Netflix K-drama Little Women: scintillating, must-watch series starring Kim Go-eun, Nam Ji-hyun and Park Ji-hu unlocks the full potential of Korean TV dramas

Loosely based on Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel, Little Women is shaping up to be the freshest and most original Korean drama series this year

What sets the show apart from other K-dramas is its perceptive dialogue, rich visual metaphors – and the compelling women characters in a female-driven series

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Kim Go-eun as Oh In-ju, the oldest sister of three, in a still from Little Women. The show is shaping up to be the freshest and most original Korean drama series this year.

Published: 6:15pm, 7 Sep 2022

Several new Korean drama series are premiering in time for Chuseok, South Korea’s Mid-Autumn Festival and Thanksgiving Day, but all eyes may be on two big ones that paint a fascinating picture of the Korean content industry’s roots, and where it is headed.

The first is Netflix’s big-budget crime drama Narco-Saints, a sweeping and explosive tale of Korean masculinity. Forging a path towards the future, however, is the superlative female-driven Little Women.

Despite being an adaptation – albeit an extremely loose one – of Louisa May Alcott’s 19th century novel of the same name, Little Women is the freshest and most original drama to emerge this year.

In it, Kim Go-eun (Yumi’s Cells), Nam Ji-hyun (The Witch’s Diner) and Park Ji-hu (All of Us Are Dead) play three sisters from a poor family who struggle to provide for each other.

Eldest sister Oh In-ju (Kim) is an accountant at a major corporation, In-kyung (Nam) is a determined television news reporter, and In-hye (Park) studies at a prestigious arts school.