Queenmaker Review: You Can’t Not Root for Kim Hee-ae and Moon So-ri in This Relentless Game of Politics

Queenmaker Review: Queenmaker (퀸메이커) is the latest political K-drama that was released on Netflix on April 14, 2023. It stars Kim Hee-ae as Hwang Do-hee, Moon So-ri as Oh Kyung-sook, Ryu Soo-young as Baek Jae-min as the main cast, while Seo Yi-sook as Son Young-sim, Ok Ja-yeon as Guk Ji-yeon, Jin Kyung as Seo Min-jung, Lee Geung-young as Carl Yoon and others pitch in as the supporting cast members. 

The political series has been directed by Oh Jin-seok and written by Moon Ji-young, both of whom make way for 11 TV show episodes with English subtitles on Netflix, each of their runtime ranging between 62-74 minutes. 

-Queenmaker Review Does Not Contain Any Spoilers-

Queenmaker: What’s the Show About?

Hwang Do-hee is a loyal employee of the Eunsung Group as she works her way up as the professional fixer for the company led by chairperson Son Young-sim, who also stands in as the formidable matriarch of her family. Initially, Do-hee helps clear up the mess created by the chairperson’s younger daughter, who’s also running for the upcoming mayoral campaign in Seoul. Once the news about her abusing her employees gets out, her reputation spirals down, and that’s where Do-hee steps in to gain the public’s favour in her name despite all that has happened.

Hee-ae’s character gives her all to comply by any means necessary to make Eunsung Group’s name appear on top. While she doesn’t emerge as the antagonist through it all just yet, she soon witnesses a tragedy that challenges her perception and work ethic altogether. Her path leads her to forge the unlikeliest of alliances with the civil rights lawyer, Oh Kyung-sook, whose personality starkly contrasts with that of the former. After much persuasion on Do-hee’s end, the two begin their journey in the “cut-throat sport” of politics, hoping to bring down the Eunsung Group that leeches off the blood, sweat and tears of its middle-class employees, often deemed as disposable entities to its higher-ups.

Queenmaker Review: Discussion

The Machiavellian plot that unfolds as soon as the two team up as a unit for the mayoral campaign reveals the worst in the worst. Netflix’s newest K-drama drives a hard narrative about the whole thing being a “political performance” that requires the respective candidates to put up a “showmanship”. Doing so, Moon Ji-young’s storyline makes us realise that just like the war of politics, in real life too, the categories of Winners and Losers don’t uphold; only that of true/profound promises Vs hollow ones does.

It feels great to see the tables turn on those supposedly having the power to do anything. Many K-dramas like Itaewon Class and Korean movies like Parasite speak vividly about the major class divide in society. Queenmaker owns up to that similar path, but through the direct lens of the electoral process this time, and how the ones contesting their campaigns distort the same by running provocative propaganda against their opponents in the race. The series has no intention of positing South Korea as a glistening untouchable dream or a fairyland despite the glorious image being painted by the Hallyu Wave through K-pop at times. 

Also read: Taxi Driver Season 2 Episode 15 Reactions: Psycho Do-ki and The Final Weekend Has Fans Loving and Crying

Instead of putting on a grand look, the show focuses on the grand schemes being plotted behind doors, where the story takes an even sinister turn. While actual actions on the street matter equally since we’re talking about elections here, the dialogues or monologues delivered by the characters in the inside space reveal their true menacing and unfiltered selves, all largely villainous, with the exceptions of a few.

Hee-ae’s Do-hee and So-ri’s Kyung-sook eventually take the crown as the ‘Dream Team’ of the series because the writing ensures that each of them is equally instrumental and capable of pulling her weight while also keeping the other afloat through their shared infectious chemistry. Once you’re done watching all episodes, you’re left with numerous lessons left behind in the show, along with the explosive combination of the cast members, all of whom remind you repeatedly that all of their characters are human despite how dark they may be otherwise.

The few scenes Seo Yi-sook shares with Kim Hee-ae as her former employer made me hold my breath. There’s the kind of chemistry that the leading pair needs to map out to win the audience over and compel them to root for themselves, and then there’s the kind shared between the protagonist and the antagonist. When Yi-sook and Hee-ae come together, it seems as if they’re dancing with the enemy, a feat you can’t take your eyes off. This leads us to the chemistry between Hee-ae and So-ri, which emerges on top as the exact opposite of that and imparts us warmth and solace, leaving us no choice but to root for them.

Final Thoughts

It may be my biased approach speaking for me now, but once you start getting the hang of K-dramas, there’s no going back. With movies and TV series releasing every other day on a bazillion OTT platforms, only some things can hold up their end, but Queenmaker stands out despite taking a path that’s familiar to us. 

The leading actors, especially the women who lead this show, instantly remind you of the 2022 period drama Under the Queen’s Umbrella starring Kim Hye-soo as the main driving force of the show, along with Ok Ja-yeon and Seo Yi-sook, through whom we also witness a mini-reunion of the aforementioned sageuk (historical) drama’s cast on screen. Each episode gives you enough to bite on and pushes you ahead to watch the next one. Despite setting up a familiar ground for conflict, this K-drama proves why it’s essential for shows to present us with well-layered and round characters because, in the end, that’s the winning edge K-dramas have over other content. 

All 11 episodes of Queenmaker are now streaming on Netflix.

Also read: Queenmaker Twitter Reactions: Kim Hee-ae and Moon So-ri’s Impeccable Chemistry Wins Over Netizens