# The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (2018)

> A detective with a dying passion for his job becomes obsessed with a student murder disguised as suicide, while his younger sister falls for the prime suspect.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/70478

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 16
- Episode runtime: 64 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, mystery, drama
- Created by: Song Hye-jin
- Network: tvN
- Cast: Seo In-guk, Jung So-min, Park Sung-woong, Seo Eun-soo, Jang Young-nam, Kwon Soo-hyun, Go Min-si, Choi Byung-mo
- TMDB rating: 7.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8696768/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: melancholic, suspenseful, psychological, tense

## What critics say

Audiences rated the single season positively, praising its gripping investigation and emotionally charged romance.

## Synopsis

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (2018) is a South Korean crime mystery and melodrama series created by Song Hye-jin for tvN. Detective Kim Moo-Young (Seo In-guk), a weary investigator who has begun to think about quitting, takes on the death of a university student that was staged to look like suicide. The case becomes an obsession that pushes him past his professional limits. His younger sister Yoo Jin-Kang (Jung So-min) meets a man with no memory of his early childhood, and she feels sympathy for him even as her brother works to keep them apart. Kim suspects this man may be connected to the murder, and the investigation tightens around the family's secrets. The sixteen episodes, each about an hour long, unfold as one continuous serialized story rather than standalone cases. The tone is melancholic and suspenseful, with a psychological undertow and a romance that complicates every step of the chase. Viewers who enjoy Korean crime melodrama, Signal and Mother, or the moral murk of Mystic River will find resonance here. Sorrow and restlessness run through the story, which rewards patient, attentive viewing.

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