By Anika Singh ’24
Staff Writer & Web Editor
After the viral success of the Korean thriller series “Squid Game,” Netflix dropped another show in the same genre on Oct. 15 called “My Name,” a dark and gritty revenge drama that strives to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. Riddled with suspense and packed with powerful performances, “My Name” has a compelling plot filled with enough carnage and secrets for thriller enthusiasts to walk away feeling satisfied.
The show follows Yoon Ji-Woo (Han So-Hee), a high school student who enlists South Korea’s top crime boss, Choi Mu-Jin (Park Hee-Soon), to help her unearth the truth about her father’s underworld connections and avenge his recent murder. The series then details Ji-Woo’s path to joining the police department’s narcotics division as a mole for Mu-Jin. As Ji-Woo enters into the police force and maintains connections with leading figures in the police agency, she also tries to hide her true identity from her work partner, detective Jeon Pil-Do (Ahn Bo-Hyun).
“My Name” succeeds in sustaining both a dark theme of revenge and bloodshed and a fast pace, creating an air of mystery for what’s about to come next. From the first episode, the audience is given enough information about the characters and the plot of the show, all while maintaining suspense over the main question that motivates Ji-Woo’s actions — who really killed her father? This mystery creates a thrilling plot, which keeps viewers guessing about the culprit behind the murder. Having witnessed her father’s murder first hand and learning that a mysterious hooded killer carried out her father’s murder, Ji-Woo takes it upon herself to hunt them down. She searches through the crime riddled alleys of Busan, putting herself in danger. Ultimately, she asks for help from Choi Mu-Jin, who was supposedly her father’s partner in crime. Afterwards, the audience follows Ji-Woo training under Mu-Jin and his goons to enter the South Korean police force. Thus, a cat and mouse chase to find the identity of the killer is set.
Han provides a stellar performance in the role of Ji-Woo. The character’s versatility and physical agility make for a demanding role, but Han delivers consistently nonetheless. In highly emotional story beats, such as scenes regarding the death of Ji-Woo’s father, and cold-blooded drama scenes as her character navigates obstacles on her way to revenge, Han establishes command over the role. In one specific scene, Ji-Woo mercilessly beats Mu-Jin’s best goons as a part of her initiation into the gang. While she does so, it is abundantly clear that she is strongly motivated to carry on to find her father’s killer. She successfully portrays Ji-Woo’s inner conflict of trusting the mafia or the police and, through her performance, subtly obscures whether Ji-Woo should know the truth that is disguised by several people in her life, and if she should trust the information presented to her from both sides. Han excels in action scenes, too — in one specific scene, she captures Ji-Woo’s physical prowess as she fights more than 10 goons at once while raiding an illegal gambling hotspot. Han is able to express Ji-Woo’s multifaceted character while maintaining chemistry with Pil-do, even as their relationship is tested due to her false identity.
Director Kim Jin-Min uses darker color schemes, relating to the dark themes displayed within the show. The setting also reflects the show’s intensity, as the audience is exposed to the grittier, crime-ridden parts of Busan, South Korea. Whether the scenes are set in illegal gambling spots, abandoned streets or Mu-Jin’s desolate yet heavily guarded mansion, Kim skillfully brings out the tension and darkness of “My Name.”
“My Name” is a suspenseful thriller and Netflix’s hidden gem of October. Full of conviction, conflict and apprehension, viewers are in for a treat if they watch this revenge drama.