The Penthouse: War in Life (2020)

Consistenly live for the symbolism of Penthouse - greed and extreme

Note: Not for someone who has unstable emotions due to anxiety, trauma and mood disorder. Also not for someone who highly value the morality.

Story:
I gave it 1 score because it is not my kind of drama. But i couldn't say that this drama is good nor bad either because it is always depends on your preferences. The story lives for its title and symbolism - greed and extreme. It is always extreme in acting and in scenes. It emphasizes the greediness, lack of empathy, merciless, selfish, revenge and anger. Each episodes will give you a roller coaster like emotions. An ups and downs scenes and a sweet and sour kind of feelings until the end. It has an unexpected twist at the end that will make you even more curious.

Acting/Casting:
Perfect 10. Main character's acting are superb and they deserve their award.

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AMAZING set, plot. EVERYTHING. It made me cry, gave me goosebumps. You are watching, watching and you still don't know who killed who, who is blackmailing who. I was scared sometimes and covered my eyes with my hands. There are many murders, mysteries, cheating, bullying, jealousy, revenge... Well, now I will say a bit about my favorite character.
Sim Soo Ryeon is the queen of the penthouse apartment (owner of the apartment) and she is also my queen. She became my favorite character from the first episode. Unfortunately she is getting killed in the last episode. Sim soo ryeon is the one in drama who’s only mistake in life is agreeing to an engagement to Joo Dan-tae. Dan-tae is a narcissistic psychopath who cannot stand losing anything. This is where their story actually begins because Soo-ryeon has a child out of wedlock, and was abandoned by Dan-tae although he found another substitute child and made to stay in coma to lie to Soo-ryeon. Soo-ryeon’s biological child, Min Seol-ah was murdered by someone at The Penthouse where all our characters are living at. I am not going to continue writing, as i cant wait to start season 2. Shortly, The Penthouse is seriously one of the best dramas I ever watched. It must be in your watch list in my opinion.

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The Penthouse: Stupid and Evil People in Life

basically, a bunch of demons + a main character that became stupid over time = 21 episodes of no redemption nor catharsis kdrama

It's like a waste of time watching this since no character developed for the better. Almost 24 hours of your life will be drained for nothing since no redemption nor catharsis happened. The story itslelf is over the top. The characters are comically evil. The main character who was presented to be smart suddenly became stupid at the last minute. This show is so frustrating to watch. Glad I watched it at a higher speed since the story progressed for nothing. That ending was disappointing.

The only good thing with this drama is the actors. They saved this from going down the drain.

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Problems of rich people :)

What's more interesting than rich people being stupid and making the most stupidedt mistakes? If you have anger issues (as someone who is writing this right now) you will get angry almost every episode. I really liked the story, the character development and relationships between the residents of the palace. The fact that i was able to choose my favorite characters after like 2 episodes is amazing as well. I watched this in 4 days and i must say i rarely got bored while watching this show. What maybe made me not enjoy it as much is the fact that i was spoiled about the character state after 3rd season (youtube compilation of kdrama edits are sometimes evil). And if you excuse me i would love to continue watching the 2nd season of Penthouse. <3

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Perfection!

The Penthouse is a perfect example of my taste. I like thrillers, romance, and drama. This has all three and does it even better than some dramas that are dedicated to that genre. (Un)shamefully, I have to admit that I binged all 21 1-hour episodes in 2 and a half days.

Firstly, let's dive into the story. The only complaint I have is that it has way too many flashbacks. The audience are not oblivious; we can predict some of it. The story is so well written. Kim Soon Ok did a perfect job with the script! The pieces don't make sense at first, confusing the audience, but as time goes on, more pieces will get revealed.

Now, let's talk about the cast and acting. Just want to give a props to the staff for a casting well done!
We'll start with the character Shim Soo Ryun~ quiet, but deadly- caring, but revengeful. There is no better suit for this role than Lee Ji Ah. After watching it all, I don't think I could imagine another actress playing that role.
Then we have Cheon Seo Jin~ covetous and goal-oriented. Nothing can stop her. Not going to lie, at one point in time, I actually admired her. Same situation as the other mentioned character. Kim So Yeon fits the role to the tea. Also, her hoarse screams and rapid-fire rants complete the table!
Next, we have Oh Yoon Hee. I HATED THIS CHARACTER. I spent about 10 minutes ranting to my laptop about why the writers would have the audience see her point of view when she was just going to be evil. Same as the above~ Eugene was a great actress! She definitely made me cry (more than thrice)!
Moving on to Joo Dan Tae. He's just a perfect villain. The character was well developed. That's all there is to it. If I see Uhm Ki Joon act in another drama as the innocent protagonist, I'll probably throw hands. There is no way I can unsee his villainous acting here.
Ooooh--Dr. Ha. This is the one which lost the 0.5 in the acting and cast category. Character? Not badly developed. Don't know if it's the acting or that's just his character, but this guy really gets on my nerves. He literally argues like a two year-old. You know when you watch someone act and you can tell it's acting-- that's BAD acting. He literally sticks his frickin chin out when he's mad. He literally only knows how to communicated by smashing glass (even though all the characters have a fair amount of smashing of glass). Throughout the entire drama, I think the only facial expressions I've seen or at least, remembered, from him is "anger with the chin out."
As for Kang Ma Ri, Lee Gyu Jin and Go Sang Ah, I felt like they fit the role. Not as much as the previous characters other than Dr. Ha, but I mean, they're not really schemers. The comedic relief definitely did it's job. Same goes for the other "suck-ups" to the rich people. They weren't exceptional in both character and acting but not half bad. The maid, Yang Mi Ok/Kim Ro Sa, has pretty good acting as well. It lets the audience know that she is faking it, but it is still believable that the characters in the drama fell for it.
Last but not least, Anna. The staff really played with me. During the first two episodes, I literally thought that Bae Ro Na and Anna were the same person. They looked wayyyy too alike. Her acting was on point though. The staff also played with my damned heart! You can't just build up a character and then make her die. I literally sobbed when she died.
Finally for the cast, let's talk about the kids. Kim Young Dae is on a roll these days. I'm watching one of his other dramas (Cheat on Me if You Can) and have watched many others. Ok>ok. Let's just say: I FELL FOR HIM TT! It literally took me the first 8 episodes to get over Joo Seok Hoon and see him as a bully and then what does he backstab me with: *I like Ro Na*. Ugh. Seok Kyung? Han Ji Hyun was perfect for the role. Ha Eun Byul? Same. She definitely embodied the mental illness that they diagnosed her with. Yoo Jenny? This one was ok. It's just another one of those stuck-up girls. Lee Minhyuk? The character was just a side one. But, damn, this guy screams *third gen idol acting*. I just knew from his visuals that he was an idol! Finally, Bae Ro Na. Um God, how is Kim Hyun Soo 20 years old!?? Putting that aside, her acting was super impressive and stood out to me among all the "children."

Lastly, the music was meh. I just kept hearing the same classical piece again. I gave it a particularly high score just because this drama is very music-oriented, so it made me pay more attention. On a good note, I wasn't fond of this type of music, but this drama definitely changed my mind.

Overall, I HIGHLY RECCOMEND this drama.

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This drama was just wow!

I swear that there was never a boring part.
The story was always going forward and
progressing. All the characters were
dimensional and not just white and black,
they can't be easily divided into heroes and
villains as almost everyone in this drama has
done evil deeds but for good purposes from
the characters' perspectives. Penthouse will really make you question how much evil are people capable of when they have the money and most importantly the power.

After finishing an episode I was always
thrilled to start a new one. Luckily because of
the summer holidays I was able to binge
watch as much as I desired.

And although my favourite character
deserved better (😭😭) this was such a wild
ride in the best way possible so it earned
itself the highest rating from me: 10/10.

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It is like the dramas of Latin America and Korea meet and mix

I definitely recommend it if you are looking for something that will keep you attached to your seat
If you are looking for a drama full of strong emotions like revenge and you don't care if these border on ridiculous, this is your drama.
At first I admit that I was about to stop watching it but each episode that passed was more exciting and irrational than the last. The formula is quite simple from the characters to the setting, it's something we had already seen but there is something in this formula that almost always works.
What I must recognize almost as a duty is acting, the script as a typical revenge drama is full of hate and strong emotions, the actors got so into the role that when they screamed it seemed that they were about to faint from anger.
The OST has a quite short repertoire but they compensate it with classical pieces (mostly the most popular ones) that help to reaffirm the environment in which the story takes place, in this case the opera and the high social class.

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One of the best K-dramas you can find

So, this was one of my first kdramas and it immediately grew on me. To be clear, this is my all time favorite drama and I am rewatching this.
First of all, this drama has such a pretty visuals, just by looking at any set you can smell the luxury through the screen. It is very appearent, it was very VERY well invested. Each of the episodes must have cost a fortune and I am not even including the clothing items. I feel like some episodes are lacking storyline a bit, they tried to strech it out, so it has 21 eps. That is pretty much the only problem of this drama. Sometimes the leads do absolutey unimportant sh*ts yet you still cannot look away from the screen. I am not going to lie, it took me sooooo much time to finish the whole three seasons. But I don't wanna drag the other seasons into this since all the problems I have about this season, are the exact same I have with other ones. And also the music... it is just spectacular. The involving of opera into this was very smart move since it spice up things so much. The rivality and backstabbing between the teenagers is the same as between their parents. Since the opera is pretty important part and makes many important connections between crimes of characters and their past... Simply do yourself a favor and watch this drama, I guarantee you will not regret it. Thank you for reading my thoughts.

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Had potential but went downhill with poor execution and unnecessary lengthening

This could've been on the top along side dramas like Sky Castle if only it was executed well.
Messy with unbearably repeated scenes, I've never excessively skipped through a drama like I did with this one.
Unnecessary added drama just to stretch it to a 21 episodes. Like the whole Ro Na misunderstanding with her mom, I've never seen something as unnecessary as being dragged just to make the episodes longer.
Lots of holes, like Mr. Joo's panic condition? Once it's there and glimpse of a dark past and then it suddenly disappears and he's suddenly okay with blood?
The acting was amazing, and all the actors did very well, I guess that's what made me finish it.
I will most probably not watch the next two seasons and again I'm really disappointed since this could've been a great drama but I guess the creators wanted to take advantage of the hype for Sky Castle & The World of The Married and stretch this drama for an easy cash-grab.

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Come watch this with a tissues and pillows.

This is the first review I have done in a long time so bear with me as I explain my feeling for this drama.

Story: There are some stuff in the drama we have seen before in the genre like opposing parents, corruptions, lots of characters that are jerks, etc. But the execution of the story was so well done. I came in knowing that there were going to be 3 seasons before this story comes to a close, so I did like the open-ended ending that we got. I was able to be watch this in 2 1/2 days! That is how much the story grabbed me from the get-go. This was the first time in a while since I was super invested in all of the characters including the villains. I cried a lot and I was so angry at so many of the characters that it can be a stressful watch.

Acting: I have to say... The acting was one of the best I have seen this year so far, from all of the characters. This was the first time I have seen Kim So Yeon as a villain and I have to say. It was one of the best acting I have seen from her (I have watched a few of her projects and she played female leads). Lee Ji Ah was a revelation, I did not recognize her from Me too Flower (I saw this drama last year LOL). She was so much better here than Me too Flower if you didn't like her character in that drama, then try this one. The actors playing all of the high school students did such of a good job of hating them and rooting for them (some of them). Uhm Ki Joon also did a fantastic job as a villain as well; he did such a good job to be a scary, manipulative villain. But the actor who stole the show for me was Park Eun Seok ( I have never seen him in anything before this drama).

Music: The music was mainly contained opera music, orchestra background music and very few music with vocals. The music helped elevate the show so well. I think if this had more music with the vocals (pop songs mainly) it would of ruined the moment I think. It was a great choice of music. Since music was part of the main plot, I think the opera music choices were well chosen was well.

Re-watch: I would not watch the whole thing back-to back. This story made me really stress out for all of the characters involved. But there was a scene that was so tense between two characters near the later half of the show that I re-watched daily for 4 days straight (no joke mind you). It was the dialogue of that scene, the acting, the chemistry between the two actors, it was a visceral watch and felt the pain, anger, sorrow, betrayal between the two character. One of the best fight scenes I have seen in a long time.

Overall, if you are into betrayal, corruption, character development (some, not all), mystery, suspense and over-the-top acting (quite a bit of screaming heads up on that), and any of these actors , you will enjoy this drama. P.S. Before you watch, trend lightly because some scenes could cause triggers in some people. If you have to, take breaks in between if it gets super hard to watch.

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