Netflix 'Snow White's Revenge': Son Ye Jin returns to historical dramas after 24 years

Netflix is making a bold move with 'Snow White's Revenge,' an adult-rated romance that pits the Confucian norms of the Joseon era against primal human desires.

'Snow White's Revenge,' a Netflix original series telling the story of three individuals engaged in a secret game of love amidst the strict class system and ideology of chastity in Joseon, will be released worldwide on the 18th.

The series unfolds around Lady Cho (Son Ye Jin), who possesses the talent and ambition to transcend the shackles of the class system but is blocked by the constraints of her era; Jo Won (Ji Chang Wook), Joseon's greatest hedonist and lover; and Hee-yeon (Nana), a young widow who has lived under forced chastity after losing her husband before their wedding could even take place. Director Jung Ji-woo, who directed 'Happy End' and 'Tune in for Love,' takes the helm, with Son Ye Jin, Ji Chang Wook, and Nana forming the axis of a triangular desire.

In particular, 'Snow White's Revenge' is not a simple historical melodrama. It is a work that transplants the epistolary novel 'Dangerous Liaisons,' published by French author Pierre Choderlos de Laclos in 1782, into the Joseon era. The original work is a classic that views love not merely as a pure emotion, but as a psychological game intertwined with seduction, power, schemes, and pleasure.

Director Jung explained, "I did not simply want a melodrama structure," adding, "I created a story centered on protagonists who possess a modern sense of 'who am I?'" Ultimately, the core of the work does not lie solely in who loves whom. It expands into the question of how much an individual can proactively choose their own desires in an era where even the right to choose love was restricted.

The most eye-catching character is Lady Cho, played by Son Ye Jin. This marks her return to historical dramas after 24 years.

Son Ye Jin, who began her full-fledged leading roles with 'Delicious Proposal' in 2001, has built an unrivaled filmography by traversing melodramas and period pieces with works such as 'Summer Scent,' 'A Moment to Remember,' 'My Wife is a Gangster,' 'The Last Princess,' 'Something in the Rain,' and 'Crash Landing on You.' Especially considering she is an actress who has embodied the emotion of love through delicate expressions and restrained breathing, this work's desire-driven narrative is expected to be a unique evolution of her craft.

Lady Cho possesses great talent and ambition, but lives while hiding her abilities within a societal order where women's choices were limited. However, prompted by a bet, she awakens her dormant desires. Her appearance, with disheveled hair and wearing only inner garments while holding a long pipe, intentionally subverts the typical image of a noblewoman.

A key point to watch is that Lady Cho is not merely consumed as a fatal femme fatale. For her, desire is a strategy, and love is both an emotion and a matter of power. In Joseon society, which defined chastity and obedience as female virtues, the very existence of Lady Cho, who designs her own desires, is a form of rebellion.

Ji Chang Wook transforms into Jo Won, Joseon's greatest hedonist. Although he possesses outstanding looks, family background, and talent, he chooses a life of pursuing pleasure after being separated from his cousin, Lady Cho, with whom he shared his heart during childhood.

Then one day, his life changes direction when he receives a letter from Lady Cho again. Jo Won, who dives into a dangerous game to get what he wants, is both a free-spirited hedonist and a man possessed by desire. Ji Chang Wook is expected to showcase a character of a different caliber through a complex emotional line that oscillates between seduction and obsession, and affection and madness.

Nana takes on the role of Hee-yeon, revealing the issue of desire in another way. Having lost her husband before her wedding, Hee-yeon is a person who has lived by abandoning her own life within the chastity and norms demanded by Joseon society.

Jo Won infiltrates Hee-yeon's quiet daily life. Hee-yeon tries to push him away, but as she becomes the target of the bet between Lady Cho and Jo Won, she is unwittingly swept into a massive vortex of desire. The narrative is expected to center on whether a person whose life is shaken by the desires of others can truly reclaim their right to choose at the final moment.

A teaser poster and trailer that compress these relationships have also been released.

The teaser poster features Lady Cho sitting upright in an inner room filled with blooming red flowers, Jo Won standing confidently among women in a traditional beauty painting, and Hee-yeon with a sorrowful expression amidst plum blossoms. The mise-en-scène, reminiscent of traditional paintings, creates a striking contrast, implying that the relationship between the three is not a simple love triangle but a meticulously designed game of desire.

The tagline, "Covet that which cannot be possessed," clearly defines the tone of the work. It presents the paradox that forbidden things become even more intense by suppressing desire. The stronger the Confucian order of Joseon, the greater the ripple effect of the characters' desires.

In the trailer, Lady Cho proposes a game to Jo Won with a sharp gaze, which he accepts with a look of longing. Jo Won then intentionally approaches Hee-yeon to win the bet, while Lady Cho watches the process with a chilling composure.

In this process, 'Snow White's Revenge' layers a modern psychological drama over the grammar of a classic affair. The act of seducing is both an expression of love and a method of dominance, and being loved is sometimes a matter of one's life being defined by the desires of others. The series received an adult rating due to this explicit portrayal of desire and relationships.

However, the true strength of 'Snow White's Revenge' lies beyond mere provocation. While 'Dangerous Liaisons' dissected the hypocrisy and desire of 18th-century European aristocracy, 'Snow White's Revenge' transplants these themes into the repressive structures of Joseon's class system and Confucian sexual ethics. Comparing how the same desires manifest differently under different societal norms will be an intriguing element for viewers.

While Korean historical dramas have frequently featured female desire, 'Snow White's Revenge' distinguishes itself by pushing this theme through the structure of a classic femme fatale narrative and a psychological game. This is further elevated by Son Ye Jin's return to the genre, Ji Chang Wook's transformative role, and Nana's emotional performance.

Ultimately, 'Snow White's Revenge' aims for more than just a provocative romance; it seeks to ask questions about the "right to desire." In an era that forbade love, perhaps the most dangerous thing was not love itself, but the human being attempting to choose their own desires.

'Snow White's Revenge' will be available worldwide on Netflix on the 18th.