i was first drawn to this drama because of its ensemble cast - and before i begin i should probably caveat that i did not read the webtoon and am reviewing the 10 episode-long drama as is. i was familiar with the big names (i liked Lee Jin-wook from the Voice series, i watched Lee Si-young in The Guardians) and i kept a fond eye on the young actors (Lee Do-hyun and Song Kang from variety shows, Go Min-si from The Light in Your Eyes, Go Youn-jung as a novice actress), so even though i was not a fan of the premise - with chuck loads of CGI monsters - i was definitely going to watch it because of the cast.
and from the outset, it is obvious that the cast and the acting are without a doubt the strongest element of the drama. i was pleasantly surprised to see young actors get the meatier characters and heavier scenes of the drama - but the flipside of that, i suppose, is that strong actors like Lee Jin-wook felt underused (compared to Kim Nam-hee, who was a luxury to watch). i had never seen Song Kang in a drama before (dramas like Love Alarm are unfortunately just not my thing), and i always thought he was just a pretty face, but this drama proved me wrong. Song Kang carried in Hyun-soo a delicate balance of steel and vulnerability, as he teeters between giving up on the world and trying to protect those who were kind to him - and what it means to protect humanity by giving himself up. i much appreciated Song Kang’s sincere acting over Lee Do-hyun’s version of Eun-hyuk, who i felt had too much restraint that i didn’t understand why.
which brings me to my main gripe - i liked that we got a view into Hyun-soo’s backstory, which was frankly quite difficult to watch as the Netflix drama did not shy away from scenes of mutilation & senseless bullying, unlike other mainstream network dramas. but we only briefly delved into Eun-hyuk & Eun-yoo’s family background, never really understood Jae-hun’s alcoholism and religious nature, and only skimmed across Ji-soo’s trauma. perhaps this is where Season 2 is needed, but the character development felt undeveloped. at times, the side characters (e.g. the abused grocery mart wife, the single mother who lost her child in an accident) had more developed characters than the main cast (e.g. Mr Ahn’s caretaker has asthma and is scared of killing people - but so?). there were just too many side characters - i could lose some of them, including the kids..
plot-wise, Sweet Home was anchored on the conflict between human and monsters, and what lay between them. it does well to consider how humans can birth monsters, how monsters can even protect humans, how humans will kill each other if they are put at risk. most importantly, how faltering & precious our common vision of humanity is within Green Mansion - and even more challenging to defend outside, as we see Yi-kyung herself going rogue. what i didn’t quite like was the overwhelming military authoritarianism, which, in some countries, is not too far from reality. i thought it was used as a convenient tool to explain how this monstrous disease came about (military experiment to build a strong army, or national cover-up of experiments to infect other countries). i detested it when the female general appeared - she looked weaker than Yi-kyung and if you wanted to be the villain, at least be a convincing one. i also detested the one-episode cameo of the mob - what was the point? in the last few episodes, the show also coupled off some of the residents, which was unnecessary and undeveloped (e.g. dog lady and resident bum, Sang-wook and caretaker).
given the generally popular critical and viewer response to the drama, i think we will be seeing us soon… and till then, i’ll be looking forward to a good binge. addictive & thoughtful, but not as thought-provoking or memorable as i think it wish it were. – 7/10
- I’d like to chat with Ms. Min Si-ho too. - I doubt she’d want to talk with you. She hates Monsters like you. - What? You’re one to talk. - You’re right. She hates me too.
The official highlight clip explained that they are using Korean Flower Symbolism to deliver the character’s emotion, and these are the examples they gave - which means it’s official that Hwal still loves Sol.
- Once you become a human again, get married and have cute children, okay? After all, you’ve found your wife too. - It’s a previous life she can’t remember.
- Why did you marry me? You do not even have any feelings. Was it because my father made you? - Because you and I are the same. You are a monster just like me.
