Choi Min Sik & Choi Hyun Wook: Boys at the End

The Netflix series 'The Boy Next Door' is a suspense drama about a failed writer and Korean literature professor, Heo Mun-oh (Choi Min-sik), who discovers the genius of Lee Kang (Choi Hyun-wook), a student sitting in the back row of his classroom. Based on a play by Spanish writer Juan Mayorga, it delves into the human desires and inferiority complexes hidden within the gaze directed at genius.

The story begins from the perspective of Heo Mun-oh, who has been in a slump for 20 years. Humiliated by his former peer, writer Kim Soo-hoon, Heo Mun-oh lives unable to escape his limitations. While maintaining a seemingly stable life, he is inwardly consumed by inferiority. Fueled by the inferiority of 'not being recognized,' he constantly envies the talents of others and resents the world he could not reach.

Lee Kang, an engineering student who appears before Heo Mun-oh, possesses the 'talent' that Heo Mun-oh has yearned for his entire life but never had. Lee Kang enters a friend's house, observes their family, and writes down their downfall in a novel. Heo Mun-oh discovers potential in his writing. However, his interest soon transcends mere teacherly affection and begins to transform into desire. What drives this story is not Lee Kang's talent, but the human ugliness within Heo Mun-oh.

The greatest strength of 'The Boy Next Door' is its ability to densely build uncomfortable psychology. Heo Mun-oh's inferiority has solidified over a long time, becoming a swamp of emotions from which he cannot escape. Through Lee Kang's talent, he attempts to prove himself to writer Kim Soo-hoon in a twisted way.

At the heart of this work is Choi Min-sik's overwhelming performance. Choi Min-sik does not hide the shabbiness and ugliness of the character Heo Mun-oh, revealing the unvarnished face of a human consumed by desire. Facing him, Choi Hyun-wook's Lee Kang creates mystery with an inscrutable face and an unpredictable aura.