REVIEW: ‘The Frog’ Will Have You On Edge

With its slow-burning mystery, The Frog (Amudo eomneun supsog-eseo) is a Kdrama that will entice viewers. Spanning two decades, the premise is simple enough. A stranger arrives in the middle of summer, only to commit acts so heinous that they permanently alter the lives of the ordinary people who discover said crimes. In Episodes 1-4, director Mo Wan-il and writer Son Ho-young flesh out the ensuing mystery of the present-day timeline while the core cast captivates with their characterization.

In The Frog, time is spent split between two timelines. In the present day, the retired Jeon Young-ha (Kim Yoon-seok) runs a rental out of a pension house. Business is down despite it being the summer season, but he doesn’t mind. Quiet and reserved, he seems content with his life. The surprise arrival of the mysterious woman, Yoo Seong-a (Go Min-si), and her son will change the course of his life for the worse.

The second timeline takes place in 2000 and focuses on a man and his family. Motel owner Gu Sang-jun (Yoon Kye-sang) runs a successful motel with his wife. Sang-jun is incredibly likable despite being too generous for his own good and slightly flaky. Unfortunately, his kindness proves to be his undoing when he offers a room to a mysterious stranger stranded in the rain. This stranger does the unthinkable, and the ripple effect plunges Sang-jun and his family into an inescapable downward spiral.

Bridging the two timelines is police officer-turned-chief detective Yoon Bo-min (Lee Jung-eun/Ha Yoon-kyung). In 2000, Bo-min was a police officer when tragedy struck Sang-jun and his motel. This became her first case. Over 20 years later, she returns to the police station where she got her start. Young-ha’s suspicious behavior draws her attention.

The prevailing question across the first four episodes of The Frog is, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Young-ha and Sang-jun’s traumatizing experiences make the thesis clear. There is always a ripple effect, no matter how big. In The Frog, the focus is on how crimes impact the ordinary bystanders involved rather than shifting the focus to the criminals, media, or families of the victims.

The Frog never loses its humanity to sensationalism.

In an era with an increased interest in true crime, little focus is paid to the real-life consequences for those impacted when bodies are found at the scene of the crime. Sang-jun’s storyline explores this and how the community reacts unempathetically to him and his family’s plight. There is no recovery from the innocent mistake Sang-jun made.

In some ways, Wan-il and Ho-young point a mirror at our hypocritical society by showing how willing it is to tear down good people while glorifying sensationalist murderers. This comes into focus when we revert to the present-day era. Seong-a is presented as someone alluring and mysterious. Lingering shots cast an almost wistful light on her appearance; her clothes are always fashionable. To the outside world, she is an unassuming beauty.

Yet, this is all superficial. Underneath the surface is something dark, and Seong-a takes advantage of Young-ha’s panic. Young-ha’s inner turmoil could be quickly resolved in a more forgiving society. However, Young-ha is left to stew and fret in his attempts to preserve the remnants of his past. Here, we see the cracks in the quiet older man’s visage.

While the story’s direction in the first half of The Frog is unclear, most of the main characters are fascinating. Sang-jun and Young-ha are incredibly different, yet they are drawn into similar circumstances outside their control. Kye-sang’s portrayal of Sang-jun is emotionally open, oscillating between joy, rage, and sorrow as he watches his life slip out of his hands. Yoon-seok’s Young-ha is closed off and subtle, providing a clear contrast.

The Frog’s one miss is building out its female characters. 

The female characters in The Frog are arguably less developed in comparison. The exception is Seo Eun-gyeong (Ryu Hyun-kyung). As Sang-jun’s wife and the one arguably most impacted, Eun-gyeong buckles under the weight as their lives fall apart. Her resentments bubble with time, giving plenty for actress Ryu Hyun-kyung to work with in The Frog.

Despite her connection to the present and past timelines, Bo-min is surprisingly underdeveloped. At least, in the first half of The Frog. Bo-min barely speaks, which in itself is not a problem. Seong-a also doesn’t talk much. However, the difference is that Go Min-si gives us glimpses of Seong-a’s inner world, whereas both Jung-eun’s Bo-min and Yoon-kyung’s Bo-min provide little insight into her inner workings. This is likely an issue in direction and performance, but also likely in the writing.

Despite this, The Frog will easily have viewers on edge, with its slow-burning mystery and simple premise giving much food for thought. The sound design is impeccable at raising the hackles, and the transitions between the present and the past are almost seamless. With the stakes progressively increasing in just the first four episodes, it’s clear that The Frog is ready to slow-cook its viewers alive.

The Frog streams exclusively on Netflix on August 23, 2024.