Cursed princess? Check. Black magic? Check. Yum Jung-ah? Check. That’s Secret Healer, otherwise known as Mirror of the Witch, for you. The fantasy-romance drama spans twenty episodes and originally aired between May and July last year.
Queen Shim (Jang Hee-jin) is a royal queen who is finally able to have children with the help of a shaman called Hong-joo (Yum Jung-ah). This help allows her to give birth to a prince. This is done by having the queen deceive a different shaman, Hae-ran (Jung In-seon) who sleeps with the king and fall pregnant with his child. Hong-joo then uses black magic to transfer the fetus to the queen; Hae-ran finds out and curses the baby. The queen actually gives birth to both a male and female heir, but must abandon the princess due to the curse. The princess is forced to live in isolation with shaman Choi Hyun-seo.
What happens next is a story of love and adventure, as Hyun-seo’s son falls in love with the princess. He and the son of a slave work together to try to lift the princess’ curse. But, do they succeed?
This drama is executed almost perfectly. Director Jo Hyun-Tak and writer Yang Hyuk-Moon work together well, complimenting each other stylistically. Inspired by the book “Dongui Bogam” compiled and written by Heo Jun, a royal physician, it has a really realistic vibe to it. The filming style is cinematic, and there’s a wide variety of camera angles in it; care has been taken to produce this drama. The actors work well as a team and don’t overshadow each other, further contributing to the seamlessness of this production. If there’s one drama you should start watching, it’s definitely this one: Secret Healer.
Watch the trailer below if you’re not convinced!
