When the Phone Rings

"When the Phone Rings" (2024-25) started with a different sort of premise.  A woman who is supposed to be mute is sending threatening messages with a man's voice to a man we learn is her husband.  Over the next 12 episodes we learn of secrets and misunderstandings and deal with evil.

For the previous 12 months this has been one of the most compelling series.  When I grew up my family would watch a lot of story series, notably "I Love Lucy" and "Perry Mason" and we were quite used to waiting a week for the next adventure.  Many of the series I now watch are already totally available and I admit I sometimes binge to one degree or another.  With this series I got hooked early, but they are rolling it out over 12 episodes spread over 43 days.  I usually try to spread out my viewing, but with "When the Phone Rings" I felt compelled to watch each new episode right away, disrupting other things.  As I write this I am very anxious to find out what happens next as there have been so many twists.

The main female lead, Hong Hee-joo is not deaf,  nor mute but acts mute and becomes very adept at sign language to the point of getting high government posts.  Her marriage seems extremely platonic and not acknowledged for most of his acquaintances.  Apart from her husband she has obtained a smart phone that allows her to speak while the voice transmitted is that of a male and she threatens him, mocking him with information that almost all insiders would not know.

Paik Sa-eon, the husband is the son of a powerful politician  and well regarded (and feared by some).  He was originally supposed to marry the elder sister, the daughter of an important media owner.  When the intended bride took off,  Hee-joo was a desperate last minute solution.  He treats his wife very platonically, even verbally abusive.  They sleep in different rooms.  Almost all his contacts do not realize he is married.  One of her mocking calls, laughs that he has never seen her naked and she has a mole on her thigh which he abruptly verifies.

The mystery boils down to how they both ended up like this and what happens next.  As in films and life, outside events intrude to create more havoc.  At heart they are both basically decent people who got off on the wrong foot.  The secrets and misunderstandings lead to a lot of tension.  For viewers there are almost endless twists.

To create and maintain this level of engagement a lot of people were essential.  Here are some of them.

Ji Woon Kim was the writer.

Park Sang Woo was the director.  He has 2 directing credits including "Melancholia" (2011).    http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/07/melancholia.html

Yoo Yeon-seok played the leading man, Paik Sa-eon.  He has 36 acting credits including "Oldboy" (2003). "The Werewolf Boy" (2012) and "The Beauty Inside" (2015).

Chae Soo-bin played the leading lady, Hong Hee-joo who was very professional at sign language.  She has 20 acting credits.

 Heo Nam-jun played a psychiatrist  Ji Sang-woo who had been friends with Hee-joo.  He has 6 acting credits.

Jang Gyu-ri played a broadcast colleague with Ji Sang-woo.  She had been a member of the girl band Fromis.  She has 23 acting credits including "It's Okay not to be Okay" (2020).   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/03/its-okay-not-to-be-okay.html

Han Jae-yi played Hong In-ah, the sister to Hee-joo.  She has 20 acting credits including "Something in the Rain" (2018), "See You in my 19th Life" (2023) and "Mask Girl" (2023).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/08/mask-girl.html

Im Chul-soo played Kang Yeong-woo, a close friend of Paik Sa-eon.  He has 17 acting credits including "Crash Landing on You" (2019-2029), "Vincenzo" (2021) and "Queen of Tears" (2024).  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/02/crash-landing-on-you-very-addicting.htm and http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/05/queen-of-tears.html  

"When the Phone Rings" is available subtitled on Netflix.  You will have the chance to binge and enjoy without the unncessary waiting. As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily a recommendation, but generally I found them worthy of my time.  If you follow the links you should be better able to determine if a particular film is worth following up.