You can read all of our picks for “Underrated Scene Of The Week” here. This week’s “Underrated Scene” comes from the eerie thriller “Anna”. One of the most successful short-form web dramas of 2022, “Anna” has officially concluded its riveting run, prompting the release of an extended version on popular demand. Starring Suzy, Jung EunChae, Kim JunHan, and Park YeYoung, “Anna” tells the story of Lee YuMi (played by Suzy), a working-class woman who climbs up the social ladder after stealing the identity of a rich socialite. A simple lie snowballs into a false life and everything seems to go just as planned, until it doesn’t. However, if there’s anything to know about YuMi, it is that she gets what she wants. Spoiler Alert! T/W: Suicide. In the penultimate episode of “Anna”, YuMi hears of the alleged suicide of the real Anna, also known as Lee HyunJoo, played by Jung EunChae. As terrible as the news is, YuMi cannot help but feel slightly relieved, albeit at the cost of her morality. She had tried to get rid of HyunJoo herself in the past but to no avail. So, when it happens naturally, without her intervention, YuMi inadvertently regains a sense of control over her life. However, she has a strong hunch that it might not have been a suicide after all and the ease she’s feeling is just the calm before the storm. Back at home, her husband JiHoon orders her to quit teaching if she’s going to be missing important appointments. The very next day, YuMi finds out that she’s being sent on a break from work. The illusion of control shatters right before her eyes when she realizes that she’s just a puppet in the grand scheme of things. In the face of imminent doom, YuMi decides to accelerate her strategy and run full force ahead towards taking down JiHoon. In the meantime, a controversy breaks out about the real Lee Anna’s thesis, which was written by a ghostwriter. YuMi must take the fall but there’s an indication that she orchestrated the reveal. When JiHoon pays off the ghostwriter and has him admit that he was just a study partner, YuMi confronts him. In a shocking twist, it turns out JiHoon has known about YuMi’s real identity all along and will do anything to make sure it stays a secret, even if that means murder, so that his reputation remains untainted. YuMi puts two and two together and infers that JiHoon was behind the untimely death of HyunJoo. That night, sleep-deprived and disillusioned, YuMi has a hallucination in the parking lot. The snow falls down gently on a resurrected HyunJoo kneeling on the floor, looking poised and perfect in ghostly silence. She speaks softly, yet with conviction, about her childhood and how she got the name “Anna” from “Anastasia”, the Princess, and her imposter, Anna Anderson. This little tale might seem out of place but the allegory is perfectly in alignment with HyunJoo and YuMi’s fateful entanglement. There is fear in YuMi’s eyes, like a dear caught in the headlights. HyunJoo walks towards her with slow, heavy steps, asking whether she was happy living as Anna. YuMi responds with subtle surprise, pained at the fact that what she had stolen was never real in the first place, never meant to last. HyunJoo continues, asking whether that was why she killed HyunJoo with that face. YuMi is quick to deny, saying it wasn’t her but she’s not too confident when asked again. HyunJoo tells YuMi that just because she is foolish and pitiful, doesn’t mean she is forgiven. Mirroring Macbeth, HyunJoo asserts that Hell is not a place, it is a situation and YuMi’s situation is about to get a lot worse. Tears fall from YuMi’s eyes in an instant, terrified by the implication. HyunJoo advises her to hold her tears for Hell only starts now. HyunJoo turns to walk away, leaving YuMi undone by guilt and shame. She makes one final unnerving remark, reminding YuMi that she will have to be lucky every time to survive. Now, of course, the spectre of HyunJoo didn’t really pay a visit to YuMi. Instead, it was her own subconscious, her ego, speaking to her in the real Anna’s voice. The story HyunJoo weaves might have nothing to do with reality but it is the one YuMi believes in. In the same breath, YuMi blames herself and justifies her actions, tells herself there’s no escape, and also reassures that she will be lucky. YuMi is fully aware that her actions have consequences and that the murky road she took to success will lead her to destruction but she hardly allows that actuality to break her. Rather, she becomes even more determined to see things through in her favour. Suzy is unbelievably immaculate in this scene and so is Jung EunChae. We’re witnessing two of the best actresses of this generation in dialogue and it is undoubtedly, an incredible experience. The subtlety in Suzy’s expressions, the hints of fear, rage, and shame they betray at the same time is mind-blowing, to say the least. “Anna” is definitely one of Suzy’s finest performances and needless to say, she outdid both herself and the industry. Have you watched “Anna”? What was your favorite scene in the series? Tell us in the comments section down below!
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