Forget Squid Game: Netflix’s Brutal Psychological Thriller Has 16 Episodes—and May Be Even Better
A revenge plan years in making
As a teenager, Moon Dong-eun is targeted by a group of affluent classmates led by Park Yeon-jin. When she seeks help, the school and authorities fail to protect her.
Years later, Dong-eun becomes a teacher at the elementary school attended by Yeon-jin’s daughter. She has spent years preparing to confront her former tormentors, studying their vulnerabilities and steering them toward conflict with one another.
Performances deepen the conflict
Song Hye-kyo plays Dong-eun with restraint, using small gestures to convey the effects of her past. The series shows how memories of her trauma continue to affect her as an adult.
Lim Ji-yeon portrays Yeon-jin as a successful adult who retains her sense of entitlement. Lee Do-hyun plays Joo Yeo-jeong, a doctor who supports Dong-eun, while Yeom Hye-ran plays Kang Hyeon-nam, whose own troubled life complicates her role in the plan. The article spells Song Hye-kyo’s name as “Song Hye-kyoo” in one passage.
A deliberate, uneasy payback
The two-part release gives the story time to establish Dong-eun’s preparations and the relationships surrounding her targets before those connections become pressure points. The plan brings satisfaction as it develops, but remains unpredictable.
Unlike Squid Game, The Glory focuses on bullying, privilege and institutions that failed to act. Dong-eun’s tactics are manipulative, and the story does not present revenge as simple; viewers can support her effort to expose her former classmates while questioning what may remain after the plan ends. The early depictions of bullying and violence are intense, though they show the lasting harm Dong-eun endures.
Key points
- The Glory tells Dong-eun’s revenge story across 16 episodes.
- Dong-eun’s plan targets former classmates who bullied her and escaped accountability.
- The series explores bullying, privilege and institutional failure, alongside the moral cost of revenge.
- Early scenes depict intense bullying and violence.