Truth and lies blur in Netflix’s upcoming romance-mystery The Trunk starring Seo Hyun-jin (Why Her) and Gong Yoo (The Silent Sea) in a secretive marriage. NM (New Marriage) is a service that matches people with contractual spouses, and their latest client is Han Jung-won (Gong Yoo).
The circumstances of this strange matrimony started with Jung-won’s ex-wife — played by Jung Yoon-ha (Big Bet) — recommending him to the company. The trailer opens to Jung-won getting ready for the big day alongside Noh In-ji (Seo Hyun-jin), and neither look particularly thrilled for this one-year relationship. As Eom Ji-won (Cold Blooded Intern) announces them husband and wife, no one applauds, let alone smiles.
The trailer then introduces the mystery element of this plot and the show’s namesake, the trunk. The police ask Jung-won if he knows the owner, and he tells them that it is his wife’s possession. As the scene cuts to In-ji’s interrogation room, the police ask, “Which wife?”
Married life for Jung-won and In-ji is fraught with tension as he wonders about the point of a fake marriage. She tells him that some people desperately cling to a façade in order to hide their loneliness, and as the camera cuts to Jung-won alone on his bed, it seems he may be familiar with that desire, too.
Though Jung-won’s ex-wife hoped to punish him with this request, she also calls it a vacation, but her control of the situation may be slipping as real emotions start bleeding into the two’s fake relationship. The unease that once permeated their interactions turn into an array of new experiences as they kiss, smile, and laugh together.
In-ji confronts Jung-won’s ex, asking if she is afraid of the fake becoming real, and his ex-wife screams at her for knowing nothing. Meanwhile, another man asks Jung-won if he really thinks In-ji is his wife, and Jung-won pushes back, wondering how much more he needs to break in order for his ex-wife to be satisfied. Despite our fake couple developing something more between them, In-ji believes marriage is disgusting, so Jung-won counters with the idea that they might be destined for each other.
Directed by PD Kim Kyu-tae (Our Blues) with scripts penned by Park Eun-young (Hwarang), Netflix’s The Trunk will drop all eight episodes on Friday, November 29.