Miss Baek ~ Korean Film Based on a True Story

“Miss Baek” is an award-winning 2018 Korean Crime movie based on a true story, streaming on Viki. (**SPOILER ALERT!**)

SUMMARY: A young woman who was abused and abandoned as a child find an abused child on the streets. She tries not get involved since the child has parents. But the abusive treatment of the child becomes too much for her to ignore.

♦ I Can’t Be a Wife or a Mom But I Care

In “Miss Baek”, is the true story of a young woman who put her life in jeopardy to save the life of a child. Baek Sang-A has a childhood filled with memories she would like to erase, but she can’t. Her mother would get very drunk and then beat her. One day, the mother decided that enough was enough. Realizing she had a problem and might end up killing her own child, she abandoned her daughter instead. According to her mother’s reasoning (which one might debate as to whether or not it is sound reasoning), it is better to let her daughter go than risk hurting her when she is in a drunken rage. Although, there was an alternate solution. Such as?  The mother could have tried to overcome her drinking addiction and live like a decent human being! But what’s done is done.

Baek Sang-A’s life was not easier just because her mother was no longer a part of her life. She ended up going to prison for attempted murder. She said it was an act of self-defense. However, she was an orphan and the person who attacked her was from a reputable family. It was more “convenient” for the police to say she tried to kill the young man. Nobody was going to come to her defense and prove her story was true. She was wrongfully accused, sent to prison, served her time, and released. But now she must live the rest of her life with a criminal record that says she attempted to murder someone.

Baek Sang-A supports herself by working all types of odd jobs, from car washing to being a masseuse. There is a man who wants to marry her, but she says her mind is too messed up to be a good wife and especially she can’t be a good mother. She constantly refuses his marriage proposal and he continuously chooses to stay by her side and be a good friend.  He refuses to abandon her, even if he rejects him.

♦ I Can’t Be a Mom But I Care What Happens to That Child

One day Baek Sang-A sees Kim Ji-Eun standing in the street. The child is dirty. It’s a brutally cold winter and the child is not properly dressed for the weather and it’s obvious she is hungry. Since she was an abused child herself, Baek Sang-A knew instantly that the little girl was suffering. Rather than pretend she didn’t see her and didn’t care, she took Kim Ji-Eun to a restaurant and fed her. She tells the girl to call her “Miss Baek”. Kim Ji-Eun’s stepmother appears pretending to be concerned, and apologizing that the child pretends to be hungry to get sympathy. The stepmother says the little girl is being taken care of by her parents and everything is fine.

In another incident, Baek Sang-A takes Kim Ji-Eun to the police to report that the child I being abused. The police tell her that the law is in favor of the parents. Plus, the little girl says that the bruises on her body are from falling and her parents did not do anything to her. Also, Baek Sang-A has a criminal record and the parents don’t. The police say their hands are tied and they have no other choice but to send the child home with her parents.

In yet another incident, the child climbs out of the window of her home in a desperate attempt to find her way to Miss Baek, the only person who seems to care whether she lives or dies. So as not to be found guilty of child abuse and sent to prison, the parents try to frame Miss Baek for kidnapping. She already has a criminal record so it should be easy to do. Kim Ji-Eun had hoped Miss Baek could defend her. But who is going to defend Miss Baek?

Main Characters:

• Baek Sang-A (played by Han Ji-Min, “Behind Your Touch”, “Rooftop Prince”)
• Kim Ji-Eun (played by Kim Si-A, this film was the debut of the 9-year-old actress; won Best Actress at the 3rd Sharm El Sheikh Asian Film Festival)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb rating: 6.8 out of 10 stars
• MyDramaList: 8.2 out of 10 stars
• Letterboxd: 3.5 out of 5 stars
• Viki viewers rated this film 9.5 out of 10 stars

My personal rating is the same as the Viki viewers.

**SPOILER ALERT!**

“Miss Baek” is based on a true story and is not for the faint of heart. This movie highlights and amplifies one thing I HATE about certain justice systems. It’s this nonsense about reducing the sentence because the accused is a “first-time offender”. Oh! He abused an innocent child for 10 years and almost killed her but … he doesn’t have a criminal record and that makes him a “first-time offender”?????????????

DO I NEED A FRIGGIN MEGAPHONE TO BURST YOUR EARDRUMS?

• The sentence is reduced because it’s the FIRST TIME???!! HIS FIRST TIME??
• Count 10 years. Count 365 days in each of those years.
• That’s 3,650 times he offended that child and DID NOT GET ARRESTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR THE CRIME!
• Should the times when the child was brought to the police station WITH OBVIOUS SIGNS OF ABUSE ON HER BODY and the police sent her back home with her abusive parent be counted?
• And the justice system writes it off as his “first time”????????

LINKS OF INTEREST:

‘Miss Baek’ (‘Mi-sseu-baek’): Film Review | Tokyo 2018 | The Hollywood Reporter

Miss Baek (South Korea, 2018) – Review | AsianMovieWeb

Child Abuse, Drugs and Justice: Korean Dramas That Resonate in Egypt | Egyptian Streets

TRAILER/TEASER:

KoBiz, KoreanFilmBiz. “Miss Baek (2018).” YouTube, 2 Oct. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFJS8M2SjWo.

♦

PopGeeks Reviews of Other K-Dramas That Address Child Abuse: Castaway Diva; Twinkling Watermelon; and Ghost Station.