REVIEW: ‘The Bequeathed’ Is A Genre-Blending Stunner

Mysterious deaths, cults of personality and folk religion, and hidden siblings craft The Bequathed’s twists and turns. A six-episode limited series, The Bequeathed (Sunsan) is one of Netflix’s latest Korean dramas directed by Min Hong-Nam and written by Min, Yeon Sang-Ho, and Hwang Eun-Young. Part seemingly supernatural mystery and all thriller, the series stars Kim Hyun-joo, Park Hee-soon, Park Byung-eun, and Ryu Kyung-soo.

The series opens with the death of an angry old man drinking makgeolli on the way home, with scenes of a traditional exorcism breaking into the sequence. But this series isn’t about him. Instead, Yoon Seo-Ha (Kim Hyun-joo) is at the center of The Bequeathed’s winding mystery. Detached from her family after he father abandoned her, the old man in question is her uncle, and upon his death, he left her a large burial ground. The newly inherited land brings trouble, more death, and her family’s dark secrets to her doorstep.

Yoon Seo-ha is an unlikable character. She is mousy, holding her anger in and ignoring her own bitterness until it bursts forward. She’s selfish to a point, and ultimately, her self-esteem and indecision hurl her even further down an untenable path as her world crumbles around her.

A college lecturer, Seo-ha hopes to upgrade her hourly status to a faculty position as an appointed professor after spending her career beholden to a professor who relies on her to do his work. Her husband is no better, cheating on her and leaving her in a loveless, disrespectful marriage. She’s a doormat and one that anyone, regardless of age, tramples her.

Seo-ha has one half-brother and one bigger problem.

While at her uncle’s funeral, she’s accosted by Kim Young-ho (Ryu Kyung-soo), her half-brother. Screaming and crying, Young-ho demands equal inheritance. But to Seo-ha, this brother is just a reminder of an unfaithful father who left home and crushed her family.

As the burial ground grows in importance, the dispute intensifies, and deep, painful memories that Seo-ha has buried deep to forget. But when her husband turns up dead, Seo-ha’s life becomes the center of ominous events that make her the center of Detective Choi Sung-jun and Chief Inspector Park Sang-min’s investigation.

The mysteries that begin to envelop her life may be practical or supernatural. Without a clear vision of which The Bequeathed works in a space in between both and cranks the tension because of it. With religious shamanism at the center, the series crafts a tense atmosphere that is backed up by dark, dreamlike cinematography and an intense score. Stylistically, the limited series is firing on all cylinders, especially where the use of light is concerned.

As the secrets expose themselves from beneath the past, the series takes terrifying turns. It morphs from a potential horror story into a somber family drama with a thrilling conclusion. The Bequeathed’s narrative is intense. It continually shifts as a Seo-ha struggles under the weight of not knowing who to trust or who is out together. Stalked by someone she assumes is her half-brother, the way the story closes in around her is suffocating.

Desperation builds character in The Bequeathed.

She’s forced into a corner, and that desperation builds her character into someone untrustworthy, depressing, and entirely frustrating. But the frustration isn’t horrible. Instead, it creates depth to the story and allows you to fall deeper into it. As the audience begins to see why Seo-ha is who she is and the gutting history that shaped her family’s desperation and despair.

As Seo-ha, Kim Hyun-joo is astounding. She is a woman constantly on the ledge. Polite and kind to a fault, you can see the cracks forming under her smile. The depth that actress Kim brings to Seo-ha is stellar and drives The Bequeathed forward. Her sadness, her loneliness, and her fear drives everything home.

The Bequeathed blends shamanism with a supernatural edge and classic detective noir storytelling to craft something unique. The pacing is excellent at only six episodes, with each ending on a cliffhanger moment to head into the next. The story grows larger as we learn more about Seo-ha’s family, and it morphs from something dark into something deeply somber. Overall, The Bequeathed expertly uses genre storytelling and a deep human focus to thrill its audience both in flashbacks and in the present-day timeline.

The Bequeathed is streaming now exclusively on Netflix.