[K-Movie Night] The Beauty Inside
by Dramaddictally
Welcome to K-Movie Night — a once-a-month feature where we microwave some popcorn, put on a face mask, and get cozy with a Korean movie from yesteryear. With so many films finally streaming (with subs!), now is the time to get caught up on all those movies we missed featuring our favorite drama actors.
Each month, we’ll pick a flick, write a review, and meet you back here to discuss whether or not it’s worth a watch. Super simple. All you have to do is kick up your feet and join us in the comments!
Movie Review
Starting the year off with tons of possibilities, this month’s pick is the fantasy romance The Beauty Inside (2015), featuring a cargo of cameos by some of our favorite drama actors. The crazy part? All the cameos play the same character: a man that wakes up in a new body each day, making it pretty hard for him to keep connections.
A story about falling in love with person instead of appearance, the film spawned the dramaland remake, with the same name but altered plot, in 2018. With that as a base, along with the likes of Seo Kang-joon, Lee Hyun-woo, Park Shin-hye, and Lee Dong-wook in surprise scenes, this one sounds like a fun and fantastical way to spend an evening.
The film’s central question is: if you change forms each day, is it possible to maintain a romantic relationship? How can you ever get to know someone new if they won’t recognize you the next time you wake up?
And it answers that question by taking us through the lonely life of WOO-JIN (played by a fresh face every few minutes) who, since his 18th birthday, has gotten used to being in new bodies — be it man, woman, or child. He’s a talented furniture designer who has coped with his condition by creating an online business where he can stay behind the scenes. Woodworking alone and then shipping the boxes off to customers is his daily grind, with only two confidantes in the whole wide world.
One of those people is his mother (Moon Sook), who loves her son no matter what. And the other is his best friend (Lee Dong-hwi), who uses him to find dates when Woo-jin incarnates into a flower boy and, alternately, tries to hit on him when he happens to be a hot chick. Even with the little bit of comic relief, the conundrum is clear. Poor Woo-jin is destined for a life of solitude, since he hasn’t trusted anyone else with his secret.
But there is one person he’d like to let into his life, and that’s YI-SOO (Han Hyo-joo), the friendly and knowledgeable employee of a furniture store, which he visits daily. Buying furniture and chatting it up, he’s able to get to know her a little better each day, while she has no idea she’s talking to the same person.
Woo-jin bides his time, practicing the pickup, and waiting for an appropriate face to approach her with. And the right moment arrives when he wakes up one day as Park Seo-joon.
Obviously nervous about how it will go, when Yi-soo finally says yes, he doesn’t dillydally in showing her what they have in common. Taking her to the exclusive headquarters of his design shop and revealing that he’s the mysterious man behind the uniquely made chairs, she’s excited because she’s already a fan of his work.
The date goes so well that she’s saying “call me” and Woo-jin doesn’t want to let go. And so, he decides to stay up all night, therefore allowing him to stay in the same body until the next day (somehow, this plan has never occurred to him before). They have three blissful days of dates, while he forces himself not to sleep, and this is the movie’s sweet, warm, and charming center, as we watch their tenderness toward each other grow. They’re slightly shy, but there’s a zip in the air — that feeling when you really, really like someone and then, oh my god, it’s mutual.
But the plan goes awry when Woo-jin falls asleep and wakes up as Kim Sang-ho. Without even canceling plans, he leaves Yi-soo to wonder what’s going on, as he decides for himself that it’s over.
Later though, the idea that she’s waiting and wondering bothers him until he resolves to risk coming clean. In the body of a young woman, he tells Yi-soo the truth, showing her recordings of himself each day as someone new, including as the man she’s been getting to know.
As you can imagine, Yi-soo doesn’t understand and wonders why this woman is being so cruel, before she leaves. It’s a painful scene, played with hurt on both sides, and strikes a level deeper than I would have imagined for a light-mood movie like this one. It captures a moment when you’ve developed trust with someone, shown them your hidden flaw, and are abruptly rejected — confirming the very thing you feared.
We stay with Woo-jin and see that being alone after loss is surely worse than being alone before he had any expectations. But we also follow Yi-soo as she takes some confused days to reconsider. When she returns, she asks to stay the night, to see his transformation.
Yi-soo turns out to be able to go along with it. They begin a real relationship. They’re happy. His solitude has ended. And all is good. Except, there’s a slow-loading feeling that Yi-soo is holding all the weight. She’s his only source of comfort and connection, and that’s a lot of pressure for anyone to handle. There’s a shift, almost imperceptible at first, where the loneliness is switching sides.
In practical terms, Yi-soo’s life looks like this: attending events alone, not being able to introduce her partner to her friends, being gossiped about when people see her with a different guy every other day, but mostly, not even being able to recognize the person she loves in a crowd. That’s subtle. But it’s a power imbalance that starts to stress her out, when he can find her, but she can’t find him.
The film handles this with care, not forcing the meanings on us, but allowing us to see how the two are interpreting their relationship differently. While he believes he’s found the answer, and starts to think about marriage, she’s headed for a slow decline. Part of what makes it potent, is that Yi-soo can see Woo-jin’s perspective (“he wouldn’t survive without me”) and she’s trying to protect him while also living for herself. But Woo-jin is only holding responsibility for his own perspective.
How the two come to terms with this shows growth on his side, as he realizes what he’s asking of her (and acts accordingly). The resolution leaves something to be desired, as Yi-soo’s change feels canned and tacked on, but it’s in line with the romance/drama genre, even if the rest of the film feels like it could exceed those bounds.
A lovely watch, with charming and funny moments, I was glad I spent the time, even though the end didn’t move me as much as I’d hoped (incarnation as Yoo Yeon-seok notwithstanding). The cinematography (muted, clean, and real), shots of furniture making, and stroll through the getting-to-know-you phase make it worth the watch. But the fundamental message of who we are and how we find love is the take home that’s likely to resonate with the most people, no matter what you see when you look in the mirror.
Join us in February for the next K-Movie Night and let’s make a party of it! We’ll be watching Be With You (2018) and posting the review during the last week of the month.
Want to participate in the comments when it posts? You’ve got 3 weeks to watch! Rather wait for the review before you decide to stream it? We’ve got you covered.
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