Thrilling. Unsettling to some extent. Additionally to an enthralling story you get great acting.
"The Cursed" puts Korean shamanism at the center of events. Shamans play their role again and again in KDramas - even if they are only indirectly present in the form of yellow adhesive talismans in red Hanja writing for fertility, luck, prosperity, etc. But in "The Cursed" they actively determine what happens. The shamans are distinguished by their spirit conection and/or have inherited their practice. To this day, Muism or Sindo - the shaman religion - is firmly rooted in everyday life as the oldest popular belief system.So you inevitably have to deal with magical rituals, shamanistic practices and (in this case) evil spirits who quickly possess people or e.g.. rather curse them. It is quite somber and frightening considering that mere human ability has little to counter these forces and practices.
Viewer ratings have more than doubled over the course of the TVseries. For South Korean audiences, the KDrama obviously struck a chord. For me it was an intense drama. Thrilling. Unsettling to some extent. Generally, I would recommend it, if you are open to face another realm besides our rational reality. Additionally to an enthralling story you get great acting. (No romance, though...)
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This actually started out amazing. The story was very interesting, though not scary, and it quickly became clear who the main characters were up against. By the time that Jin Hee was kidnapped, the drama went downhill really fast, to the point that I didn't want to watch the rest of the episodes and was not curious about the ending at all. Jin Hee and her husband don't act like a married couple, but more like distant acquaintances who just happen to share an apartment. He wasn't losing his mind when he heard that his wife was kidnapped. The kidnappers had been doing this whole kidnap-beat-kill routine for a while, but they magically forgot to take away Jin Hee's bag which contained her cell-phone with the tracking app. That was so outrageous that it just put me off everything. The kidnappers kill everyone they kidnap but they let the private investigator go for some reason?? And didn't anticipate that he'd go and rat them out to the police?
Shaman Jin Kyung went down very easily, for a powerful shaman. The whole crumpled, twisted body thing was creepy the first time but it just made me bored the second time. Sung Dong Il did a good job in the first half of the show, but somehow I just couldn't continue to see him as an evil guy towards the end. And what is up with that end? All that So Jin can do is curse and kill folk, so how the heck did she manage to somehow unite the Inugami in her own body and drag it out of the Forest app? I don't even know what happened in the last episode and I am not the least bit curious.
I also wonder how Chairman could kill people after looking at their picture once, but he didn't do it immediately with So Jin? Why does he lose his energy when he does it? how come his power is different from So Jin's?
Too many potholes and such a lost potential. The acting was good though.
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the cinematography and the vibes/color scheme of this drama was so fitting and so pretty, it set the right mood, it was kinda dark and cold, I really liked it.
I think, beside the ending, my favorite part was the characters. Im Jin Hee was such a normal "mature" and independent woman, they gave her a solid background, she was happily normally married, she had a job she worked hard in and she wasn't randomly "good" or "bad", they didn't add unnecessary conflict to her personal life, but they gave her a small trauma that was like the driving force for her relationship with So Jin.
Sung Joon, although I highly appreciated that he was her "normal" husband that was a cutie, he did seem a little useless, basically though the writers tried to leave all of the "mystery" solving to the ladies and so the cops were basically dumb ;P but again, I appreciate his last smart moves, they redeemed him well.
Baek So Jin was the highlight of this drama, again I think the writers (and the actors) did a great job making their characters feel believable and fresh, Baek So Jin was angsty without being hateful, hurt without having a "screw the world" mentality, and she was so brave, so tiny yet she tried to look uncaring ;(
I can't talk about how much I loved the ending, it was really well wrapped, though I do wish for a 2nd season~
the ost was another great mood setter, and I never rewatch things so it's either a 1 or a 10 ;)
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Have I gotten that out of the way? Okay. Yes. This drama is a gem.
This is one of those "it doesn't have to be romance centric for it to be interesting" drama.
I think the best way to watch all 12 episodes is to marathon it. Sung Dong Il depicted the role of an antagonist perfectly that I didn't know how he could be so different in every character.
The cursed is a thriller/suspense/horror drama about a group who heavily relies in the supernatural to stay in power and a child out on vengeance for what happened to her family. While watching this drama I was always at the edge of my seat and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This drama let me keep wanting more especially that ending.
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The Cursed title itself already gave a thrilling vibes. I was skeptical watching this at first.. but as the episodes progressed, I came to like the drama despite the genre.. As a thriller fan... I love this kind of drama tho it scares me a little when So Jin did the "cursing" spell on people. I guess the music contributes a lot to it.Story wise.. its really good as the story flows really smoothly. of course its not perfect... but its enough to keep u on edge every episodes. for me.. the best episode is when So Jin did the cursing to the shaman jin kyung. tat feels really satisfying... recalling all the appalling things she did on behalf of forest ceo.... another best is the ending eps... really good. So Jin sacrificed herself to save many others despite those people hatred that causes all of the ruckus.
12 eps is pretty short for drama like this but i guess if there's more eps, the story would be draggy.
Actors: Jeong Ji So really is super cool on her characters.. her expression everytime she did the cursing thingy is really expressive. such a talented young actress.. can't wait to see her in more drama/movies.. would love to see her on a normal school girl roles.
The shaman jin kyung really creeps me out on all eps.. so i guess she did well portraying it..
The rest of the casts are excellent too..
Sung Dong Il is really a good veteran actor... of course he did well..as expected of him... I kinda watched a lot of drama where there's Sung Dong II playing and he did a great job on his acting.
Overall... all the actors and actresses did really well on this drama.
I would love to see the ending where they show So Jin wake up from her coma and live a normal life... or maybe continue becoming a semi shaman who curses people? Who knows... maybe the writer leave the ending to the viewers. As for me.. I would love to see her live normally.
If you like horror/thriller drama.. you gotta watch this... I didn't dare to watch other same genres dramas... but this one.. really good and not as scary as you thought.
Enjoy... ^^
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The Cursed use their story structure really well and everything flows together quite well, as well as having really interesting and likeable characters that you really root for. The story here is slower and more suspenseful, with a focus on the mystery of these curses and maybe not as action packed you might hope after hearing Train to Busan. But there is also a decent amount of horror there. Some gory, some more atmospheric.
Korea loves their evil spirits and ghosts in their horror I have noticed over the year, so a lot of the things that I saw in The Cursed was not necessarily new to me. But there is nothing wrong with using the genre and people’s expectations to your advantage and you do not always have to invent the wheel so to speak with every story. Sometimes you can just take a well-known path and do something interesting with it. Which The Cursed did, even if it became a bit repetitive towards the end.
I like horror so a lot of the gorier stuff doesn’t actually bother me, so The Cursed did not make me want to cover my eyes in any way. The gory bits were used for a specific purpose here and rather sparingly and maybe not only as shock value - although it's a bit shocking at first.
But what I liked the most about this drama was not the horror elements, but rather the characters and the dynamic between them. That is what really stood out to me.
The found family aspect of the story really tug at my heartstrings. I love the mother-daughter relationship that Im Jin Hee and Baek So Jin had and that was truly the heart of the show. Seeing these two ladies work together and care for each other while solving horror mystery together was the reason why I liked this show so much. It was just so sweet to see how much So Jin looked up to this older woman, which was probably the very first mother figure that she has had in her life in a long time.
I also liked that that Im Jin Hee did not have any love-lines, as that would not have worked in the drama. Well she has a love-line, but she is already married to the guy so that kind of relationship does not take the forefront of the show. Would I have liked to see more exploration of that relationship as the story progressed? Yes, I would have. But what we got was nice. It is nice to see a married couple work together in a kdrama.
Their main antagonist, the evil CEO, was not the most original or compelling character ever. But he still served his purpose. In a sea of complex and interesting characters, many of which get to be more than black and white, it is alright to have one that is just kind of evil for evils sake sort of.
The Cursed is a bit of a procedural drama, which is not really my cup of tea and those bits of the story were probably my least favorite. But they did tie into the story quite well and overall, the story became a bit repetitive towards the end. But it had a heart and some good character and enough horror to keep me happy.
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Had Potential But Became Lame
LIKES:Decent cinematography
The acting by the younger generation was better than the older actors/actresses
The best acting was done by Jeong Ji So as Baek So Jin.
Production was okay.
Special FXs on Jeong Ji So were good and for the twisted ones.
Music didn't stand out or wasn't memorable, but worked throughout each scene.
DISLIKES:
- very slow paced, had to push myself to finish watching it.
- the ending we could figure out after the 5th episode, it was so obvious
- the whole FOREST thing was super lame
- Was Jin Her and the cop dating, a couple or married? They seemed more like friends, but even barely that
- the writers got lost in their own story, then tried to throw together an ending and failed to make it have any impact.
- the director too, had the actors wasting time and not showing enough emotion when it was needed.
- It wasn’t scary or a thriller, because there was no real plot twist
OVERALL:
I don't recommend it, was a waste of time. I wont rewatch it at all. I might check out other shows/movies by actress Jeong Ji So. Mostly it was just boring. Barely made it as a 5/10.
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an outstadning horror(ish?) drama with good acting
I mainly started watching the drama for jung ji so ( the female protagonist) . This drama is pretty fast paced , with interesting characters and storythis drama started out strong and with a few hiccups here and there it ended pretty well . what i liked about this drama is that the main character of jin hee who started out as a justice seeking reporter , i thought her character would be one dimensional ( i am sorry i tend to be judgemental about characters at first sometimes ) but her back story and character advancement took me by surprise. i was fascinated by her relationship with so jin , at first she was reluctant to believe her but gradually she wanted to and then ended up doing. Her decisions in the beginning played a major part in the story and i was pretty surprised by her actions after the major procedure thing happened at first. along the story her relationship with so jin was full of ups and i was so in for it .
then coming to our main female protagonist so jin , jung jiso nailed her job ( i love her ) , she is a morally gray character with mainly one aim throughout the show , destroying the main antagonist and his shaman . she didn't even hesitated to do a procedure at the beginning only to make jin hee believe ( i am weak for morally gray characters anyway) . later she went to lengths to take revenge and save jin hee from the antagonist ( these episodes were the best ones) .
aside from these two characters other ( small and big) everyone did a good job too , i just don't want to write about them now. lastly , the plot twist in the end episodes ( about the dog spirit in so jin and jong hyun) , i liked how this lead the story. its fairly action packed ( you will understand once you watch !)considering the setting of characters. and i really liked the shots and whole aesthetic of this show. i saw somewhere that a season 2 is coming and i am eagerly waiting for it.
* if you want to watch something slightly non conventional and into horror , this might be it , its only 12 episodes and you wont be disappointed.
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Korean Shamanism 101
This genre is often underexplored or if tackled upon, mostly only used as an accessory for the thrill rather for the plot itself. This kdrama is different as it portrays Korean shamanism as its main story, as well as introduces it to the international viewers, especially to those unfamiliar with it (like me.)The first half was thrilling and suspenseful, since it showed that the "bad guys" have the upper hand, although at times it was slow-paced. After all, having a powerful and greedy shaman, a well-oiled machinery of thugs to do various evil deeds, and a narcissistic antagonist gave me less hope that Jin-hee and So-jin (the 2 leads) would be able to stop said shenanigans. Nice pacing on the 1st half since it really made me stick my eyes to the screen, curious as to what would happen next. The gory scenes here were also stand-out, and didn't make me feel scared at all.
It was smart for the production team to make it into 12 episodes rather than the standard 16 as it was able to convey the story in a smooth flow without the unneccesary fillers. At the same time, the action part and the rituals especially in the second half was executed well. The plot twist was really able to convince me that the connection between So-jin (the lead with shaman powers) and Jong-hyeon (the main antagonist) was well-thought. If you would be confused with the first few episodes, they would be all answered on the last 3 episodes, and I really appreciate how the flashback episodes were executed, it all really made sense. Add to that was the built-up of my interest with the conflicting supernatural powers between the So-jin and the rest of the antagonists particularly at the finale, it really added to my interest on the whole series.
Despite the cliffhanger however, it wasn't enough to pique my interest to watch the sequel (a movie), as I felt that the story (at least here) has been adequately finished, albeit with a few questions/suggestions:
QUESTIONS:
a. How did the inugami be united in So-jin's body instead of just transferring to the new host, which is not a person?
b. How different are the powers of So-jin and the chairman? Although it is understandable that the evil spirit originally dwelt with her and was just split to both of them, it would've been more thrilling had the chairman possessed just even half of So-jin's power.
SUGGESTION:
- it would've made more sense if Jin-hee and her husband, Seong-joon were just friends instead of a married couple, it just didn't felt that they were married here. In fact, Seong-joon's reaction to Jin-hee's abduction was more of an acquaintance's rather than a husband's.
Overall, was still interesting plot-wise despite the slow pacing of the first half, especially if you are curious as to what is Korean shamanism. There were gory scenes (the deaths of some characters were not only unique, but also brutal), and the rituals, talismans, and curses were executed properly here. I think you would appreciate this show more if you are already interested with the culture (in this case, shamanism), rather than just to watch it for the sake of watching.
Although the ending was a cliffhanger, it didn't made me curious as to what lies ahead. Still, a must watch for Korean shamanism 101.
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I thought this was a promising show, but it turns out to be a waste of time.
I thought this was a promising show. So, even if it did had a very slow phased first few episodes, I decided to push through.The premise is good, the actors were great, so I expected too much. But for a paranormal/horror show, this is not at all that scary.
I think the writers didn't managed to give the show a heart. And I'm not talking about romance, I just don't feel attached to the characters. They die or they don't, I don't care. I just wanted to know the conclusion.
The writers didn't have enough room to maneuver, so it ended at just 12 episodes.
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A magnificently executed microcosm of bleak hopeless depression
So...I'm a fan of just about everything Studio Dragon is involved in. I went into this show expecting to like it and specifically selected it because of Studio Dragon's involvement. It's definitely not the sort of drama most Kdrama fans would be expecting. The themes are dark, the morality structure is dark, the ending is unsettling, and there's a complete lack of romance. These people didn't come to give you a heartwarming tale of overcoming adversity or some deeper social/political message....these people are really only here to put themselves on display in all their imperfections and let you watch them exist in that dark world of their own consequence. This is not good vs evil, this is evil vs evil. And this dark horrible drama is absolutely in my Top 10 all time favorites list.I know that's a bit obtuse of a description for a review. I absolutely enjoyed the shit out of this drama, but it's important to understand the plot is fairly dense and the themes are fairly dark and there is no clear division of right vs wrong. There's no comfort, there's only unease in a bleak gray world of despair. It's the sort of story you might more traditionally find in Japanese horror dramas where things do not get resolved perfectly and life is not forgiving and you make tons of mistakes and there are no redemption arcs to save you. It is an incredibly deep and intelligent plot, and worth watching if you can withstand the unethical immoral behavior of the lead characters.
Essentially it's a drama about revenge murder. Your heroes have made the choice to abandon right and wrong and think only of themselves and operate in a world where their hatred and revenge consumes them. The settings and sets all feed into that same level of disorganized, hopeless depression. The lead female actress does an exceptional job carrying the burden and weight of her character's state of mind in every movement, facial expression, and line delivery. Her portrayal of the lead character is so thoughtfully executed that you do not for a single moment believe she could possibly have ever been happy or light hearted. The choices she makes are wrong and she knows they are wrong and she makes them anyhow.
The child lead is also exceptionally well acted. She is evil to her core by nature, she doesn't try to be good or make morally appropriate choices, she lives only to get revenge on her mother's killer. She uses every device, manipulates every person, does every evil thing she needs to do to achieve her goal. The grown-ass adult actress that plays this child does such an exceptional job expressing a child's single minded unwavering rage and conviction.
These two characters find a tenuous comfort and camaraderie in each other's shared dark view of the very dark world they inhabit. They have almost immediate trust and understanding. They don't need to explain themselves to each other, they don't try to save each other's souls, they simply hold hands as they walk along a poorly lit path toward certain unavoidable doom. I appreciated every moment of their interaction together. They empathize with each other with zero judgement and zero expectation.
I would watch this drama again because it's so intensely intelligently written, but I don't know if I can withstand the gore for another viewing. If they come out with a second season I will watch it ravenously and without reservation.
Side Note: I had to watch it on Dramacool because I couldn't find it anyhwere else....I hate watching shows on Dramacool.
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