{
  "id": 5540279,
  "title": "Netflixs Mousetrap ending, explained",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/04/netflixs-mousetrap-ending-explained",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-04T10:20:47.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Mashable",
    "slug": "mashable",
    "url": "https://mashable.com/entertainment/netflix-mousetrap-ending"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Netflix's South Korean thriller \"Mousetrap\" draws from the 2017 Kakao Webtoon \"Field Mouse\" by Ludovico, with Kim Hong-sun directing and Lee Jae-gon writing. The story revolves around a reclusive novelist, Je Moon-jae (played by Ryu Jun-yeol), whose identity is stolen by a mysterious figure known as \"The Rat,\" who looks identical to Moon-jae. The Rat is later revealed to be Moon-jae himself, an unreliable narrator who has forgotten his actions due to taking his late mother's medication.\n\nMoon-jae's journey begins when he becomes involved with the intercollegiate literary club, where he fakes being a university student to become a better version of himself. He meets Seo Yu-min (played by Ryu Jun-yeol) and becomes close to him, even reading Yu-min's story, \"The Rat That Ate Fingernails,\" and stealing his notebooks. However, Moon-jae later submits these stolen materials as his own work in the club's anthology.\n\nDetective Park Sun-yong (played by Lee Kyu-hyung), who is actually Moon-jae's adopted brother, receives an anonymous tip about a body found in the Han River, which initially accuses No-ja (played by Sul Kyung-gu) of the murder. The Rat turns out to be Moon-jae, and he is targeted by a loan shark named No-ja. Moon-jae's actions, including his jealousy towards his friends Min-yeong and Yu-min, ultimately lead to Min-yeong's suicide and Yu-min's despair over the plagiarism of his story.",
  "summary": "Watched South Korean thriller \"Mousetrap\" on Netflix? We need to talk about that ending.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}