What a viewNetflix K-drama Mine a murky satire on rich people behaving badly
- Decency plays second fiddle to decadence, scheming and emotional blackmail for the characters in murky, satirical Korean thriller Mine
- Half a world away, the skateboarding girls of Betty are back on HBO, still fighting for the respect of their male counterparts as well as space on the half-pipe
The super-wealthy, in all their outrageous opulence, really should be more careful about whom they let into their lives, and for that matter, their magnificent mansions.
A boy’s scheming tutor and a resentful housemaid threaten to derail a business empire when they are taken on by the extended family behind the Hyowon Group, a chaebol (a family-owned conglomerate in South Korea) whose inner conflicts are the basis of murky, satirical thriller Mine (Netflix, series one now streaming).
And while we try to figure out the machinations behind the scenes, we can amuse ourselves with a scathing send-up of rich people behaving badly in a largely odious household, where decency plays a poor second fiddle to opportunistic scheming and emotional blackmail.
Trying on designer clothes, selecting jewellery, drinking too much, yelling and screaming at the servants take up much of the day for the most obnoxious family members, with matriarch Yang Soon-hye (played by Park Won-sook) leading the way in the abhorrence stakes.
When not displaying her aptitude for gluttony she can be heard declaring that Korea’s poor should be left to their fate, seen slapping employees or convincing herself she is an accomplished singer – despite being as tuneful as Florence Foster Jenkins (a US socialite famous for her off-pitch voice).