Bullet Point Review: The Beauty Inside
Published in
4 min readAug 27, 2019
- The Beauty Inside is based on the 2015 feature-length film of the same name, (which itself was based on an American internet series), where the lead character has an inexplicable disease that causes him to change into a completely different person every day.
I had watched the movie when it released and overall enjoyed it, though the ending did seem a bit unpolished to me, and when the drama adaptation was announced, needless to say, I was intrigued to how the writers would approach and present this content for a longer format. - Of course, the drama warrants some changes — the major being the tone. The original takes place as a romantic comedy, but there was a constant undertone of unease and tension and it was also shot in muted colours, and dim lighting. The drama instead goes for a fun, light-hearted premise, comprising of a bright and colourful setting. The lead of the drama is also replaced, from a shy and faceless Woo Jin to a feisty actress, named Han Se Gye (played by the brilliant Seo Hyun Jin), whose job keeps her in the spotlight, and hence, gives her face and body a value.
I particularly found this change (of the profession of the main character) quite interesting, as, in the movie, we never are shown Woo Jins’ original face, and his condition makes him resort to a work that doesn’t demand him to meet people (he runs an online furniture store), while Se Gye changes only once a month, for a week, (echoing the menstruation cycle — even her friends state how she has mood swings every time she is about to change), and chose a job that could blow out her secret any moment. There is a reason for this, as Se Gye herself expresses her anxiety that she may never return to her original self after one of her transformations, at least the world will remember her, even if she forgets herself. - To contradict her illness, or more like match it, Se Gye finds love in Seo Do Jae (Lee Min Ki with his famous deadpan stare), a chaebol with face blindness. (Get it? He can’t notice her body and face changing every month, so… they are made for each other!). Do Jae also fears that he might forget how he looks one day, and these two become closer, by sharing these mutual fears and concerns together.
- Nothing much concrete occurs in the first half of the drama, and you don’t notice it, largely thanks to the excellent chemistry between Se Gye, Eun Ho (Ahn Jae Hyeon) and Yoo Woo Mi (Moon Ji In) and between Do Jae and his secretary Tae Ri (Jeong Joo Hwan).
If you are an advert drama watcher like me, you will know where the story is headed eventually, but these characters and the banter between them keeps us engaged.
- One of the main aspects I liked about this drama, was how after a point, the story doesn’t end up only revolving around Se Gye and Do Jae. Her friends, her career is still given screentime, sometimes even more than those shared between the couple, which kept much of the second half afloat.
Also, monthly transformations meant an opportunity to see some cameos, which were as delightful to watch as it was heartbreaking, and kudos to Seo Hyun Jin for giving out some chunky parts of her character to these actors. - Seo Hyu Jin channelizes a vibe similar to Jun Ji Hyun’s character from My Love From The Star, but much warmer and relatable. The scene where she squeals when Do Jae flicks off his watch and shirt button, is adorable, especially considering that she as an actress would have seen something like this multiple times.
- The weakest link of the whole drama was the relationship between Eun Ho and Kang Sa Ra (Lee Da Hee). They worked well as individual characters but together, there was no spark. Also, there was a whole bit with a mother and her dead son, which I didn’t really understand, especially since she popped up whenever convenient to the plot, and then disappeared.
- I was really really hoping that the drama didn’t resort to the now common trope of ‘let’s fight or break up in the last few episodes to create some drama and tension troupe’, (which has now replaced ‘the make-up, break up over and over again’ trope). Even though I did understand the reason for it, I was immensely hoping it doesn’t happen.
