Anna: Extended Version (2022)

Honestly, we're all just Anna sometimes.

This drama takes us through the life of Anna wherein we discover how little lies along the way can cause irreparable damage and steal your real identity away.

The best thing I loved about this is how it started during the early part of Anna's life and continued through the years as she grew up. The highlights and important events in her life gave me a sense of the nature and development of her character and her personality and in turn, made me understand why she made the decisions she made and why she did the things she did. I'm not justifying her actions, but I do understand.

This started out really strong but I felt like it fell flat in the middle. Anna used to be this unstoppable force in the beginning and in the middle, she was just...there. It was actually something that I can make sense of. She was trying so hard and of course, there will always be that point when you get too exhausted and just don't want to try anymore. However, I don't think this circumstance was carried out in a way that the essence of the message will reach the general audience. It felt close to boring.

Everything kind of fell into place but the ending was unremarkable given the potential. There was this big incident in the ending and I just thought they didn't take the tension and suspense to their advantage because after that, the next events were just "meh". They actually could've ended it with that incident and it would have been exceptional, to be honest.

I know there had been a dispute over this between the director and the streaming platform that aired it but the version I've watched is the director's cut, which is the extended version, so I can't compare.

Suzy is one of my favorite Korean actresses and I do admit that she's not that phenomenal in acting but she delivered such an astounding performance in this! The shift and range in her emotions through her eyes alone, literally breathtaking! She has brought Anna to life and she did a damn good job that's why I really connected with the character. I felt her hope, her sadness, her anger, I felt Anna. The music also added colors to the story and fit the mood.

Honestly, we're all just Anna sometimes. When things don't work out no matter how hard we try, we lie a little sometimes, not only to others, but especially to ourselves. It's easier than admitting that you failed, because we are not only failing ourselves, but those who believe in us. We kept justifying the failures with lies and we kept justifying the lies brought by the failures. This drama has made me realize that if you resist and refuse to admit failure, you will never experience success. Humbling yourself and accepting that you failed is the first step to find your way to success again.

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