Mask Girl is a South Korean crime thriller drama series, released on Netflix on August 18, 2023. It is based on a Webtoon of the same name by Mae-mi and the show written and directed by Kim Yong-hoon. It has 7 episodes with a runtime of about 50-60 minutes.
The cast of the series includes Lee Han-byeol as Kim Mo-mi, Nana aka Im Jin-ah as Kim Mo-mi (after surgery), Go Hyun-jung as Prisoner Kim Mo-mi, Ahn Jae-hong as Ju Oh-nam, Yeom Hye-ran as Kim Kyung-ja, Park Jung-hwa as Lee A-reum, Choi Daniel as Manager Park Gi-hun, Lee Jun-young as Bu-yong and others.
Mask Girl Review
Kim Mo-mi, a sweet little girl who wanted to become a public figure and follow her passion for singing and dancing, turns into a bitter adult because of society’s beauty standards. Even her own mother breaks down her dream by disregarding her looks as ugly. Having been treated badly everywhere she went, Mo-mi finds a way to follow her passion by becoming a streamer. The only catch is that she wears a mask at all times. During the day, she is an ordinary employee in the sales department and at night, she dances all her stress away on her broadcast.
Although she has a lot of fans and is fairly popular, Mo-mi knows that once she reveals her face, they will also make fun of and look down on her. Yet one can’t stop what the heart wants & Mo-mi wants to be with her Manager Park, despite him being married. She over-analyses each interaction with him and deludes herself into believing that there’s a possibility that he feels the same. Until she catches him having an affair with a pretty colleague and falls into the dark pit of heartbreak.
She decides to give one of her subscribers a chance to meet since he keeps on hyping her up but turns out to be the same as others. On the other hand, her nerdy otaku colleague, Ju Oh-nam, somehow figures out her Mask Girl identity and becomes obsessed with her. The two finally come together at a grim time, when Mi-mo accidentally kills her subscriber and Oh-nam comes to her rescue. The question remains if Mi-mo will let her identity be revealed to Oh-nam (who obviously wants to get intimate with her) or commit another crime for her convenience.
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Mo-mi obviously chooses the latter and unleashes all her rage that she felt for all these years on Oh-nam and others, also, due to some dire situations. That’s when Yeom Hye-ran as Kim Kyung-ja comes to light, as she seeks revenge for her son Oh-nam and would go to any lengths for that. At times, her character feels like the ultimate antagonist, completely blinded by the vengeance that she can do more gruesome things than Mo-mi ever did. From episodes 3-7, she is the one that leads the story and her performance is so engrossing, it completely captivates you.
After getting the plastic surgery, Nana plays the role of Mo-mi and although it’s a brief stint, she takes the character’s craziness level, one step above. She perfectly exudes her ‘angry at the world’ for how they treated her and can go to any extent, type of personality. While Go Hyun-jung takes over in the middle and shows the stage in Mo-mi’s life, which is just done with everything and wants to find some peace. However, if you are familiar with Hyun-jung’s work, then one knows that her eyes are enough to show the dormant insanity that could come up anytime if triggered. In simple words, all three actors who play Kim Mo-mi have shown exemplary performance.
Among the South Korean series released on Netflix so far, this show definitely comes in the top 5 or maybe even take the crown. From the start till the end, there aren’t any parts when you feel bored or distracted for a moment. The creators have used the perspective style of storytelling, where each character shows how things unfolded from their eyes and thus revealing new and shocking information. The biggest asset has to be the cast, as each character ensnares you to follow their journey till the end.
Even the cameo by Lee Jun-young as Bu-yong, raises goosebumps. This might be the first time for him to be playing a dark character and when he does transform into an abusive boyfriend, it feels so eerily real and looks nothing less than a nightmare. The series highlights some serious issues like the unrealistic beauty standards of the country, which makes even a mother feel contempt towards their own child. The evident biases on the basis of how one looks and then bullying the other for not fitting into the frame is a living reality of many in Korean society and thus, pushing many towards the plastic surgery route.
Another big issue that makes the character into what they are as adults is toxic parenting. The pressure of doing well in all aspects like studying to earning well etc, often astray the kids to look for different types of escapism. One might look for validation from others if they don’t get the same from their parents or bubble up into their own world and become estranged from the real world. One can find these issues to be the root cause of why the characters ended up like that.
Overall, it’s a thrilling show that will not disappoint you and even leaves you contemplating the society that we live in. If there’s something missing then it can be how Mo-mi gets caught by the police, which is not shown or told how. Otherwise, there’s nothing to really complain about the show or the story.
Rating: 4.5/5
Mask Girl is currently available for streaming on Netflix.
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