The Glory Is A Psychological Masterpiece That Is Not Easy To Binge

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Published Apr 20, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT

Memory Ngulube joined Screen Rant in April 2024 as part of the Movies and TV team. Since then, she has written for the Perennials and Streaming team, covering a wide range of topics from new releases to old movies and TV shows. Memory is currently a Classic TV writer.

Before joining Screen Rant, Memory was a freelance copywriter who specialized in email marketing and social media management. While she enjoyed her job, her true passion was always movies and TV.

When she isn’t writing for Screen Rant, Memory can be found reading, baking (which is one of her passions), or watching her favorite K-drama.

Among Netflix’s offerings is a perfect yet unsettling psychological thriller with a gripping and intense premise. Created by Kim Eun-sook, who drew inspiration from a conversation she had with her daughter about bullying, the streamer’s 16-part thriller earned acclaim for its unflinching exploration of trauma, justice, and revenge. The TV show in question offers a masterclass in how to create a series that allows audiences to sit in the discomfort of its subject matter rather than escape it, thanks to the meticulous crafting of each episode.

Several K-dramas have explored bullying and revenge in some capacity. In fact, some K-dramas that are considered masterpieces, like Itaewon Class, My Name, and Vicenzo, revolve around characters seeking revenge against those who wronged them. As commonplace as stories about payback are in the Korean drama landscape, not many have the kind of emotional weight as Netflix’s The Glory.

The Glory, in many ways, is more than a story about justice or righting wrongs. The series depicts the brutality of bullying and the psychological scars and long-term effects it has on its victims. The Netflix K-drama does an excellent job of lingering in its darkest moments, ensuring that the kind of trauma Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo) experienced helps audiences understand why she decided to walk the path of revenge.

From its first episode, when we meet Dong-eun and her classmates and teachers who make her life a living hell, The Glory establishes, through graphic violence, particularly with the scene depicting her getting burnt with a curling iron, that it was not an easy show to watch. The violence diminishes as the K-drama goes on, but the emotional weight and disturbing psychological games are present throughout the series.

The Glory Is An Exceptional Revenge TV Show

The Glory’s biggest appeal is how it shows that revenge can be executed in different ways. In the series, Dong-eun is not driven by impulses. Instead, she is anchored by her patience and precision. For years after she dropped out of high school, Dong-eun spent every moment planning her revenge to the point that it became all she knew.

Most K-dramas about revenge tend to focus on killing the wrongdoers. The Glory does the opposite, as it leans more towards psychological warfare. Every move Dong-eun makes is carefully planned from the time she becomes Yeon-jin’s (Lim Ji-yeon) kindergarten teacher to when she befriends her husband. She is calculated rather than reactive.

Dong-eun’s revenge plan is rooted in her need for the people who hurt her to suffer. She isn’t interested in giving them an easy way out by killing them, but gains satisfaction by inserting herself into their perfectly curated lives and watching them unravel as her plan comes together.

The Glory Redefines What A Psychological Thriller Should Be

Traditional psychological thrillers thrive on shocking plot twists or character arcs that are treated as spectacles rather than essential storytelling techniques. The Glory builds something slower and more methodical compared to other shows in the genre. The series is note-perfect in drawing essential narratives from Dong-eun’s trauma.

15 Best K-Dramas Like The Glory

The Glory is beloved for its revenge theme– and there are several other K-dramas with similar themes that are perfect for fans of the thriller.

The series is defined by Dong-eun’s pain and how it ultimately shapes the plans she makes and the path she chooses. The series doesn’t rely on spectacle or easy answers; Dong-eun’s trauma becomes the foundation on which The Glory is built, which makes the show feel less like a traditional thriller and more like a controlled psychological operation.

Perhaps where The Glory most excels as a psychological thriller is how it allows audiences in as Dong-eun revamps her life to mirror her revenge plan. The show immerses viewers into Dong-eun’s mindset to a point where you find yourself rooting for her and hoping that she gets the justice she deserves. It's this ability to make audiences care that makes The Glory one of the best psychological thrillers on Netflix.