The Art of Sarah

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The Art of Sarah is an eight-episode Netflix mystery thriller starring Shin Hae-sun and Lee Jun-hyuk. After a body believed to be Sarah Kim's is found in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, detective Park Mu-gyeong checks, one by one, the conflicting accounts that the people around her give of the woman who was the Asia branch head of the luxury brand Boudoir.

Netflix released all eight episodes at once at 5 p.m. on February 13, 2026. The Netflix Korea page rates it 15+. It is an original screenplay not based on any existing work, and the debut of writer Chu Song-yeon, who wrote it during an internship after winning a screenwriting competition. It was produced by SLL. In Netflix's Global Top 10, it ranked third in the non-English shows category in the week of February 9–15, which included its release date, rose to No. 1 with 10 million views (hours viewed divided by runtime) in the week of February 16–22, and stayed at No. 1 the following week of February 23–March 1. It spent a total of four weeks in the category's Top 10.

It was directed by Kim Jin-min. At MBC, he directed Time Between Dog and Wolf (2007), Pride and Prejudice (2014) and Marriage Contract (2016), among others, before leaving the network in 2016, and he went on to make the Netflix series Extracurricular (2020), My Name (2021) and Goodbye Earth (2024). The Art of Sarah is his fourth OTT series. At the launch press conference, Kim said he took on the project because he enjoyed how the script was structured so you could never tell what was coming next, and because it was a script with a great deal to do, which made him want to take on the challenge. Cinematography was by Joo Song-rim, editing by Nam Na-yeong and costumes by Cho Sang-kyung.

Shin Hae-sun plays Sarah Kim, and Lee Jun-hyuk plays Park Mu-gyeong, the police inspector with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Violent Crimes Investigation Unit who takes on the case. The two are working together on the same project again for the first time since tvN's Stranger (2017). Episode 1, "Jane Doe," opens at Boudoir's new product launch party and turns into an investigation when a body that cannot be identified is found in a drain on Cheongdam-dong's luxury shopping street. Tracing the buyer of a luxury bag left beside the body, the police reach Jeong Yeo-jin (Park Bo-kyung), CEO of the cosmetics brand Nox, who says she gave the bag to her friend Sarah Kim. Yet her name, age, education and background all remain unverified. In episode 2, "Sarah Kim," Mu-gyeong traces Sarah Kim's past a step further as he hears testimony from Woo Hyo-eun (Jung Da-bin), who once worked at Boudoir. Bae Jong-ok plays Choi Chae-u, chair of Samwol Department Store; Kim Jae-won plays Kang Ji-hwon, Chae-u's personal secretary; and Jung Jin-young plays Hong Seong-shin, head of a moneylending firm.

In an interview after the release, Shin said she had received the scripts only up to episode 4 and was desperate to know how it ended, adding that this time she chose the project largely because the case intrigued her more than the character. At the launch press conference, she explained that she tried to distinguish Sarah Kim's changing appearance from scene to scene visually by varying her costumes and makeup, and in an interview she said she pitched Sarah Kim's voice lower and calmer than her own. Kim Jin-min said Mu-gyeong was as difficult a role as Sarah Kim, or even more so, because the gaze of the detective pursuing her is the viewer's gaze. At the 5th Blue Dragon Series Awards, held on July 31, 2026, Shin won Best Actress and Park Bo-kyung won Best Supporting Actress.

See alsoStranger 2017Extracurricular 2020My Name 2021

Drama Lineup editors · Fact-checked against: sll.co.kr, enews.imbc.com, khan.co.kr, wikitree.co.kr, netflix.com, Wikipedia, v.daum.net, news.tf.co.kr · 2026-10-18