Revenge of Others is a gripping South Korean teen thriller that explores themes of grief, justice, and hidden truths. Set against the backdrop of a high school riddled with secrets and violence, the story follows students who take justice into their own hands, blurring the line between right and wrong. With its dark atmosphere and emotional intensity, the series keeps viewers on edge from start to finish.
Review
Revenge of Others isn’t just a high school revenge thriller — it’s a cold-blooded meditation on justice, grief, and how violence wears the mask of righteousness when love gets broken. At first glance, the show teases you with familiar ingredients: bullying, mysterious deaths, masked vigilantes, and a heroine in search of answers. But what it delivers is much more psychologically twisted, narratively disorienting, and emotionally charged than expected.
When Ok Chan-mi transfers schools after her twin brother’s sudden and suspicious death, she is not just chasing truth — she is chasing closure. But what she finds is a labyrinth of lies, hierarchies, and personal hells hiding behind school uniforms. The show subtly dismembers the social ecosystem of teenagers, exposing how cruelty can be institutionalized, how teachers turn into spectators, and how friendships collapse under the weight of secrets.
The characters here are not designed to be easily likable or forgivable. And that’s precisely what makes them human. Ji Soo-heon, the mysterious student who appears to carry out vengeance on behalf of bullied victims, is no dark knight. He is angry, scared, and burdened by his own impending fate — a terminal illness that quietly turns every act of revenge into a countdown. He’s not fighting for justice. He’s fighting to feel alive before he disappears.
This moral ambiguity is what sets Revenge of Others apart from other dramas in its genre. The show isn’t asking who did it? but why does it keep happening? Every time a new character emerges, their pain is presented not as backstory, but as motivation. You begin to see that revenge isn’t about justice — it’s about identity. It’s about reclaiming control in a world that’s already written you off.
Visually, the drama has a noir-like texture. Shadows dominate the frame, fluorescent school corridors feel like arenas, and even quiet scenes feel like preludes to emotional explosions. The use of handheld camerawork during confrontational scenes gives a chaotic, visceral urgency, mimicking the instability of the characters themselves. The pacing is deliberate, sometimes even frustrating — but that tension is purposeful. This is not a show of easy payoffs.
One of the most compelling themes running underneath the plot is the notion of proxy pain — the idea that we sometimes take revenge not for ourselves, but for the pain we see in others, which reflects our own. Chan-mi’s quest is never just about her brother. It’s about her guilt, her need to undo absence. Similarly, Soo-heon’s masked crusades are never just for justice — they are ways to bleed in advance for a death he knows is inevitable.
There are no pure villains here. Even the bullies are written with disturbing depth, shaped by pressure, neglect, or fear. And that’s what makes every punch thrown and every tear shed feel real — because even when justice is served, you don’t feel satisfaction. You feel exhaustion.
The ending doesn’t tie everything up in a bow. It leaves you unsettled, perhaps even angry — because, in the end, Revenge of Others is not about victory. It’s about what revenge costs, and whether truth can heal or only scar deeper. It doesn’t glorify violence. It exposes it. And in doing so, it forces us to confront an uncomfortable truth: when justice fails, the need for vengeance isn’t heroic — it’s human.
Information
Revenge of Others is a South Korean teen revenge thriller web series directed by Kim Yoo-jin and written by Lee Hee-myung. The series premiered on Disney+ on November 9, 2022, and concluded on December 14, 2022, comprising 12 episodes in its first season. The main cast includes Shin Ye-eun as Ok Chan-mi and Lomon (Park Solomon) as Ji Soo-heon. The supporting cast features Seo Ji-hoon, Chae Sang-woo, Lee Soo-min, Jung Soo-bin, and Kim Joo-ryoung.
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