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Pierce Conran

2.5/5 stars
Matchmaking is big business in South Korea. Arranged marriages were long common practice, and while that has changed, even today blind dates arranged by friends, family and colleagues are a big part of the country’s social tapestry.
Finding a partner can be tricky with the busy Korean lifestyle, but the purpose of matchmaking is really to find someone with the right family, job and academic background.
Adverts for the nation’s top matchmaking companies can be seen plastered over Seoul’s subways and buses, but Rex, the prestigious matchmaking service at the heart of the new Netflix series Remarriage & Desires, doesn’t resort to such basic promotional tactics.


Netflix is known for mining fantasy and dystopia for its original Korean offerings, but its latest title finds it diving into the soapy depths of high-society melodrama, long the bastion of terrestrial Korean broadcasters.
The production is a touch slicker and the story only runs to eight episodes (these stories typically have 16 to 20 episodes), but other than that the show has all the hallmarks of prime-time makjang (Korean soap operas): high fashion, low morals, venomous social climbers and plenty of systemic corruption.
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Returning to screens quickly after Tomorrow, Kim Hee-seon leads the cast, which also includes Mine’s Lee Hyun-wook, Taxi Driver’s Cha Ji-yeon, Park Hoon of the K-horror Midnight and Snowdrop actress Jung Eugene.
Servicing only the most exclusive single clients in the country, Rex is a matchmaking company operated under the imperious gaze of Choi Yoo-sun (Cha Ji-yeon), the company’s elegant and respected CEO. The cheapest consultation at Rex will cost you 10 million won (US$7,600), but if you want to get into the upper tiers, you’ll need to fork out a lot more than that.
The top class is the Black Tier, which comprises only the country’s wealthiest bachelors. These are the top prizes for the most ambitious women in society, and you won’t find anyone more ambitious than Jin Yoo-hui (Jung Eugene), a lawyer who has set her sights on Lee Hyung-ju (Lee Hyun-wook), the CEO of video game powerhouse Hibull and the 30th richest person in the country.

On the other hand we have single widow and teacher Seo Hye-seung (Kim Hee-seon), whose mother has signed her up at Rex against her wishes – she has no intention of getting remarried. Also forced to become a client at Rex is professor Cha Seok-jin (Park Hoon), son of the ailing Rex chairman, Cha Yong-hwan (Jang Gwang), Yoo-sung’s husband of 15 years.
Previous high society melodramas like The Penthouse and SKY Castle had most of their characters sharing the same real estate, but Remarriage & Desires dispenses with that, giving most of the characters significant personal connections even before they meet each other again at Rex.

The deepest and darkest of those connections belongs to polar opposites Hye-seung and Yoo-hui.
Hye-seung’s lawyer husband, Kang Nam-sik (Kwon Hyuk), has had an affair with Yoo-hui, his colleague. He walks out on Hye-seung, asking for a divorce, but before he knows it Yoo-hui has used him to cover up her embezzlement and accuses him of rape. At the end of his tether, Nam-sik ends his life, leaving a bereaved family behind.
Yoo-hui’s extraordinary villainy is also her Achilles’ heel. She not only commits terrible acts to sate her greed, but she also revels in inflicting personal pain.
Hye-seung goes to Rex to get a refund for her expensive consultation, but when she bumps into Yoo-hui, her still burning anger causes her to suddenly change her mind, setting the pair on a destructive path.
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For a show that’s less than half the length of other primetime soaps, what’s immediately apparent about Remarriage & Desires is how slow the build-up of the story is and how listless it remains until the final couple of episodes, where it finally finds its groove.
Many Korean soaps tend to drive towards explosive climaxes but that usually doesn’t preclude fireworks earlier on. In Remarriage & Desires though, all we get is a fancy masquerade ball.
The other hit shows this Netflix series resembles include The World of the Married and Mine (not least because they share Lee Hyun-wook), but it’s hard not to shake Remarriage’s similarities with The Penthouse – which are particularly striking.
The rivalry between the perpetually victimised Hye-seung and vicious Yoo-hui recalls the legendary battles between Oh Yoon-hee and Cheon Seo-jin in that series.

The big difference between the two is that while The Penthouse was deliberately operatic and ridiculous, Remarriage & Desires tries to be more slick and serious. But the mechanics of the story remain ludicrous, so until it embraces accelerated soap opera chaos in its final stretch, the show isn’t anywhere near as fun as it should be.
Among the cast, Jung Eugene stands out for her delivery of cold, calculating evil. Among the crew it is the up-and-coming cinematographer Jo Yeonsoo – a B camera operator on the gorgeous Pachinko – who draws notice for his smooth camerawork.
No doubt Remarriage & Desires has its pleasures, but its half-baked second season tease is unlikely to have many dreaming of another trip down the aisle.

Remarriage & Desires is streaming on Netflix.


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Netflix K-drama review: Remarriage & Desires – matchmaking melodrama starring Kim Hee-seon and Lee Hyun-wook is slick enough, but lacks fireworks

Kim Hee-seon as widow and teacher Seo Hye-seung in a still from Remarriage & Desires. This new Netflix K-drama takes itself too seriously and ends up falling flat, especially when compared to similar show The Penthouse.

Lee Hyun-wook as video game company CEO Lee Hyung-ju in a still from Remarriage & Desires. Photo: Netflix

Cha Ji-yeon as Rex CEO Choi Yoo-sun in a still from Remarriage & Desires. Photo: Netflix

Jung Eugene as villainous lawyer Jin Yoo-hui in a still from Remarriage & Desires. Photo: Netflix

Park Hoon as professor Cha Seok-jin (left) and Kim Hee-seon as widow and teacher Seo Hye-seung in a still from Remarriage & Desires. Photo: Netflix

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This new Netflix melodrama about matchmaking with wealthy bachelors is slow to start, and only finds its groove in the final two episodes
The similarities with K-drama The Penthouse are striking, but whereas Penthouse embraces its absurdity, Remarriage tries too hard to exude poise and falls flat



Starring Kim Hee-seon and Lee Hyun-wook, this new Netflix K-melodrama about matchmaking takes itself too seriously, falling flat compared to similar show The Penthouse.


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Review

Review | Netflix K-drama review: Remarriage & Desires – matchmaking melodrama starring Kim Hee-seon and Lee Hyun-wook is slick enough, but lacks fireworks

This new Netflix melodrama about matchmaking with wealthy bachelors is slow to start, and only finds its groove in the final two episodes The similarities with K-drama The Penthouse are striking, but whereas Penthouse embraces its absurdity, Remarriage tries too hard to exude poise and falls flat

This new Netflix melodrama about matchmaking with wealthy bachelors is slow to start, and only finds its groove in the final two episodes

The similarities with K-drama The Penthouse are striking, but whereas Penthouse embraces its absurdity, Remarriage tries too hard to exude poise and falls flat