Save Me (2017)

She really needed to be saved

The beginning was a little bland before it all unraveled. This show did not miss to fill me with frustration towards the life the FML suffered. It was hard to finish and the drama felt long. Seeing the FML trapped and change from her initial self in the beginning was so sad. Nothing seemed to go right for her or Woo Dohwan's character.

I think most of this show was just depressing and honestly woo dohwan kept me going by adding a little light. This is another drama that shows the advantages people with wealth and power have and the effects they have on their chosen victims. The friend group was hilarious sometimes and it was good to see someone on the FML's side.

The end was a sort of happy ending: she was free. But that last episode was frustrating to get by and there were still people who believed in the cult, even after all that, which was a realistic aspect. Justice was needed for all those lives lost.

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Pay No Mind~A fellow watcher just passing by

Okay first I'll address the stuff seen in this kdrama:

-great friendship between the guys
-The female lead has really strong willpower
-a perverted old man (we talking around his 60s or70s) trying to pursue the heroine
-suicide/murder/bullying/sexual assault exist
-people blindly following a fake religion later a certain god "almighty" and goes psycho along the way
-other stuff I forgotten
-not meant for young audiences

Advice: If you're sensitive from what's listed, I would say save yourself from watching or if you're still willing to watch it then go for it (I wish you luck)

Beginning:
At first I didn't intend to watch this kdrama due to the poster (A closer look seeing an old man touching a young woman which creeped me really much but was intrigued to watch to see how the rescue goes and view how a cult works) Given that this is a thriller, the first scene fits for a suspenseful drama along with the atmosphere. Since I'm no professional with judging acting though a little familiar with OSTs (the primary subject that I usually focus on when watching and rating). It may be a little peaceful at first, but the action came in right away. Based off the first episode, I could tell that this drama wasn't for everyone but likewise anyone interested into dark topics you're more than welcome to watch it.

Around the Middle:
Well-paced and timing, ost gives off creepy and suspenseful vibe which is very nice. Really liked how one of the main male leads studies law since it became helpful with his willpower and confrontation with his confidence and the other which is action first, brain later undergoes the danger in order to help his friends rescue the heroine. Other than that, there were moments that had to be skipped aka when the perverted KFC man appears (he reminded of the KFC man for some reason) even when the cameras went closer to him I couldn't handle seeing him and what he did to the heroine and his purpose to having her be at the church 24/7. I'll say the process behind the rescue was the most interesting and what might drive people mad would be the civilians praying like crazy for this "almighty" god and doing harmful rituals and believing the living water is special water.....and where it came from is a bit disturbing or it was just an excuse to make them believe and enter the religion more which of course was bad or it was just plain drinking water.

End:
The downfall of everybody who operated the church-of course they met their ends except for one but thank god KFC went elsewhere and the heroine being safe and being friends with the boys afterwards was a satisfying ending though questionable at the final scene (after credits) It would be interesting if they included the reason to the old man's origin of becoming a psycho and a religious person so that it would explain why he created a cult and brought his buddies to help him unless it was due to his "love drive" and longing for young women to do "you know what" other than that I might have changed my rating for the story.

Overall it's an interesting drama showcasing a cult and how a victim undergoes being in one due to lost hopes from her parents. For me, it'll be a small chance of rewatching this kdrama since it wasn't the type of show I would watch, preferably read the dark contents than watch for various reasons (manhwa reader here). Final note: reminder this is just my opinion and have a nice day :)

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What I didn't expect

When jumping into the kdrama, I first started watching because of everyone recommending it online. I didnt jump into it thinking it would be a thriller about religious cult and abuse of power. In fact, my original thoughts were that it was a basic thriller about a mother loosing someone close and the family having to get use to life. Basically, my idea was a normal story with not much going on. I also assumed people liked it because of the cast. The cast mainly bringing in the visuals and let's face it a lot of kdramas are known for their beautiful cast, but it was more than that.

It drove in a deeper meaning about power and abuse all in all I liked it a lot. The plot was well executed, with it always being so mysterious and unexpected especially the first episode. It was confusing in my opinion, the opening scene being a family driving in the middle of the night in a rural area. I could tell it was going to be one creepy kdrama. All the characters were introduced in the first episode, and it was quite creepy but rather confusing too. My first thoughts were is this really going to be good, it seems quite normal so far. I was very wrong, after the first episode i started to binge it slowly and only three days have gone past and I have finished it. I never thought save me would make me binge it the way it did. After watching another kdrama I havent binged anything in a long time so this was very new to me

There are a few things I disliked though just like every drama/show there's always something people dont like. For me it would be the pace. It was usually at good speed but sometimes it was way too slow however, it did bring in adrenaline and made me really tense while watching. I prefer fast paced moments especially in thrillers and even during the super intense high tension moments the scenes still took forever. For instance, when Sang Mi unlocked Apostle Kang's room she looked around cautiously then slowly walked in that for me was a scene i feel like shouldve gone quicker. May be it's because I knew she was coming but still that intense moment was taken down with the slow execution.

That being said these moments did make it way more interesting for the show. All the thriller filled scenes were super entertaining and just like everyone else I enjoyed it a lot.

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Dark Masterpiece

I loved this. I was up well past my time to sleep just to finish this as I could not stop watching this. I went through all kinds of emotions watching Save Me as it keeps you on your toes.

The story is very creepy and dark, but it fits well with the story this drama is going for. It explores hard subjects as bullying, death and cults very well and the ending wraps MOST of my questions about Save Me. The pacing in this drama is also very good, slightly slow to begin with but it picked up pretty quickly and kept the suspense up till the end of it. There are still some questions left unanswered but it wraps all the main ending and side stories so I guess it is just my curiosity getting the better of me. ^^

The cast was phenomenal, I cannot fault the acting whatsoever. They did an amazing job portraying all the different characters in Save Me, especially the main characters parents on how they showed their mental state changing as the drama progresses.

Once again music does not get a high score as I do not watch dramas for their music and nothing really struck out as amazing. The rewatch value is quite low also as I don't normally rewatch dramas either.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone that would like to watch something pretty dark and creepy or even someone who wants to watch amazing acting! :)

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Something that i was looking for

I know, nobody asks me but how did i found this drama ?
Well i was searching for kdramas with action.
I saw some articles who had "Save me" first.
So i went to look the plot of "Save me" but i couldn't understand anything. Later on , i watched the trailer but i couldn't either understand what was going on, so i give it up.
After some time, i found it on YouTube with eng subs soo i decade to give it a try ( because of the articles)
And OMG I WAS NOT EXPECTED THIS , i feel in love after 6 ,i thing, episode with it.
At first it was a little bit tough especially the first 4 episodes (cause of some issue which includes)
After that i know that the action will came and i was right .
◇The plot was WOW it have soooo many issues but it was not too tough to stop it(for me)
◇The acting omgg i don't have words to describe it-excellent, fantastic, amazing aren't enough.
◇ACTION -I lived every moment of this drama
It has a special place to my heart ♡
I reccomade it full , especially if you want something 'daaark' and not classic

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Addicting

I'd like to keep this review short and 'sweet.' Firstly, if you have triggers of ||implied rape, sexual assault, cults, violence, blood, suicide|| and more, please do not watch this drama!

The storyline is not really complex, but it still gets you to feel like it is complex. The only problem I have with the storyline is that sometimes I felt like it was dragged out (with some filler episodes); if this was remade into a movie or originally was a movie, I would not be complaining at all. (That is the main reason that this is short 1 point from 10 stars). The only thing I enjoyed about it NOT being a movie is the amount of Seo Yeji, Taecyeon, and Woo Dohwan we got. Moving on to the cast and characters, I think Seo Yeji portrayed Sang Mi perfectly. All the supporting and side characters were also perfect. I'm honestly kind of sick of seeing Jo Jae Yoon everywhere/hj, and his character in this one makes it worse.

Anyways, this drama made me crave more Seo Yeji and Woo Dohwan. I highly RECCOMEND this, but it is not for the weak-hearted.

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Not all people that go to church are christian

be careful. because not all people that go to church are christian or muslim or others religions and not all that love God because most of them they go to see they friends or to show they clothers even pastors are not real most of them they hide their true selves.
what are the top reasons you no longer have church
Judgement. There is so much judgment going on in the church between members. Down to it's core, there is so much gossip going on and there is so much hurtful things being said between members. I always thought it was a place of love, but members can be cruel at times.
Dress Code. They always say “Come as you are” as long as your wearing a white dress shirt with a tie. It’s not really a good thing to do especially when certain members can’t afford or don’t feel comfortable with certain colours. I personally can afford a white shirt and tie but I disliked the colors. I loved to wear and dress up in different suits, wear certain brands and just dress my Sunday best. I ended up leaving the church because they called me out in front of a group of people after wearing a nice white, Valentino dress shirt, with Khaki pants and wonderful Tom Ford shoes, but didn't wear a tie.
Prayer. There is a certain way you have to pray and there is nothing really you can do about it. I love to pray, I love to pray and have a conversation with God without having judgement and being forced to follow a guideline.

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A masterpiece. A k-drama that has k-movie standards.

DUDE. THIS KDRAMA WAS PERFECT.
I've been WAITING to say this for awhile cos the last few dramas that I watched was...ugheeeh subpar and forgettable (HomeCha, Nevertheless, My Mister, Vincenzo-- sorry if they're your favs >< )

I didn't have many expectations for this drama as I wasn't particularly a fan of any of the actors here, I also find kdramas that try to cover 'taboo' topics to be really half-assed and over-simplistic. The only thing that piqued my interest was that it's about ...cults haha.

First episode in and I wasn't immediately a fan of it. I found it to be "too much" and I could not really take it seriously.
But when the story of Sang Im's family kickstarted, there was like no turning back. Every single sub-plot just had a domino effect to the next plot and to the next, you just have to keep going...and it was just SO SO SO interestingg..
*side note: the opening plot of Sang Jin being bullied was honestly so...well-done. I've watched a few kdramas with bullying backstories but it always feels so cringy and stupid. Or...extremely over-exagerated. This was one somehow managed to communicate itself in an honest and real way.

I frankly did NOT expect it to cover such a ... controversial topic in such depth. To be honest, I found it to be more interesting and nuanced than a typical cults documentary.
I myself have bad experiences with similar cultish practices, and I was genuinely surprised to see such nuanced fleshing out on TV. They don't really really go too deep to explain everything, so for someone who's completely new to these practices, they might find it confusing. But for me, it was genuinely so interesting to learn that cultish practices do not look too strange at first.
I also like how they never used the "cultishness" as a mere plot device to make the whole drama feel abit darker-- it is in fact a very integral part of the drama that the audience is forced to confront themselves with.

In general, Save Me is one of the rare kdramas out there that stays consistent to what it sets out to cover, without compromising themselves for fan service or product placements or anything that netflix-produced dramas does not seem to get these days ==
It is genuine, heartfelt, but also very very daring and bold in covering such a sensitive subject. but the best of it all-- it is careful to not be self-indulgent in making itself a 'makjang' drama...which I think many kdramas seem to do nowadays...

I must mention that there are still some flaws in the drama that makes it very skippable. Some scenes DO feel like it's just trying to make it more nerving without any real substance to the plot. Some characters literally do not make sense. and some scenes just feels abit naive... like if they were THAT scary (from ep1-7) how can they be so dumb in certain scenes??

Nevertheless, a perfect drama for me and I am sad that it will be awhile before I say this again. Had loads of fun binging this within 3 days. Thanks for the mmrs :')

**extra-side note on acting: I didn't like Taecyeon in Vincenzo (not just cause he was the bad guy, like i genuinely found him annoying in earlier eps) but he came off as rather charming to me here. Woo Do Hwan always knew how to charm me <3 but this might be my fav role of his. Didn't know Seo Yea Ji before but I really enjoyed her acting here! Was also pleasantly surprised to see Jeon Yeo Been here! (She is SUCH a shapeshifter, she looked SO different here I almost couldn't recognise her. Really liked her in Vincenzo and esp Be Melodramatic.) Park Ji Young (Apostle Kang) also gave a commendable performance, I honestly think she was the best out of everyone. Sang Mi's father was also not bad, I was so scared of him. I was more scared of the father than the cult leader tbh.
the -1.5 in acting was because I did not like the rest of the cast's acting...they felt really tacky.

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Watch seasone 2!

Regarding season 1:
I found it to be very flawed from all angles and it only served as a learning experience for those who carried on with the second season. Its portrayal of a cult lacked a compelling thematic foundation, opting instead to draw inspiration from cheap rip-off D-grade movies themed around cults. Where cults are extremely over-dramatized to the point of crossing the supernatural territory. The cult apparently possessed super powers of hypnosis with only a few words spoken, even towards people who weren't perceptible to religious and spiritual beliefs. Everything surrounded the cult came off as cartoonish even within the context of a 'drama'. The narrative itself struggled to carry its own weight, particularly as it primarily focused on the perspectives of the outsiders. It always felt as if it was building up towards something bigger but it never got there. For a 16-episodes run, it needed a proper world building and foundation for the cult. Establishing a distinct "character" for the cult would have provided a stronger identity. Back to the outsiders, having the drama led by teenage characters was another weak aspect of it. Bland and cardboard characters. The mystery element was a crucial part of the drama yet it was lacking and under-delivering. The first season would have fared better as a standalone one-off movie rather than a drama. It doesn't make any sense why the drama was rated this high, according to MDL standards, especially when season 2 effectively addressed most of the issues with the cult and delivered an overall better package!

Regarding Season 2:
It managed to deliver a much more compelling package than season 1. The most important part is that it handled the cult theme properly. The characters and the cast were a lot more appealing than season 1. Having a more adult leading characters rather than teenager was a plus. Uhm Tae Goo was a perfect casting choice for his character. The story had a better and more natural progression than season 1. However, it got sloppier the closer it got to the ending. Speaking of the ending, it was a bit underwhelming and not as grandiose as I hoped it would be. Second season should have been a stand alone drama unrelated to the first one, not even in the name. If you don't feel like watching two seasons then you can ignore the first one and just watch the second.

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Riveting Cult Story

I started this drama because I had just finished 'The Guest' and wanted to watch another horror type of kdrama. This did not disappoint. While it is not exactly a horror it is a psychologically horrific drama that makes you frustrated, want to throttle not only the antagonists but also the main character, and makes you want run screaming from religious fanatics (if you didn’t already want to). It is highly addictive. I finished the show in about three days, but it is also draining. The show depicts a family that gets sucked into a religious cult and I thought it felt really realistic. The rewatch value is the lowest of all my ratings because of how draining the show is and how much you want to pull your hair out from all the things that happen that make you want to go into the tv and slap some sense into the characters. I will also say that the drama has some major themes that can trigger or be uncomfortable to watch such as bullying, suicide, murder, sexual assault. If you want to watch a mature drama that is addictive with great acting and see how brainwashing can not only scar but break people watch this. If you want to watch how people overcome trauma and fight past not only the people in their lives who try to control them but injustice as well, watch this. Also, because it is important for me to know and might be a factor in people’s decision to watch this the show does have a HEA but it takes a while to get there and there are a lot of painful events before we get there. The show doesn’t really have romance but what I found to be one of the most entertaining and enticing aspects was the friendship between the two ML’s. For me their relationship was one of the best to see. At the core of this show is the friendship of four boys and how doing the right thing can hurt but if you have the support and love of friends you stand a chance. I wish we could see the FL develop her friendship with the four boys more, but even so the drama was riveting especially since these boys could have abandoned the FL but despite everything they came through. The music was good but I do not find it all that memorable. It did fit the vibe of the series. Overall, great drama!

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I love how this drama showcase a sense of realism to viewers as it comes to grips with religious cults which is so different from other dramas that we're accustomed to.

I'm also amazed with the actors, they all got great acting chops, both protagonists and antagonists, I like Seo Yea Ji's (Sang Mi) acting, it's very convincing, and Woo Do Hwan (Dong Cheol) is such an "oppa" material istg. I love his character here, his heart of gold behind a bad boy look.

Overall, "Save Me" is not your typical K-drama that is all cutesy and filled with hearts and romance, it has dark and heavy theme which you either like or not at all, there's no in between.

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