Review by Sara Doktorova
Who is the mutilated woman found dead in a sewer at the start of The Art of Sarah, Netflix’s new South Korean thriller series?
That nagging mystery can be sensed in the entire eight episodes. Is she Mok Ga Hui, a shopgirl with a meagre income but expensive tastes, who has loan sharks on her trail. Or Kim Eun-jae, a hostess in a club, who gives up a kidney to a dying, wealthy man? Or could she be Sarah Kim, a high-society woman with a luxury lifestyle?
This South Korean drama is a mystery thriller series, written by Chu Song-Yeon, directed by Kim Jin-Min and produced by SLL.
Shin Hae-sun plays Sarah Kim and earns praise for her central performance, adding to her reputation from her part in the comedy series Mr Queen (2020-2021). Lee Jun-hyuk plays the detective Park Mu-Gyeong, who investigates her. She constructs her lies in a very professional way.
Her first identity was as a poor girl working in a luxury Prada store, named Mok Ga Hui. This is where her plan and obsession began. Then she disguises her suicide and becomes Dua, a service worker who marries a dying, wealthy man. It is he who gives her another new identity, as Kim Eun-jae, in exchange for her kidney.
After that, she finally becomes Sarah Kim, a rich woman from overseas, with a fake job as head of Asia exportations. And it is then that she finally makes her dream come true. But, while living her dream, her life takes a big 360 degree turn.
The multiple identity changes are made as she tries to fulfil her dream of having her very own luxury designer bag store brand Boudoir, a brand originally from London, who only 0.1 per cent of rich people and royals can buy from.
There are echoes in this of another Netflix show, Celebrity, which is about a woman who connects her way through to become a digital creator, but when other influencers get jealous and want to take her down, she spills all the information on how to become a celebrity.
The soundtrack in The Art of Sarah goes so well with the series, increasing the mystery of the episodes. Everything blends into the vibe and atmosphere, with the angles and various camera shots adding to the dark art of this show.
Now this is what you call a good thriller, definitively an underrated hit. I give it an overall rating of five out of five, for the amazing storyline, acting, plot and production.
