Origin and release year: South Korea (2024 – Queen of Tears)
Korean title: 눈물의 여왕
Starring: Kim Soo Hyun, Kim Ji Won, Park Sung Hoon, Kwak Dong Yeon, Lee Ju Bin, Kim Gap Soo, Lee Mi Sook, Jung Jin Young, Na Young Hee, Kim Jung Nan, Jeon Bae Soo, Hwang Young Hee, Kim Do Hyun, Jang Yoon Ju, Kim Joo Ryoung, Apink Bo Mi, Oh Jung Se, Moon Tae Yu, Jung Ji Hwan, Kim Young Min, Lee Soo Ji, Park Sung Yun, Song Joong Ki, Jaspreet Kaur, Cho Se Ho, Nam Chang Hee, Hong Jin Kyung, Kim Shin Rok
Director: Jang Young Woo, Kim Hee Won
Screenwriter: Park Ji Eun
Synopsis: A miraculous love story of a married couple overcoming a dizzying crisis. (IMDb)
We thought the title Queen of Tears was talking about Kim Ji Won crying but the joke was on us. We were the ones in tears. Whether they were tears of laughter or tears of joy, this drama made you feel things.
Kim Soo Hyun has been slowly but surely killing us from exhaustion from swooning over him. His acting in this drama was the stuff that Hallyu stars are made of as the honey dripped from his eyes in the romantic scenes and we could also feel our hearts pang with pain in the heartbreaking scenes. His duality was unmatched. His visuals were unmatched. In fact, we just couldn’t keep up with the force that is Kim Soo Hyun as both Baek Hyun Woo, the character, and as an actor in this drama.
The same can be said for Kim Ji Won. Her character was super layered in Queen of Tears and made us go through the same type of complex emotions watching her. There was the dislike for her when she was acting her stand-offish and cold persona, the melting when you realized that she’s actually emotionally vulnerable, the laughs when she stung someone with her words, and so much character layered into one portrayal. It’s no wonder she’s the hottest actress at the moment. She deserves every award for this role. We won’t get into that annoying Baeksang snub though…
These were not the only standout actors though. The entire cast of this drama was so excellent it felt more like an ensemble casting. Each character was detailed and each actor pulled their character off to the tee. The entire Queens group clan and Yongduri community were both made of essential characters to the plot; with their own quirks, character arcs, and endearing moments. THAT is good screenwriting. Every second of this drama, character and plot considered, was exceptional.
We need to talk about Park Sung Hoon, too… He needs to stop being such a brilliant actor with these villain roles because he’s going to make us dislike him for real haha. You know when the actor is so good at being bad that you can’t separate them from their character? He’s in that dangerous territory.
This drama gets minus points for the offensive trope and lines about Africa (super generalized) and the ignorance just went unchecked, though… Unfortunately, because of that, this drama review couldn’t be all sunshine and daisies. Next time you make a drama, please leave the ignorance at the door.
Also, to unfortunately knock it down another shade, the last episode was borderline ridiculous. It just didn’t provide the pay off that it needed to. Additionally, some of the scenes/closure plots were just ridiculous. In what Korean world do that amount of cops (a special arms unit at that) show up to stop a bad guy who is not even ‘wanted’ on the public radar or someone uber important (since he wasn’t quite a chaebol yet)??? It felt very forced and the scene with Mo Seul Hee (played Lee Mi Sook) getting beaten up in prison? Too far. Just seeing her emotionally suffering in there would’ve sufficed. You can’t just switch up genres like that.
That aside, the drama is quite superior quality and not only one of the best releases of the year, but in K-drama history (evident by how it became the highest tvN K-drama in terms of ratings with a whopping 24.8% nationwide rating, overtaking Goblin and Crash Landing on You). Well-deserved from the cast and production crew.
What did you think of Queen of Tears? Let us know in the comments!