JTBC, 2021, 16 episodes
Genres: psychological thriller
Written by Kim Su-jin
Directed by Shim Na-yeon
Music: Lim Min-ju
More information: Wikipédia / HanCinema
Beyond Evil – The Monsters Among Us
Originally titled "Monster," this series stands as one of the top-tier Korean TV dramas and is a particularly valuable gem for fans of psychological thrillers. It well-deservedly received recognition at the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards, winning Best Drama, Best Screenplay (Kim Su-jin), and Best Actor (Shin Ha-kyun) out of seven nominations.
The story is set in a specific location: the Munju Police Station in Gyeonggi Province and its Manyang sub-station. In the claustrophobic environment of this small town, nothing remains a secret—"someone is always watching somewhere," and everyone knows everything about everyone.
The members of the police force and the other characters of the drama are bound together by a dense web of relationships, the primary links of which are as follows:
One of our two protagonist police officers is the assistant inspector of the Manyang sub-station, Lee Dong-shik (Shin Ha-kyun). Lee persistently investigates the perpetrator of a series of murders from twenty years ago, among whose victims was his twin sister. At the time, Lee was accused, but the crime could not be proven against him. Later, he caused trouble as the leader of the Regional Investigation Unit, for which he was dismissed and demoted. Utilizing his former connections, he works tirelessly to reach the end of the old case and to find his sister's body, which was never recovered, alongside the killer. Lee is a self-willed and somewhat erratic figure who knows the laws by heart but, in reality, holds them in utter disregard. Despite his turbulent past, he commands authority among his colleagues, who close ranks in his defense. The tragedy struck Lee’s entire family: his father died, and his mother lost her mind due to the losses.
The commander of the police station is Nam Sang-bae, who has only months left until retirement and wants nothing more than to wait out his remaining time without incident. He was the detective in charge of the murders twenty years ago and feels a strong pang of conscience for accusing Dong-shik back then. Oh Ji-hoon is one of the young officers at the station, whose sister, Oh Ji-hwa, is a detective in Munju’s Violent Crimes Division. Also working at the Munju police station is Park Jeong-je (Choi Dae-hoon), who works in the General Affairs Division. This officer, who always seems slightly confused, has a strange habit: he draws portraits of everyone, but his drawings depict gentle deer with startled eyes. His mother, as a member of the Munju city council, is a frontrunner in the next mayoral election, with "Crime-Free City" as one of her campaign slogans. Appearing in her circle is a shady construction contractor, who happens to be the ex-husband of Detective Oh Ji-hwa.
Into this environment comes Han Joo-won (Yeo Jin-goo), a young detective who graduated with honors from the Seoul National University of Public Service and requested this transfer. He also has a secret: he, too, was working on solving the old serial murders, but due to a reckless solo action, the subject he used as bait disappeared. Han is an elegant, fastidious, and solitary young man—an alien element in the small-town atmosphere.
The young man’s relationship with his father, Han Gwi-han (Choi Jin-ho), who is a candidate for the position of National Commissioner, is far from cloudless. The only danger to this officer of impeccable record is his son’s blunder; therefore, he does everything to prevent it from coming to light before his inauguration. However, it is no secret to Joo-won or several of his new colleagues that the former head of the Munju Police Station was Han Gwi-han, who unexpectedly closed the serial murder case after four months. Hovering around the Commissioner is Prosecutor Kwon Hyuk (Park Ji-hoon), who seeks through his services to be treated as a family member by the commander, thereby gaining all the advantages currently enjoyed by the actual son, Joo-won.
Constant characters can also be found around the police stations. For post-work relaxation, they always gather at the restaurant of Yoo Jae-yi (Choi Sung-eun), who also operates the Manyang Butcher Shop and is searching for her own victimized relative. Constantly seen in the company of the police is a stuttering man who appears slightly disabled. It turns out that Kang Jin-mook (Lee Kyu-hoi), who runs the Manyang Supermarket, was an orphan raised by Dong-shik’s parents; thus, he frequently visits the hospital to care for the inspector’s mother. He is raising his daughter, Min-jeong (Kang Min-ah), alone, born from a brief encounter twenty years prior.
Everyone is shocked when another body is found following Detective Han's arrival, suggesting that the serial killer has returned to action after a long time. However, the possibility also arises that their interim murders simply haven't been brought to light yet.
An alternation of solidarity and suspicion accompanies every move. The two determined detectives, Dong-shik and Joo-won, are appointed as partners; consequently, they can hardly take a step without each other. Since they have both run background checks on the other, their suspicion initially falls on one another. Yet, following new twists, no character remains untouched; the shadow of suspicion falls equally on everyone. In the hunt for the presumably psychopathic perpetrator, or during periods of helplessness, we are not deprived of the tension of the thriller, which primarily stems from the fact that we, as viewers, are given no foothold as to who stands on the side of good and who on the side of evil.
No sense of relief comes when the main mystery is resolved roughly halfway through the drama, as it only spawns further questions. In the already complex web of relationships, newer connections become visible. The facts never help us, nor the two detectives, to decide whether to trust the other. However, as the investigation leads deeper and the involved persons reach into higher circles, the two men have no choice but to listen to their inner intuitions, which whisper that they must believe in each other. Although both are lone wolves, they ultimately become true partners.
Anyone who has seen Park Chan-wook’s world-famous film Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance will surely never forget the green-haired protagonist. That strange, mute boy was also played by Shin Ha-kyun, who now delivers a memorable performance in his portrayal of Dong-shik. His character is not devoid of black humor either, and he perfectly achieves the effect that behind his simultaneously terrifying and abnormal smile, we can never guess what is hidden. In every scene, he exists somewhat outside the visible events, enclosed in his own world. Yet he has emotions and moments of being moved, which he can show coherently, fitting the nature of this tormented character.
His protagonist partner is Yeo Jin-goo, who also possesses a fine, long cinematic history. His detective is built on the duality that the film-star handsome, innocent-looking, elegant, and finicky figure changes completely when he springs into action, or even just speaks with his deep, masculine voice. It immediately becomes clear that he is a determined, sharp-witted, brave fellow, who is only outwardly the opposite of Dong-shik; in reality, he possesses very similar inner strengths.
The characters of the series represent a wide spectrum, and every actor brings the maximum out of their role. Although one could write at length about several of them, one must definitely be highlighted. Choi Dae-hoon, playing the detective who draws deer, delivers a very powerful performance in which he undergoes incredible transformations. I do not know who created his drawings in the film, but initially, Choi’s being and the deer seemed to reflect each other almost as one, even if they were actually about something else.
The writer of Beyond Evil, Kim Su-jin, and its director, Shim Na-yeon, are both women who did top-class work. They created a taut drama in which there are no superfluous elements. Every image by the director is mood- and emotion-painting, expressing the specificities of the locations, the emotions of the characters, or the moods of the events. The small-town milieus are a bit messy and disordered. The landscapes with lush vegetation suck the big-city young man in with elemental force. At the beginning of the series, scenes visible in unusual lighting during the evening and night are in the vast majority, but the bright, big-city spaces do not lose their power either. Although we receive enough terrifying, horrific visuals, it is exactly the right amount, through which the film does not yet fall into excesses in conveying the dread of the events.
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| Composer Lim Min-ju |
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| The cover art of the drama's soundtrack album |
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