As You Stood By Review: Best friends Eun-su and Hui-su, both grappling with the trauma of their abusive pasts, find themselves coming up with a desperate plot to rid Hui-su of her abusive husband once and for all.
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As You Stood By Netflix Cast
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As You Stood By Series Director
Lee Jeong-rim
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As You Stood By 2025 Writer
Kim Hyo-jeong
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Original Title
당신이 죽였다
The series has 8 episodes, each with a runtime of around 60 minutes, and is based on Hideo Okuda’s 2014 novel Naomi and Kanako.
As You Stood By Review
In this thrilling Netflix series, we watch two young women, bonded through their traumas, decide to take matters into their own hands when one of them is violently abused by her husband. In this heartwrenching story, viewers are taken through several episodes full of terrifying situations and the reality of domestic abuse victims who are given no support to get out of their difficult situation.
Although the premise is familiar, the series brings a complexity to the situation that is unlike anything that you might expect. Although obvious, the series does a fantastic job of creating a terrifying tension that will drown your heart. Every minute that Hui-su spends at home with Jin-pyo will make anyone sit on the edge of their seats. The situation is so terrifyingly relatable that every minute feels thoroughly claustrophobic.
However, the best part about As You Stood By is the performances, especially Lee Yoo-mi, whose genuine terror will make you flinch with her. As she tries her best to please her husband, you both know things won’t improve. You’re there for her as she cowers in front of Jin-pyo, her self-esteem slowly chipped away. Lee is amazing and brings forth that heartbreaking fear to the surface extremely well.
On the other side of it is Eun-su, who is grappling with the guilt of not saving the different women in her life who have gone through hell and back. First her mother and then her client – however, she takes a drastic action with Hui-su that leaves her haunted yet satisfied. Kudos must also be given to Jang Seung-jo as well, who plays both No Jin-pyo and Jang Gang extremely well; he’s genuinely terrifying.
The relationship between Hui-su and Eun-su is also a very interesting part of the series, as it makes us root for the two friends even more. Understanding their pasts and their bond makes us root for them even more, but more so that it adds a layer of sweetness and hope to a very heartbreaking story. When things feel like they will go nowhere, the friendship between the two creates a sort of break from the terrible reality and gives us something to look forward to.
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The most interesting and eye-opening part about the series is the supporting characters, who are all too happy to look the other way as they see terrifying marks on Hui-su’s body. From Jin-pyo’s sister Jin-young to everyone else around Hui-su, the stigma surrounding domestic violence is so disgustingly apparent that it makes your skin crawl. At times, the story makes you want to scream, but mostly, it’s just a resigned heartache that lingers from start to end for women who go through something like this silently every day.
However, I think I will mention here that the last few episodes do tend to feel a bit forced and unnecessary, at least parts of them. I think I was a little confused about Jin-young’s story arc, as well as some other things that I won’t get into so as not to spoil anything. Although I followed Hui-su and Eun-su and rooted for them, there were moments when I found myself skipping forward. This definitely needed one less episode, but, honestly, I was still quite engaged for most of the runtime.
Final Thoughts
As You Stood By is a terrifying watch as it makes you feel heartbroken and helpless throughout the runtime. You want Hui-su and Eun-su to get out of this situation alive, but things simply get from bad to worse the deeper we get into these episodes, and it fills you with nothing but dread and desperation.
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