Lies Hidden in My Garden (2023)

Lies, deceit, murder and two broken women on a mission.

I may spend 360 days out of an year complaining about draggy dramas that are slow paced and bore me to death but when the weather hits just right and the sun goes down and I am in a certain type of mood, I spend the remaining five days seeking slow burn, dark, art house kind of movies and shows that feed my soul.

The thing with dramas like this is though that they bank heavily on two things: atmosphere and characters. It’s less about what is happening and more on why it is and the psyche behind it. If done well, they can give you a delicious little mental workout while thoroughly creeping you out.

“Lies hidden in my garden” absolutely nails the atmosphere. It delivers on the eeriness, the creep under your skin kind of horror and creates a perfectly unsettling and disturbing mood.

I absolutely love the camera work in this show. Some of the shots are truly stunning cause of how beautifully they overstate or understate events in the drama.

My particular favourite is when a character has this great revelation and the camera takes a 180 degree tilt and it’s almost like you can feel the character’s world turning on its axis.

So absolutely gorgeous cinematography coupled with a decent music score that highlights the underlying tension of the show.

Now, come the characters. I don’t know what it says about me that my choice for the best and most dynamic character in The Glory was Lim Ji yeon’s bully. 💀 I thought she slayed the role and so, it’s no secret that I picked this show up for her.

Her character here, is again not a very likeable one. She is an extremely broken woman, a victim of domestic violence, pregnant, broke with a sick mother and a burdensome brother to deal with, who is as greedy as she is volatile and as helpless as she is tragic.

LJY steals the spotlight as she flits over her various emotions and I think she delivered the complexities of her character fairly well.

The other most promising character is of the husband- the chilling, absolutely terrifying motherfucker who gaslights and lies as a passion. The actor killed the role and proved to be a very promising villain.

Now, here comes the elephant in the room- Kim Tae Hee and her character with an awful lotta screen time. KTH is a talentless and weak actress who has built a career on face value and it shows. My words are harsh but they are true. She is very uninteresting to watch on screen and gives life to a character that’s inconsistent and hard to empathise with because of how dumb she is.

Just because of her existence, the show loses its edge and brings down its standard.

Other than that, the writing of the show is nothing to sing home about. While the suspense element is done pretty well, the twists are hardly things you can’t see coming. Moreover, some plot lines/characters are introduced only to never be properly explored, making scenes with them just pointless and leading nowhere.

It’s like you understand what the writer wanted to achieve but they didn’t do a very good job doing it.

So, overall It’s an okay-ish show that you can enjoy only when you are in a certain mood. Good thing that it caught me at the right time so I did enjoy it but in good conscience cannot praise it for the quality.

Honestly, I think shows like Anna and movies like Burning and Voice of silence are better alternatives for this show. They’ll give you the same mood and take up less time.

So that’s that.

Enjoy!

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High expectations, but it was a letdown........

The trailer seems promising, but this drama's got some loopholes and it was a letdown. The suspense wasn't there, and it wasn't thrilling. I got bored after watching ep 3 onwards. There were a lot of boring dialogue and fillers. The drama could have been better if the script was better. I didn't understand why the need for the neighbor's character when she didn't do anything major in the drama, or no major explanation for the high school girl that got murdered. Or what's with the husband and his relationship with the high school girl. Also, no explanation for why the sister's dead. Like did she get killed or was she died by suicide? There were so many missing things and loopholes. It was disappointing.

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"나도 계속 살아가도 돼요?"

🔸️With its lurid intro you'd expect the drama to be mysterious, but its quietness turns out to be lifeless, not menacing as it was intended. There is very little to question in the first episodes. The house starts to smell rotten, literally and metaphorically, and the husband acts overly caring for his wife, pushing to take her depression pills. You'd think he has something to do with the smell, maybe he has buried someone in that garden. Guess what? You're totally right, and that's not even a spoiler. Everything plays out just like any other dark thriller about rich people and their skeletons in the closet.

🔸️A lot of viewers didn't bother to watch till the end where we finally get a glimpse on Sang Eun and Joo Ran's relationships. They weren't a mystery but a mess throughout the whole drama with the two women just walking around like zombies and emotionlessly throwing words at each other. How was Joo Ran "not herself" in the beginning? Did she believe her manipulative husband? No. Did she not try to find the truth? No.

I wish we could untangle the lies of emotional abuse as the story goes and cheer for the women to break free of those bonds. Unfortunately, there is nothing to untangle. Everything is as clear as a day for them and for us, therefore worthless.

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Exquisite House Painted Eerie

Absolutely fantastic slow burn dark psychological thriller with mindboggling twists and turns. Although i didnt liked how it was too slow but the engagement with this show was always 100% from my side. And final episode was worth all the build up.


PLOT -


This was the journey of two such fascinating and psychologically disturbed ladies who together crossed the dark tunnel and finally when they came out, a bright sun was waiting for them. Both the ladies suffered from day one to day end and atlast they got a beautiful end.


BEST EPISODES -


First 2 episodes were quite eerie and creepy. Afterwards it successfully transforms into a suspenseful thriller. Fifth and final was my personal favourite episode. They had great twists and turns one after another.


SPOILER -


The husbands atlast got punished for all their sins and crimes by the hands of their wives whom they use to treat awfully.


ACTING -


The acting and direction was excellent. Lim Ji Yeon was the star of the show. Her character and acting both was very complex and remorseful. Kim Tae Hee also did very well. She performed this character with class. Kim Sung Oh as the main antagonist was an outstanding performer. His presence was chilling and ominous. The teenage actor Cha Sung Jae also did very well. Special mention to Choi Jae Rim whose limited screen presence was also immensely impactful.


CINEMATOGRAPHY -


The show was supremely cinematic and visually appealing. Every angle, color grading, color scheming, cinematography and filtering was hauntingly mesmerising.


BACKGROUND MUSIC & SCORES


This was quite a bgmless show but the hauntingly beautiful "Night" OST sung by JUNIEL perfectly matched with the drama


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Overall this is clearly a binge material. Dont miss this gem. Watch but with patience. Totally a delight for psychological suspense thriller fans.

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The eerie journey of two women striving to live as their true selves.

Moon Jooran's seemingly perfect life started crumbling down because of a stench coming from the backyard. This suspenseful thriller will then revolve around the reason of that smell. Moon Jooran ends up discovering throughout the show that she has been too weak of a person and has turned a blind eye on many details that could've saved the victim, her son, and herself.
Chu Sangeun's life has been hell on earth. She's beaten by her husband, she's poor and her family can't be deemed as one.

Although both of these women come from contrasting backgrounds, they have a similar marital pattern. Both of them have an awful husband: one's husband is openly a jerk, and one's husband is a sly jerk. We'll see how these women will handle them and bring them to their demise.

What I liked in this show:

- Casting -

Let's be honest, I think most of us started watching this drama because of the insane cast. Kim Taehee's first work after many years, Lim Jiyeon's "TaeHyeJi" collection, Kim Sungoh and Choi Jaerim who are outstanding actors. The casting was perfect, they embodied their role with brio.

- Cinematography -

There has been a very few dramas where the cinematography got me dazzled. It felt like I was watching a very long movie. I got Parasite vibes. The shots were all so well-made and suit the vibe of the drama.

- OSTs & BGMs -

Listening to the opening alone captivated me and got me invested. Music plays an important role and can itself stop me from focusing on the show. Kudos to the composer and everybody who contributed to the soundtracks, they did great.

- The last episode -

The last episode, especially the ending, was satisfying to me. Jaeho's only way to atone for his sin was to perish six feet under. What he did is unforgivable, regardless of the reason. He is a very selfish person and hides behind that perfect fatherly image to get away with his horrendous acts. We FINALLY managed to see in the last episode both ladies helping each other out to both be freed from that suffocating life of theirs. At the end, both ladies manage to live as their true selves. Sangeun is finally smiling and living, I'm happy for her, she lived a hard life. Jooran on the other hand lives with her son and stopped being cooped up in her house. She is no longer a weak mom, and I am proud of her for trying so hard to become stronger for her son's sake but especially for her sake.

What I didn't like in this show:

- The pace -

It was slow, incredibly slow. Not a captivating type of slow, a boring type of slow. I had to put a 2.0x speed during some scenes, which is something I never do. The long pauses between lines are good since it's a thriller, but doing it in every single scene becomes boring. Things are then not moving, it felt like we were going back to square one countless of times and it felt like everything that we watched until now was a waste of time.

- Many plot-holes -

The drama left many unanswered questions to us. Who killed Jooran's sister? Why? Was Soomin really pregnant? What happened between Sangeun and her mom? Why would Jooran still live in that house where many atrocities happened?
Many plot-holes and I really hate when this happens. Thankfully, this didn't negatively impact the drama since the main questions have been answered.

Overall, it's a nice watch. Make sure to fasten the pace of the scenes from time to times because you'd feel like you're just looking at pictures. Good job to all the cast and the staff for making a good drama.

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This should have been a movie instead

Let me first start off by saying this drama is absolutely stunning in terms of its cinematography. The framing and shots are akin to those from arthouse movies and was really giving off Parasite vibes. Which brings me to my next point: this really should have been a movie instead.

God damn, the pacing is simply too damn slow. Long closeups of the characters staring at each other, at the camera, at something out outside the shot etc ... i know its to build suspense and tension but it was really testing my patience. Tons of scenes that served no purpose at all, and plotlines (neighbour character and murdered sister plot) that were simply left hanging with no resolution. Pacing did Kim Tae Hee no favours as many closeups featured her one and only deer in the headlights expression that I simply couldn't stand after the 4th episode. Her character is supposed to be some sort of depressed housewife but 8 eps of her acting like she has 0 agency in her own life and using her dead sister as an excuse to mope around just got too much. I almost felt bad for her husband for having to deal with that for years. And what on earth were her actions in the last ep? like what??

By all means, Sang Eun wasn't likeable either but at least she's trying to get herself out of a shitty situation. Even though I'm not totally convinced by Lim Ji Yeon acting as a battered housewife, the way she's portrayed at least makes more sense than whatever the heck Kim Tae Hee's character is supposed to be.

And going back to the murdered sister plot - the show provided so many flashbacks of the Joo Ran seeing her sister's dead body, reacting to her son's teacher etc and the least they could do was tell us who the murderer is and give us some closure right? But no! viewers are left hanging till the very end. Neighbour woman too. So what was up with her being overly friendly and all those rumors about her possibly killing her husband?? And why does Seung Jae gravitate towards her?? It was not as if she was particularly MILF-y LOL.

The gist of this whole review is that as a drama, its artistic but unfortunately it's boring. Like pretty fucking boring for what is considered a thriller. It would have worked way better as a movie instead, and who knows, it might have become a hit like Parasite! If you're looking to de-stress after work with a good ol' fashioned thriller that's actually thrilling, this is definitely not for you. However, if you have time on your hands to analyze every frame of this drama to discern the inner motivations of the various characters, you're in luck!

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I enjoyed watching this drama

I have finished watching #LiesHiddenInMyGarden. To be honest, I'm not satisfied with the finale. The writer leaned towards a hopeful conclusion in a dark drama, making the story lack coherence. Although I enjoyed watching this drama, it does have its flaws. Such as the police's portrayal, as they always easily accept the suspect's statements. However, I would give the actors a score of 90 for their acting.

it's a dark drama. However, the writer seems to want to have a hopeful ending in the end. But she did not provide us with a reasonable explanation for all the clues she gave us. The ending of the story is dramatic but develops in an unrealistic manner.

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The goods : compelling plot, great actors , great cinematography
The bads : very slow pacing. Could’ve been a movie. Not thrilling enough.
I couldn’t understand the reasoning behind characters behavior for the life of me. Everyone suffer from severe psychological issues. I wished they went deeper into characters past so we know why they are the way they are. They tried with Joo Ran character but Im still confused. How her sister died? Was she murdered? If so who killed her? How does this effect Joo Ran? What about the highschool girl? Was she really pregnant? Why she contacted the son first? Why was she acting like that? Why was Dr.Kim a psycho ? too many un-answered questions.
I dont pay attention to OSTs so I made the score up

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A slow enticing mystery that ends on a disappointing note

If you love slow-moving mystery stories with cinematic visuals, this drama would probably catch your attention. If there is anything that could distinguish this drama from others, it would definitely be the directing style and camera work. The unusual camera angles, the entry to each scene, the dark and sometimes black and white perspective to indoor settings but the colorful charming perspective to outdoors, especially "the garden where secrets lie" were thoughtful and do serve the scenes and the story well. I won't call it beautiful but it is satisfying to watch. It also helps in sending eerie signals here and there, along with the soundtracks, although that mightn't last because of the exceedingly slow build up of events that needed more escalation at times to spice up the mystery (having only 8 episodes could make up for this though).

The performance of the three leads counts as well. The silent beauty of Joo Ran (Kim Tae Hee) who sounds like a docile housewife but still gives off a mysterious feeling that keeps her persona in question. The character of Jae Ho (Kim Sung Oh) who keeps you thinking back and forth of whether he is a faithful good or a controlling bad husband. and the sly portrayal of Sang Eun's character who sounds too pitiful but at the same time too spiteful to sympathize with, honestly, Im Ji Yeon was my favorite here although I'm not necessarily a fan. So, characters were quite well-written however not always well-developed (like her neighbor's)

The story itself is not new, it kicks off with a weird stench coming from the garden of a wealthy family's house then it digs into a possible dead body, murders and extortion but it does offer interesting themes like physical and emotional abuse and the hostility between the rich and the poor; some people even mentioned parasite and it really gives off a similar feeling at times.
All those elements kept me invested in the story and waiting for the final reveal which was rather dissatisfying.

*This part contains spoilers*
And here we go to babble about the downside of this drama, so many whys and a seriously questionable behavior of Joo ran in the finale that just wastes the potential of whatever her character was supposed to be!! why did she do what she did??? what were her true intentions? to kill her husband? to get rid of both him and sang eun? did she just change her opinion midway? no plausible answer can get to my mind and no answer comply with the final message or with how she was actually trying to save Sang Eun cause both of them could have easily got killed. I believe the writer could have conveyed the same message with a smarter and cleaner ending. That's all? no. There were some real stupid police moments all along and how come the husband was charged for Yun Boem's murder at the end when there's absolutely no evidence against him? Why is Ju ran even blamed for her sister's murder? I don't get it. I'd have also loved if there was more elaboration on the tension between Jae ho and his father and the context of him getting closer to and marrying Ju ran which would have gave us better understanding to the nature of the relation between them and how they came to that state, and guess what? there was more than enough time to reveal that.

All in all. The drama could be enjoyable for those who don't get easily frustrated by slow-burns. I would recommend it if you want to watch something a bit different in mood than most dramas, but I still can warn you of a bit underwhelming resolve.

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Slow-moving and sparse

Lies Hidden In My Garden started off on a strong note. It even had a good build-up when it came to the suspense and a couple of decent plot twists. But when you look at it by the end, you are left feeling underwhelmed.

The story begins in a luxurious home where the husband is a doctor, the wife is a house-wife and they have a teenage son. They moved from the city into a suburb because the wife is unwell due to her dealing with her sister's untimely death. One day, the wife starts to smell a strange stench which her husband denies smelling.

On the flip side, there is another wife who lives in a shabby apartment with her abusive husband. She is pregnant. Her husband decides to take her to the doctor's house one day and meets with his wife. One the way to the house, she notices a phone in her husband's car with a bejeweled floral case that he attempts to hide. On arrival, from the car, she notices that both she and the doctor's wife wear the same scarf.

The issue with the plot began when it started to drag it's heels midway. There are literal moments of silence and slow responses and just staring. The reason being, there isn't much to the story. And despite that, questions were left unanswered such as the scarves both wives wore and the doctor's wife's sister's death. Why was she killed?

The ending was not amazing though the cinematography is. But visuals alone do not make for a great drama. I feel a bit misled. Still it has it's good moments and there is character development shown with the doctor's wife. I also enjoyed the mother and son's relationship even though it wasn't explored in great detail. I also appreciated the neighbour's character and the story behind her husband's death. All the actors also portrayed their characters well and created the much needed drama.

It's an intense series yet lacking. Good for a one time watch.

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