Don't Stand By: When Desperation Becomes the Only Way Out

Seoul, South Korea. Jo Eun-su works as an assistant manager in the VIP department of a luxury department store, selling high-quality watches. Despite her seemingly impeccable image, she hides an unresolved childhood trauma: as a child, she grew up in a home marked by episodes of domestic violence, hiding in the closet with her younger brother to escape her alcoholic father's outbursts of rage towards her mother. The only reason she survived that hell was Jo Hui-su, her best friend from high school who saved her, promising her that things would get better.

And now Eun-su is determined to return the favor. As we tell you in the review of Don't Stand By, a new Netflix series based on the novel Naomi & Kanako by Japanese writer Hideo Okuda, today Hui-su, once a promising children's book author, finds herself trapped in a hellish marriage with Noh Jin-pyo, a violent and obsessive husband who, behind the facade of a respectable man and scion of high society, conceals unscrupulous cruelty. Together, the two friends will plan to get rid of the man forever, but the situation will take a completely unexpected turn... 

Don't Stand By: A Matter of Gazes

The screenplay for Don't Stand By, although based on the aforementioned book, has several points in common with a film – coincidentally also Japanese, like the source material – released a few years ago in the Netflix catalog, titled Ride or Die (2021). But if there the protagonists were also bound by a burning passion, here it is solely friendship – albeit one ready for anything – that characterizes the bond between Eun-su and Hui-su.

While it's true that the theme of domestic violence has been explored countless times in contemporary serials, the series manages to carve out its own space thanks to an uncompromising staging, high-level performances, and a story that draws heavily from the tropes of the Korean scene, even at the cost of sacrificing plausibility for entertainment with pulp influences and rich in plot twists.

The operation, though not without some logical slips and at least a couple of obvious contrivances, manages to maintain high tension, both psychological and gender-based, until the conclusion of the last episode, not sparing brutality and showdowns, in a story that tackles a serious and highly topical theme in its own way, with visceral personality.

Unity is Strength

The relationship between the two women is the beating heart of the series. It's not simply friendship but an intimate and indissoluble connection because, albeit in different ways, they have shared the same trauma, thus recognizing each other's pain. This feeling is made even clearer and more palpable thanks to the complete synergy between actresses Jeon So-nee and Lee Yoo-mi (the latter already a familiar face to Netflix subscribers, having been seen in Squid Game), who manage to bring credible figures to life even in their contradictions, tremendously human even when they succumb, albeit justifiably, to revenge and lies.

Also noteworthy is the array of secondary characters, from the violent husband's detective sister who is ready to do anything to hide her brother's horrible crimes, to the owner of the Jinkang Store who, having experienced a similar tragedy in the past, offers to help them unconditionally.

As mentioned, not everything works; at times, it asks too much of the viewer's suspension of disbelief, with some developments that risk clashing with the urgent plausibility of the premise and steering the narrative towards a more self-serving entertainment. But Don't Stand By nonetheless has the merit of drawing attention to sensitive and pressing topics, and if sometimes it's necessary to push the envelope a bit to achieve this goal, we certainly don't feel like condemning this instinctive approach.