
Esom
Actor · Born January 30, 1990 (36) · Seoul, South Korea
Esom (born Lee So-young on January 30, 1990) is a South Korean actress and model. She is known for her leading role in the 2014 film Scarlet Innocence, for which she was nominated for Best New Actress in five different award ceremonies.
Biography from TMDB.
- January 30, 1990 (36)
- Seoul, South Korea
- Actor
- 20 on MovieCove · 35 credits in all
What are Esom's films like?
Across their 16 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Morality.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 10
Light 1 · Serious 6 · Dark 3
A split, not a type: Grounded 4 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 3
A split, not a type: Gentle 1 · Charged 4 · Intense 5
Steady 2 · Shifting 8 · Whiplash 0
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 5 · Some laughs 4 · Funny 1
Slow burn 1 · Even-paced 9 · Relentless 0
Casual 2 · Engaged 7 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 1 · Affecting 5 · Heavy 4
Resolved 7 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 0
Roles they play
Usually the Ally: 6 of 11 analyzed roles.
Show the 11 rolesHide the roles
- Allyas Jang-mi in Man on High Heels (2014)
- Heroas Deok-yi in Scarlet Innocence (2014)
- Heroas Jang Na-yeon in Like for Likes (2016)
- Allyas Woo Soo-ji in Because This Is My First Life (2017)
- Shapeshifteras Lee Young-jae in The Third Charm (2018)
- Allyas Mi-Hyeon in Inseparable Bros (2019)
- Allyas Jung Yoo-na in Samjin Company English Class (2020)
- Shadowas Kang Ha-na in Taxi Driver (2021)
- Allyas Jeong Seol-ah in Black Knight (2023)
- Threshold guardianas Cha Min-hee in Kill Boksoon (2023)
- Allyas Han Na Hyeon in Phantom Lawyer (2026)
Moods and endings
- Happy5
- Bittersweet6
- Tragic1
- Ambiguous4
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Esom's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 16 of their 20 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (9).
- Inseparable Bros (2019) · actor · free
- Because This Is My First Life (2017) · actor · free
- Save Me (2017) · actor · free
- Samjin Company English Class (2020) · actor · free
- Man on High Heels (2014) · actor · free
- Escape (2024) · actor · free
- Hindsight (2011) · actor · free
- Dr. Cheon and Lost Talisman (2023) · actor · free
- The Third Charm (2018) · actor · free
Subscription and free streaming for Esom's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
35 credits, 20 with a MovieCove page; 8 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.

The Ultimate Duo(2026)
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
Phantom Lawyer(2026)
Midcredits score: 84th percentile of all shows
Mantis(2025)
Midcredits score: 34th percentile of all films
Escape(2024)
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films
Long Time No Sex (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)

Single in Seoul (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all films
Black Knight(2023)
Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all shows
Kill Boksoon(2023)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films
Phantom(2023)
Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all films
Taxi Driver(2021)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all shows
High Surf Expected (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films
Inseparable Bros(2019)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
The Third Charm(2018)
Midcredits score: 18th percentile of all shows
Microhabitat (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all shows
Save Me(2017)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all shows
Warriors of the Dawn(2017)
Midcredits score: 63rd percentile of all films
My Little Brother (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

The Queen of Crime (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)

Like for Likes(2016)
Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films
Scarlet Innocence(2014)
Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all films
Santa Barbara (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)

Man on High Heels(2014)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films
The X (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)

The Gifted Hands(2013)
Midcredits score: 64th percentile of all films
Ghost (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)

Hindsight(2011)
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
The Last Blossom (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)

White Christmas (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)

Second Half (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
An Dong (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Reborn (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

Starlight Falls (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
Star power in the 98th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 35 titles, 32 of them dated from 2010 to 2026; peak year 2019.
Film career
Peak 2019 · steadily prominent in film for years. Top draw in 4 MovieCove titles. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 2011Screen debut· Hindsight
- 2018First top-billed film· Microhabitat
- 2018Career best· Microhabitat
- 2021Career best· Taxi Driver
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30; the columns are the share of top-billed roles in each era, 5-year spans from the year on the label, merged until each holds at least 5 roles.
How do Esom's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 64th percentile, the median of all 14; across their 10 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 68th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up5
- 50th to 74th10
- 25th to 49th4
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
10 of their 20 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved1
- Crowd Pleaser10
- Mixed9
Reviewers score the acting 79/100 in their films, across 9 reviewed titles; fans 82, detractors 63. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Esom's work okay for kids?
Across up to 6 MovieCove titles with content scores, 1 of the 3 categories sits near the median of all films.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Esom work with?
People who share at least 2 of Esom's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Kim Sang-beom shares the most, 4.
Actors
- Choi Byung-moShared titles: Kill Boksoon (2023), The Third Charm (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Choi Byung-mo

- Kim Eui-sungShared titles: Black Knight (2023), Taxi Driver (2021)See all 2 shared titles with Kim Eui-sung

- Kim Jong-sooShared titles: Dr. Cheon and Lost Talisman (2023), Samjin Company English Class (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Kim Jong-soo

- Kim Byeong-OkShared titles: Because This Is My First Life (2017), Man on High Heels (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Kim Byeong-Ok

Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Kim Sang-beomShared titles: Kill Boksoon (2023), Like for Likes (2016), Scarlet Innocence (2014), Hindsight (2011)See all 4 shared titles with Kim Sang-beom

- MowgShared titles: Warriors of the Dawn (2017), Scarlet Innocence (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Mowg

- Kim Jae-beomShared titles: Like for Likes (2016), Scarlet Innocence (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Kim Jae-beom
- Sung-je LeeShared titles: Man on High Heels (2014), Scarlet Innocence (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Sung-je Lee
Producers
- Jeong Tae-sungShared titles: Like for Likes (2016), Scarlet Innocence (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Jeong Tae-sung

- Ji-sung ParkShared titles: Like for Likes (2016), Scarlet Innocence (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Ji-sung Park