A Good Lawyer’s Wife

The story unfolds in the early 2000s, a period of rapid urban change in South Korea. It portrays a society balancing traditional family roles with new freedoms and anxieties about fidelity and success. The era’s pressures deepen the characters’ secrets and the consequences of their choices.

Set in contemporary urban South Korea, the film follows a middle-class family navigating desire, duty, and reputation. The city’s spaces—home, gym, dance studio, cinema—frame the intimate drama. The setting highlights modern relationships and the social expectations shaping the characters’ decisions.

💔 Infidelity

Romantic and sexual infidelity drives the plot, exposing how desire unsettles marriages and trust. Ho-jeong’s pursuit of sexual fulfillment intersects with Yeong-jak’s emotional distance and affairs. Ji-woon’s voyeurism introduces a dangerous dynamic that escalates events beyond the couple’s control. The theme examines the fragile boundaries between longing, loyalty, and consequence.

🕰️ Legacy

The film ties personal turmoil to the weight of history, especially the Korean War’s legacy on families. Ju Yeong-jak’s father and grandfather’s past actions complicate present loyalties and secrets. The past emerges as a quiet force shaping trust, duty, and the couples’ responses to upheaval. The narrative uses memory to explain but not excuse choices.

🎭 Societal roles

Gender expectations and social performances underpin the drama. Ho-jeong sacrifices her dancing career to be a 'good wife,' while Yeong-jak’s career and behavior reveal emotional distance and infidelity. The film critiques how public facades mask private turmoil and the price of conformity. It invites reflection on how society rewards certain roles and disciplines others.