The Price of Confession – Series Review | Netflix

THE PRICE OF CONFESSION on Netflix is a new mystery crime thriller series from South Korea. As always, this means high production value and a character-driven plot. With 12 episodes in the season, you know there will be plenty of twists and turns along the way. Read our The Price of Confession season 1 review here!

THE PRICE OF CONFESSION is a new Netflix series from South Korea (org. title: Jabaekui Daega). It has a crime, thriller, mystery plot and a character-driven storyline that plays out over 12 (yes, twelve) hour-long episodes. It’s a good thing that this is an intelligent and well-produced show, as that is a fairly long season by the current standards of Netflix.

Also, if you’re a fan of South Korean Netflix productions, then you should recognize quite a lot of the lead actors in this new 2025 series. With the tagline of “Innocence, questioned. Confessions, exchanged”, you already know this will get messy along the way. If you’ve watched the trailer for the series, it gives you a good idea of what to expect… and not just details from episode 1.

Continue reading our The Price of Confession season 1 review below. Find it on Netflix from December 5, 2025.

Who can you believe and trust?

As The Price of Confession opens, we’re getting a fairly classic murder case. A man has been killed, and his wife, Yun-su, is quickly suspected. We follow both the wife and the prosecutor, where the latter isn’t too worried about following rules. He also doesn’t care too much about details that don’t fit his theory that the wife killed her husband.

So, basically, this begins as many true crime documentaries about wrongful incarceration. But could the wife be guilty even if the prosecutor is a jerk who wants to help protect corrupt cops and “higher-ups”? Well, this is a South Korean production, so you should never feel too sure or confident about anything.

Whatever you believe, what you will know is that a widowed woman asking for a mild coffee during police questioning, and “admitting” to loving CSI or just smiling, is enough to make her look guilty to certain detectives. And also, you will learn that a woman she meets in prison, Mo Eun, has an offer that is difficult to refuse.

At least when all other options are worse!

Mo Eun is said to be everything from a witch to a murderer and a psychopath. However, she offers the imprisoned widow to confess that she killed Yun-su’s husband. The thing is, Mo Eun has actually done a lot of bad things (brutal things), so she isn’t getting out of prison, and she has unfinished business. If Mo Eun confesses, Yun-su will be let out and can complete this “business”.

Wonderful casting of this South Korean Netflix series

In the lead role as Yun-su, who is charged with her husband’s murder, we see Jeon Do-yeon. The name may not ring a bell, but she played the title role in the Netflix movie Kill Boksoon, where she was an assassin. If you haven’t watched Kill Boksoon yet (or the spin-off Mantis), then you definitely should. Find our review of it right here >

MORE STARRING JEON DO-YEON…

Check out Beasts Clawing at Straws (2020) as well >

As the enigmatic and often quite terrifying Mo Eun, we get Kim Go-eun. She portrays a very intense character in The Price of Confession, but you may also recognize her from the South Korean 2024 horror movie Exhuma. Another big recommendation from me!

In other key roles are more familiar faces. These include Squid Game’s Park Hae-soo as prosecutor Baek Dong-hun. Also, Jin Sun-kyu (Space Sweepers) as the lawyer Jang Jeong-gu, and Choi Young-joon (Gyeongseong Creature) in yet another supporting role.

Watch The Price of Confession on Netflix now

The Price of Confession comes from creators Lee Jung-hyo & Kwon Jong-kwan. They also double as director and writer on the episodes, respectively. Previously, Lee Jung-hyo has worked on the crime mystery sci-fi series Life on Mars and the Netflix rom-com series Doona! with Kwon Jong-kwan, who has made Sad Movie (2005) and Proof of Innocence (2015).

While there is a lot of story to cover in this Netflix series from South Korea, and it is very character-driven, I do feel 12 episodes are a lot for this series. Maybe it would have been better to release it as two seasons, with six episodes in each season. Or maybe I just get overwhelmed with everything else coming out.

I loved the cast and the style of this South Korean production, but then again, I would have been more surprised if it wasn’t the case. Maybe it’s unfair that I want the pacing and storytelling tighter when part of the allure of these series from South Korea is that they take their time.

Admittedly, the story is fascinating, and the premise is solid, but it is also very long. Even too long. For me, anyway.

The Price of Confession is out on Netflix from December 5, 2025.

Details

Creators: Lee Jung-hyo & Kwon Jong-kwan
Director: Lee Jung-hyo
Writer: Kwon Jong-kwan
Cast: Jeon Do-yeon, Kim Go-eun, Park Hae-soo, Jin Sun-kyu