatest disappointment. Because a couple made up of a stunning woman, heir to a conglomerate and a beautiful and kind man who wants to be a priest needs a broad development, it is not enough just a few scenes in which they appear, you need a complete development of this story and this did not happen at all. Although I know that it was a support couple, it was a way too interesting one.
Despite this, the story kept me hooked to the screen and much of this is due to Seo Hyun Jin (Han Se Gye) and Lee Min Ki (Seo Do Jae).
Let’s start with the lady. We cannot demand more of her, she gave us a role for the memory, which has certainly increased her popularity among the public. Seo Hyun Jin was that reckless, seductive woman, with a certain impertinence and strong personality, who in turn had moments of tenderness, kindness, and fragility, which made us love her character.
Lee Min Ki, being as serious and gallant as ever, didn’t go wrong. At first, it seemed to be very cold but then his character mature and changed along with the story, giving the public good scenes, especially when Seo Hyun Jin was close. The chemistry between them was fantastic, it was obvious even when the camera was turned off (we have videos that prove that!), one of my favorite couples of the year. In all the drama they made hearts sprout in the air and at the same time draw tears from their breakage. The popularity of the drama skyrocketed every time they met and in the end, they stole the show.
On the other hand there are Lee Da Hee (Kang Sa Ra) and Ahn Jae Hyun (Ryu Eun Ho), although they didn’t have so many minutes on screen, every time they did, they gave new vibes to the story.
Kang Sa Ra who at first looked like the villain of this story, with each scene on screen shook the audience. Her clothes, character, personality, appearance, were worthy of a strong woman capable of dominating the world if was she set out to do so. But in her insides, she only longed to be loved in the purest and most tender way that only Ryu Eun Ho could do. Ahn Jae Hyun is a very beautiful man, whose performance compared to that of the other three protagonists is the weakest, but in spite of this, with time he improved much in the quality of his performance.
A very good aspect of this drama is that it had a good cast and quality performances from all the cast, even support characters. Where I’d like to highlight Moon Ji In as Yoo Woo Mi and Lee Tae Ri as Jung Joo Hwan, Han Se Gye’s manager, and Seo Do Jae’s assistant and right-hand man. They always showed up when they had to be there and gave their friends the support they needed.
Another supporting actress who stood out for her performance was Nah Young Hee, playing Han Se Gye’s mother Im Jung Yeon. This very experienced actress only appeared a few times and managed to hook the audience anyway. her character gave us one of the saddest and most heartbreaking scenes of the whole drama as she acted out her illness and later death.
One of the chapters I liked the most even though it was sad. Not only did it have the good performances of Young Hee and Hyun Jin, it also had the special appearance of Ra Mi Ran and her performance as Han Se Gye. This woman barely spoke during her apparition, but managed to convey that suffering by not being able to be at her mother’s side at the last moment of her life. Ra Mi Ran was even very careful to add to her performance certain features that Seo Hyun Jin had already given to the character. Both Ra Mi Ran and Kim Min Suk, in his role of youthful gallant, were among the best cameos the drama had.
Of course, not all the performances were excellent, and this is where Ryu Hwa Young comes in and the one who was supposed to be the villain of this story, the actress Chae Yoo Ra. She was a character that had to cause many inconveniences to Han Se Gye by discovering her secret and also being her worthy rival, but that never happened. When she appeared on stage that rivalry is non-existent, there is no point of comparison between them, I’m not saying that Ryu Hwa Young is a bad actress, I’m just saying that this role was not good for her at all. So much so, that I don’t know if they took her off the stage on purpose, but when they did it was the best choice
Now the end, the end of the stories are very important, and according to what happens it can change the reputation of the drama. The end of “The Beauty Inside” doesn’t fascinate me but I don’t dislike it either, the final complications presented by the drama were solved in a flash, with respect to Seo Do Jae’s disease and even Se Gye’s decision to stay away from him because she was the culprit of Do Jae’s accident, it was so selfish on her part, she did have a reason to feel bad about herself but she never stopped to listen or even think about what he felt, the man of her life, who helped her heal internally and accept herself.
In spite of everything, I loved the moments they spent together after their breakup. there were scenes loaded with an intense and tender love with fantastic scenes and the final climax. Se Gye’s acceptance that she was the person who had to suffer that rare event, which made her a better person. I’m so glad they didn’t made up something about why Han Se Gye was no longer changing body so quickly, it was a good choice to leave it to fate.
On the other hand, the scene in which Kang Sa Ra is finally presented herself to Ryu Eun Ho’s parents was great and showing us a little more about how this romance had progressed, was perfect for the drama. I hope to see Lee Da Hee in a leading role soon.
Last but not least, the soundtrack, one of the elements that I appreciate most in dramas and particularly in romantic dramas. “The Beauty Inside” OST, gave the special climax that every drama needs in their scenes. “The Beauty Inside” OST has songs like The Beauty Inside – Vincent [With Zmorro], Fall In Love– Davichi, Goodbye – Wendy (Red Velvet), among other songs that are beautiful and gave the drama it’s final touch if you wish to listen to it. Here’s the Link.
