Feeding evil with lies in JTBC's A Beautiful World » Dramabeans Korean drama recaps

25 March 16, 2019March 16, 2019

Feeding evil with lies in JTBC’s A Beautiful World

by tipsymocha

Man, kids are scary. There’s a new teaser out for JTBC’s upcoming A Beautiful World, which reveals a little more about Nam Da-reum (Fox Bride Star) and his tormentors, as well as the pain that school violence can bring to the students’ families, for both the victims and the perpetrators. I always knew this was going to be a hard watch, but there’s a sliver of hope in that our tragic hero has some fierce protectors in the women of his family.

The teaser gets into the central plotline with no time to waste, with Nam Da-reum being beaten up by a trio of his fellow classmates, as his mother, played by Chu Ja-hyun (Rules of the Game, Temptation of Wife) desperately says that her son “wasn’t trying to die. Someone is making it look as if he tried to commit suicide.” The dazed and yet panicked tone of voice is heartbreaking, as is the brief moment we see of Nam Da-reum’s father, played by Park Hee-soon (Missing Noir M), who is sobbing next to a hospital bed.

The captions in the teaser read, “Evil is nourished by lies.” We see some seemingly innocent glimpses of students at Nam Da-reum’s middle school, made all the more ominous by a man haltingly saying offscreen, “I just can’t imagine that middle schoolers could hide or destroy evidence.” But of course, what do the grownups know, and a girl says as much offscreen: “I know how demon-like students act.” Thankfully, Nam Da-reum will have a strong ally in his sister, played by Kim Hwan-hee (Miracle That We Met), who throws herself headfirst into hair-grabbing fights in the bathroom and who fearlessly kicks the shin of a bully while screaming, “I hope you get the death penalty and die!”

And of course, we can’t forget that this isn’t solely an issue between the students, and I’m sure some parents are complicit in “hiding the truth,” as written in the captions in the teaser. Oh Man-seok (Investigator Couple) and Jo Yeo-jung (Perfect Wife) also feature prominently in the show as the parents to one of Nam Da-reum’s bullies, and while Jo Yeo-jung looks appropriately horrified in several shots of her in the teaser, Oh Man-seok definitely gives off a nastier vibe. The teaser ends as a male student asks someone, “That night Sun-woo (Nam Da-reum) fell, you didn’t meet him?” That last close-up of Nam Da-reum’s face is goosebump-worthy.

A Beautiful World will premiere on April 5 and air on JTBC’s Friday-Saturday slot.

Via JTBC

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1 gadis

March 16, 2019 at 6:24 PM

Looking forward to this drama. I hope this will be a cutting yet also hopeful drama. *stocking up tissues in advance*

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Hachiko

March 17, 2019 at 7:51 AM

I'm actually more scared to watch this, though I am a big admirer of NDR's acting.. But may be, MAY BE, after the show's over and I can feel reassured that THAT SILVER LINING we're all looking forward to is there and watch it..

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2 Radily

March 16, 2019 at 9:53 PM

OMG, this is giving me them upgraded Solomon’s Perjury vibes! This time, we’re getting two different investigations into the death of a student, which should really up the ante as they clash with the culprit. It’ll be interesting to see the adult vs youth perspectives from both the good and the bad, hopefully the drama will be able to balance out both of them.

I read online that Seo Young Joo is cast as well as a student ... you know what, with his acting skills, he might just be the role that Jang Dong Yoon had in that drama with loads of entriguing greyness. But this just a speculation...

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to this show with Nam Da Reum’s first lead role in a drama! He’s been playing all sorts of child roles these few years and it’s good to see him finally take on a bigger part.

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3 flatwhite

March 17, 2019 at 1:02 AM

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4 flatwhite

March 17, 2019 at 1:09 AM

the first teaser made me curious of how this will turn out as a whole. I’m sure that it’ll be depressing but all i need is that silver lining where we get to see the justice for every victims involved.

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5 missjb

March 17, 2019 at 3:56 AM

I can't wait to watch it! Omg! Please be giod, please be good!

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6 하데스

March 17, 2019 at 8:13 AM

That first pic of Nam Da-reum. Is that Nam Da-reum?

Everybody in those pics look sad, horrified, evil, out for blood. What kinda of drama is this!? lol.

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7 Wise

March 17, 2019 at 8:15 AM

Even just from reading the synopsis and watching the teaser already made my heart feel suffocated. This is gonna be a hard watch, i think i will decide to watch it or not after reading reviews of first 6 episode.

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8 egads aka Dame Maggie

March 17, 2019 at 8:30 AM

Anyone else hope Nam Da-reum's next role is super light and happy? This kid has been through the wringer of melodrama and trauma, and I just want to see him be happy and carefree for 16 episodes.

Anyways, this looks good. I'm not sure if I'll be able to watch it, but it looks quite good from the trailer.

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gadis

March 17, 2019 at 8:41 AM

I'm still waiting for the day when he plays a goofy or quirky character that let him smiles and laughs a lot.

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하데스

March 17, 2019 at 8:47 AM

Agreed. I'm just happy he looks older now that he's probably out of the 'ML's younger self' role. Please.

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Holly

March 19, 2019 at 10:12 AM

I don't think he's done with child actor roles just yet. This is just a one off role where he is playing a child who is not the younger version of someone but he hasn't started his movement towards proper lead roles just yet. He is only 15 after all.

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9 JustMe

March 17, 2019 at 9:01 AM

I'm excited for this. The Light in Your Eyes has opened up again my thirst for healing dramas, and I know Nam Da-Reum can deliver in the melo department. I do hope there'll be family healing and funny scenes sprinkled here and there though. Fighting!

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10 bong-soo

March 17, 2019 at 9:20 AM

A BEAUTIFUL WORLD is going to be a tough watch. One of my kdrama rules is: "Don't mess with the kids." (o/t In kdramas "kids" covers to around the age of thirty.)
With this teaser my anxiety continues to grow. It goes without saying that my hope is that this drama in retrospect will be looked at as a type of public service announcement rather than a drama about juvenile delinquents (as we used to say back in the day).
Nam Da-reum will be terrific as will the rest of the cast.
Soompi has an nice piece (Mar. 7, 2019) on NDR. Interestingly he mentions Yoo Ah-in (among other actors):

Nam Da Reum also talked more about the kind of roles he wants to play in the future. He laughed as he said, “A villain. I liked the role that Yoo Ah In played in the film ‘Veteran.’ I want to try acting in a role where the character changes all of a sudden. In addition to a villain, I’d also like to play a warrior in a historical drama who uses a sword.” He explained with a laugh, “It’s just cool.”

Here is the entire piece:
https://www.soompi.com/article/1308639wpp/nam-da-reum-talks-about-gratitude-towards-lee-jong-suk-new-roles-he-wants-to-try-and-more
Being a fan of YAI from CHICAGO TYPEWRITER I think I am going to take NDR's acknowledgement and check out VETERAN (2015).
I also hope to see him swinging a sword in a Sageuk.

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egads aka Dame Maggie

March 17, 2019 at 9:47 AM

YAI is horrible in Veteran. I mean horrible as in a horrible horrible person who kicks....oh that's a spoiler.....not horrible as an actor.

The thought of NDR kicking...redacted...is troubling.

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bong-soo

March 17, 2019 at 12:41 PM

NDR also talked about playing a psycho. It must be a right of passage for young actors to play a psycho at least once. In that regard HELLO MONSTER/I REMEMBER YOU provided an opportunity for both Park Bo-gum and D.O. to show their “psycho” acting chops.

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mary

March 18, 2019 at 10:32 AM

Didn't he already play a bloodthirsty kid in Six Flying Dragons as the younger Yoo Ah-in? Or is that where his thirst for more villainous roles and sword-wielding comes from?

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bong-soo

March 18, 2019 at 4:37 PM

@mary,
There is always more to the story. Thanks for pointing me to the NDR-YAI connection.
I have not seen SIX FLYING DRAGONS.
I gather that SFD is a fan favorite. I took a peek at episode 1 but then discovered it is a 50 episode drama. I might not get to it. (I am currently on episode 40 of 50 of JEONG DO JEON (2014) which covers some of the SFD material.)
Here is a nice NDR-YAI "stick with me kid" pic from SFD:
https://i0.wp.com/i1144.photobucket.com/albums/o488/Furbabe/SFD/web_1846021885_e45faf9e_Screenshot_2015-10-01-18-35-54-1_zpseysr5onk.png

11 sparks121

March 17, 2019 at 10:15 AM

So strange to see seo dong hyun as a bad guy after watching him in miracle that we met, haha. And reuniting with kim hwan hee, I see.
Not in the teaser but as always, super hyped to see seo young joo in a drama again! Solomon's perjury was supremely underrated so I hope this one is good. (and gets more attention)

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kiara

March 17, 2019 at 4:15 PM

Another Seo Young-joo fan. He is so talented but underrated.

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sparks121

March 17, 2019 at 9:15 PM

Scary good. I remember reeling at the fact that he shot moebius at 14 years old, lol. Making a bold claim here, but at his same(ish) age, I can only think of yeo jin goo who has acting chops at that level.

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12 sooyi

March 18, 2019 at 4:20 AM

This is really sad because I find that teen bullies and rapists in Korea get bolder with their felonies because as minors, they don't get persecuted. And the drama's plot deals with a contemporary issue in South Korea wherein a kid of Russian and Korean lineage was pushed from the top of a building by his bullies. The sickening part is that the bullies were saying it was a suicide and that they even dared to treat the boy badly in front of his mother who was his only family.

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13 kiara

March 18, 2019 at 7:58 AM

Oh Man-seok <3.

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14 Trinity 🍆

March 18, 2019 at 8:16 AM

I was wondering when Nam Da-reum was old enough to get a starring role. So far he has mostly just played the young versions of characters but from the parts I've seen him in he seems to be a talented young man.

I probably wont see this as it seems to stressful and dark but I hope it does well.

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15 satindoll

March 18, 2019 at 6:44 PM

ssssooooooo HOW DO I WATCH ANY DRAMA...... HERE?

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A Beautiful World