My First Client

My First Client (original title Eorin uiroein, 2019) is a Korean drama directed by Jang Kyu-sung, who co-wrote it with Min Kyung-eun. It follows Jung-yeob, an ambitious young lawyer. He struggles to find work in Seoul, then takes a post at a child welfare center in his hometown.

There he meets Da-bin, a 10-year-old girl who reports abuse by her stepmother, Ji-sook. Jung-yeob can see what is happening to Da-bin and her younger brother, but he feels unable to act. He leaves for a job at a Seoul law firm and does not say goodbye.

Later, terrible news reaches him, and Da-bin becomes his first real client. The film is based on a true story. It works as a legal drama and as a study of how adults and institutions fail children who are asking for help.

The film argues that child abuse persists because of bystanders as much as abusers. Good people who see the signs and decide it is not their business, or not their career, share the guilt. Jung-yeob's arc is a reckoning with his own convenient indifference.

It is also a call for social and legal awareness. Reviewers note that it draws attention to weaknesses in how the law protects children, and that the director felt a responsibility to raise awareness. Its weight comes from the true events behind it.

One reading sees Jung-yeob as a stand-in for the audience, whose guilt is meant to be shared. Another sees the film as an indictment of the legal profession's careerism. Some viewers see its commercial devices as softening the horror, while others find them necessary to reach a wide audience.

The film is based on a real case, in which a woman killed her young stepdaughter and pressured the girl's older sister into claiming responsibility. It is regarded as a drama that brings awareness to child abuse and to problems in the law. Reviewers also call it a Korean masterpiece on the subject, though some find it melodramatic.

Viewers praise the child actors' performances, the emotional impact and the film's role in raising awareness. IMDb shows 7.4/10, and MyDramaList reviewers rate it highly. Criticism centres on over-dramatic touches, commercial-feeling elements and a lack of plot twists. Many warn that the content is graphic and hard to watch. The overall verdict is a harrowing but worthwhile film.