Presenting what comes after desperate decisions, A Model Family examines humans’ motivation for evil.
In a world where money is a necessity, morality, familial ties, and loyalty are readily disposable. Depicting a situation where one prioritizes family despite involvement in evil, A Model Family offers a slow-burn story of a family man who dips into the world of crime.
- Main Cast: Jung Woo | Park Hee Soon | Yoon Jin Seo | Park Ji Yeon
- Supporting Cast: Choi Moo Sung | Kim Sung Oh | Won Hyun Joon | Moon Jin Seung
- Streaming Site: Netflix
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Marcie Line watched A Model Family on Netflix
A Model Family Quick Plot Recap
Bribing a university director to secure his professor position, Park Dong-ha (Jung Woo) loses the money for his son’s surgery. Also close to facing a divorce with his wife Kang Eun-joo (Yoon Jin Seo), Dong-ha thinks about his family’s situation in his car parked in the middle of the road.
Crashing into his car from the back, Dong-ha sees two unconscious men covered in blood in the vehicle. Sitting with them is a bag of money, which Dong-ha decides to take considering his situation.
As he takes the money with him, Dong-ha cleans the car and disposes of it far from where he saw it. Meanwhile, he buries the two bodies he found in his family’s backyard.
Tracking where the money that was supposed to be delivered back to the Sangseon ring, Kwang-chul (Park Hee Soon) moves into Dong-ha’s neighborhood. Discovering Dong-ha’s involvement, Kwang-chul designates him as their drug mule.
Moving into the neighborhood also, Kang Joo-hyun (Park Ji Yeon), an officer from the narcotics division, follows Kwang-chul and secretly investigates.
In her team’s investigation in the neighborhood, Joo-hyun realizes the involvement of people who looked innocent and ordinary in the large-scale drug crime.
A Model Family Series Highlights
Central Role of Family and Money in Human Motivation
In the beginning, Park Dong-ha is introduced as an ordinary professor who lives for his family. Dedicated to moving up in his career for his family, he touches money that he does not own. Throughout the series, viewers could grasp the emphasis on family as the source of human desperation, evident in Dong-ha, Yong-soo, and other characters.
Not limited to blood-related relations, the series also points out organizations that claim to have familial-like ties. Comparisons on the loyalty inside the familial ties existing in the series can be made.
Money can both build and burn bridges even in families. The series just goes to show that although motivated for the good of one’s family, immoral means always bring destructive consequences.
Hiding Evil Behind Innocent Faces
The bad can be best hidden in the good. Dong-ha who is free from suspicions of the police becomes the best figure to be a drug mule. That is because he looks innocent, and is free from violations, which automatically passes as innocent in common human eyes.
Shown also in the series, officers from the police force like Moon Jung-kook and the messenger, who looks committed to wiping out criminality, are not free from betraying people’s trust for their own interests. Through those characters, the series questions how humans judge people based on their external appearance and status.
Elaborate Depiction of an Organized Crime
Focusing on drug rings, the series portrays how drug distributors operate. Yong-soo and Kwang-chul originally worked together following the messenger. However, as they rip apart and other individuals become involved, they compete on directly working with the Sangseon ring.
Viewers could become familiarized with the complexity of drug rings through the series. As complicated as it may seem, the crime is not solely operated by an individual, but instead involves various organizations, which may also include large agencies such as the police force.
A Model Family Series Musings
Graphic scenes can be expected throughout the series. Although some parts may be extremely violent, the series is a slow-burn and follows a serious tone, which can be sedative for viewers not into this type of genre and storytelling.
For the portrayal of the characters, the acting in the series is solid. Actors and actresses have delivered their characters well.
Dong-ha is not fully evil, but his character can be frustrating at times. He claims he can do everything on his own for his family, but his choices bring danger to them most of the time. The cops cannot guarantee full safety, but Dong-ha who chose to bribe their director and touch the money in the van started everything.
Tracking back Dong-ha’s history, Eun-joo already told him that it’s also fine if he would not become a professor. Eun-joo may be wrong for becoming unsupportive of her husband, but Dong-ha’s stubbornness could also be partly the reason for their family’s downfall.
Every family has its own problems and wounds, and this series points out how this could influence a person’s decisions in life. Innocent-looking people such as family-oriented people are not always free from criminality.
Money can be used for good and evil, and it lies on the person if it would be a source of betrayal among close relations such as family. Dong-ha who receives a call on his 2G phone by the end could imply that he has not freed himself from evil, opening the opportunity for a sequel.
Watch A Model Family on Netflix.
Photos: Netflix
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