One of the first things that the protagonist says in this series is that “People; They even lie in their private diaries.” Thus ‘lying’ is treated as something innate in human beings. But what happens when a single lie leads you to more lies? The protagonist here is a liar who builds her life on a series of lies. She does it convincingly and unapologetically.
Bae Suzy transforms into Lee Yumi/ Anna, the latter being the false identity she assumes. This is a despicable character whom you should hate, yet you understand her in some way or other. You feel that the people whom she lied to did not deserve her honesty with the single exception of her father. Written and directed by Lee Joo-young, Anna is a psychological thriller based on Inmate Stranger by Chang Han-ah. Anna starts working as an art teacher even without having a university degree. But she is an artist who has mastered the art of lying. No one doubts her, not even her husband.
The series also portrays the idea of “appearances can be deceptive” and ridicules how society places beauty as a tool of judging a person. Anna is extremely beautiful. So there is absolutely no room for any kind of skepticism. Characters blindly believe her because her appearance does not shout out LIAR. She gets her way through the extremely superficial, that is, her good looks and kind personality.
Bae Suzy showcases her career best performance in Anna. She portrays the enigma, the complexity and naivety of Anna as she grows as an adult from her childhood through her teenage years. No one knows why she behaves this way. Probably even she herself does not know. We feel like she is just living her present instinctively. We do not see her planning or scheming anything. It is almost as if everything that is coming her way is seeking her out. She is so mysterious in the sense that we do not know what she is thinking.
Anna is one of those occasional moments in popular culture. How often do we see female protagonists playing despicable characters? Anna drives you and feeds your curiosity. You want to know more and more about her. She is one of the rarest characters ever created for television.
Arya is a curious soul and nerd who loves books and cinema. You can read her articles on Medium. You can also follow her on Instagram where she talks about her favourite books and movies.