Cover From a student navigating uneasy relationships to figures caught in high-stakes intrigue, TV shows with Kim Go-Eun reveal a career built on careful, deliberate choices across genres (Photo: Netflix)
From a student navigating uneasy relationships to figures caught in high-stakes intrigue, TV shows with Kim Go-Eun reveal a career built on careful, deliberate choices across genres (Photo: Netflix)
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An essential guide to TV shows with Kim Go-Eun, covering her range across romance, fantasy and suspense
Kim Go-eun’s television work is relatively selective, which makes the range within it more apparent. Across genres, her performances tend to focus on interiority, with characters shaped more by thought and emotional shifts than outward spectacle. This becomes clearer when her major dramas are considered together, from early campus stories to large-scale fantasy and more recent psychological roles.
What follows is a structured overview of the most relevant TV shows with Kim Go-eun, with attention to narrative context, character function and how each project reflects a shift in tone or scale. The aim is to present a clear, grounded guide that maps how her screen work has developed over time.
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‘Yumi’s Cells’ (2021-2026)
Above A hybrid live-action and animation series that follows an office worker whose thoughts are visualised through a network of emotional “cells” navigating love, work and self-definition
Among all TV shows with Kim Go-Eun, this is the most formally distinctive. The series blends live action with animation, using personified “cells” inside the protagonist’s brain to visualise emotional and cognitive processes. Kim Go-eun plays Yumi, an office worker whose internal life becomes the narrative engine.
The premise tracks her relationships, career ambitions, and emotional recovery after heartbreak. Her “Love Cell” falling into a coma sets up the early arc, before new relationships gradually reconfigure her internal system.
What makes the show notable is structure. Rather than relying on external conflict, it builds tension through decision-making, hesitation, and contradiction. Later seasons expand her arc into writing and creative ambition, shifting the series from romance into a study of self-definition. It is one of the most concept-driven TV shows with Kim Go-Eun, and also the most sustained in terms of character continuity.
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‘The Price of Confession’ (2025)
Above A psychological thriller centred on two women linked by a prison setting, where shifting alliances and withheld truths drive an increasingly unstable narrative
Positioned as a psychological thriller, this project moves away from internal monologue toward moral ambiguity. The story centres on two women whose connection begins in prison and escalates into a series of destabilising events. Kim Go-Eun’s role is defined by restraint. The character operates in a grey zone, with motivations that are not immediately legible. The performance reportedly leans into stillness and misdirection, allowing interpretation to shift episode by episode.
Within the broader list of TV shows with Kim Go-Eun, this marks a clear pivot toward darker material. It prioritises atmosphere and psychological tension over narrative clarity, aligning more with contemporary streaming thrillers than traditional K-drama structures.
‘You and Everything Else’ (2025)
Above A decades-spanning story of two women whose friendship is shaped by class, distance and time, tracking how memory and resentment evolve across life stages
This series operates on a different scale, spanning decades rather than focusing on a contained timeline. It follows two women whose relationship evolves from childhood through adulthood, shaped by class differences, resentment, and loyalty.
Kim Go-Eun plays a warm but complex figure whose life is defined as much by absence as presence, particularly in contrast to her friend’s more privileged background. The narrative structure allows for temporal shifts, meaning character development is cumulative rather than episodic.
‘Little Women’ (2022)
Above A modern reworking of the classic framework, following three sisters pulled into a financial mystery that escalates into a wider system of power and corruption
A shift into thriller territory, this adaptation reimagines the story of three sisters as a contemporary narrative shaped by money, power and institutional control. Kim Go-eun plays the eldest, whose pursuit of financial security becomes the driving force of the plot. The story begins with an unexpected windfall connected to a friend’s death, then gradually widens into a larger conspiracy tied to one of the country’s most powerful families.
What distinguishes this from other TV shows with Kim Go-Eun is scale. The story moves from domestic realism into a high-stakes network of corruption, with shifting alliances and layered antagonists. Her character anchors the story emotionally, but the structure is ensemble-driven, allowing multiple perspectives to shape the tension.
‘Guardian: The Lonely and Great God’ (2016-2017)
Above A fantasy romance about an immortal being bound to destiny and a young woman whose presence becomes central to breaking or continuing his curse
More popularly known as Goblin, this remains the most globally recognised of the TV shows with Kim Go-Eun. It blends fantasy, romance, and historical mythology, centred on an immortal goblin seeking release from his curse.
Kim Go-Eun plays Ji Eun-tak, a high school student who can see spirits and becomes central to the goblin’s fate. The character operates as both narrative catalyst and emotional anchor, linking the supernatural framework to human stakes.
The series is structured around dual timelines and interwoven character arcs, balancing humour, tragedy, and myth-building. It also helped establish her presence in television after a film-focused start, positioning her within large-scale productions.
‘Cheese in the Trap’ (2016)
Above A campus-set drama exploring the uneasy dynamics between a hardworking student and a senior whose charm is layered with manipulation and ambiguity
Her first major television role remains one of the more grounded entries among TV shows with Kim Go-Eun. Set in a university environment, the series examines a relationship that is defined as much by suspicion as attraction. She plays Hong Seol, a working student navigating financial pressure and academic life while becoming entangled with a senior whose outward charm conceals manipulative tendencies.
The drama focuses on interpersonal dynamics rather than plot escalation. Much of its tension comes from ambiguity: whether the male lead’s actions are protective or controlling, and how much the protagonist is willing to tolerate. It established a template for her later roles, where emotional perception is central to the narrative.
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Chonx Tibajia is a senior editor at Tatler Asia’s T-Labs team, where she writes widely on lifestyle subjects including beauty, style, entertainment and travel. She has a long career in journalism, including roles as a columnist at The Philippine Star, and is the founder of the creative platform Pineappleversed. Beyond Tatler, her bylines appear in regional lifestyle and business publications, showcasing a broad portfolio that spans beauty trends, travel guides and culture pieces.
