The Bequeathed (2024)

The Bequeathed: Some Fxxxxd up Family Relationships

Fascinatingly wild, the show revolves around a family feud over an inherited burial ground property. What follows after that is nothing short of insanity.

The series is concise yet enthralling, boasting an intriguing cast of characters. The plot's embedded mystery keeps you engaged until the conclusion enhanced by mind bending twists adding spice to the drama. The intricacies of family relationships leave viewers thoroughly puzzled and the haunting cinematic execution adds suspense enriched by crazy plot twists.

A standout character is Kim Youngho, the estranged step brother of the female protagonist, Yoon Seoha. His borderline craziness makes it very intriguing to watch.

While the entire cast delivered commendable performances, the true show stealer is Ryu Kyung Soo. His portrayal of madness is exceptionally well executed making his character a highlight of the show.

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Slow paced, but in a good way

Let me just start this off by saying I do not entirely enjoy watching thrillers. I tend to find them a bit boring at times with just how slow they can move along and end up dropping them halfway through. When it came to this series on the other hand, it was slow at the beginning but once I got over episode 3, I feel like the episodes flew by.

When it comes to the story... just wow was it messed up. I was shocked by just how dark and twisted it was going to be, not something I anticipated when I put it on my to watch list. This is definitely a series that I can say I have never seen anything like it before and I would not say I was unhappy with anything that happened throughout this short series, but the pacing is just so slow during the first half that it felt as if it was dragging along.

Favorite character of the series has to go to Choi Sungjun who is played by Park Heesoon. Seeing the dynamic that he has with Park Sangmin and their issues grow throughout the show to see how it also ends. I especially love how they show Sangmin telling Sungjun to go visit his son and the last scene of the series we see is him going to visit his son. Just touches my heart.

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Slow paced. Gloomy. Solid crime thriller, set in a perhaps somewhat peculiar milieu

“The Bequeathed” is a dark and gloomy crime thriller that is set on the fringes of madness, obsession and shamanistic practices, taking place in a remote backcountry, where ordinary people have for generations been burying their dead under green burial mounds. It's not a horror story, but rather a solid, yet slow paced crime thriller, set in a perhaps somewhat peculiar milieu.

There are only 6 episodes. Nevertheless, with only a little for the short time, comparatively much is revealed about a wildly mixed bouquet of different characters. A hodgepodge of astonishingly vividly drawn figures cross paths, take their space quite naturally and leave their traces with the audience. Against the background of the ongoing investigation into a series of murders, they all get the chance to clear up what they have (emotionally) left behind ... and move on.

I would not have expected this. Therefore I was positively surprised.
Authentic performance. Amazingly complex with haunting cinematic implementation. Dense. Suspenseful.
Nonetheless consistently gloomy. (It does get a little brighter towards the end though...)

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Brilliant From Start to Finish

This was a superbly directed, excellently acted, perfectly paced, satisfyingly finished, extremely well-told story.

Being someone who prefers a well-told story over one filled with unnecessary filler dialogue, gore, action, romance, and sidekick characters, I have to give this a 10/10 for having absolutely none of those things. Everything, every scene, every character had a story and a purpose that you weren’t left hanging too long to find out what that was.

I’d like to see much more of this type of directing in the future.

If you are after non-stop action, this probably isn’t for you. If you like a well told story, it most definitely is.

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This Murky Memories Mystery Mocktail serves up 260 minutes of a Ménagerie Magnifique

Recipe:
Mix 1 Part Hyun Joo with 1 Part Kyung Soo.
Add your 3 Parks: 1/2 doses of Soon&Eun+a dash of Hoon.
Essential bitters: Jung Ki&Mi Kyung form the base layer; a light spritz of Mok&Sik are front of mouth flavors…
Enjoy with snacks and sip responsibly for just over 4 hours of mysterious murky magnificence!

This started as a feed post, not a review, so pardon it lacking the usual structure reviews get! Title and above nonsense (the cast names of important people in the storyline and wordplay of their roles and or time on screen) are just me being silly while a bit hungry, not having a review summary, and noticing the cast member names and just going with it for no reason but semi-delirium (note: I know very little about alcoholic beverages or their mock versions as I don’t drink em). :)

This show probably won’t suit the tastes of even a third of people who like dark (in this case murder) mysteries. This would have been called suspense before the genre vs tag MDL change-there is a bit of thrill at the end, but this is more “just what is going on here?” mystery than thrill-provoking or scary even though there are a few murders (the murders are the catalyst, not the focus). With a runtime of 4 hours and 20 minutes (once you take out the very long Netflix credits), this feels like a small-scale but well fleshed out film more than a drama/miniseries.

The acting is incredibly realistic and believable throughout. It left me very curious what the leads were thinking/what their motivations truly were. I even felt myself, 2/3 or so through it, questioning whether I’d just glimpsed a few flashes of intense greed from the female lead who is otherwise a lovely, intelligent, hardworking protagonist who has faced a lot of bad luck and scorn, largely from the universal tool people love judging others on: wealth/social status. Quite the hellish chain of events turn her life upside down: struggling to advance in her career (that wealth detail), a husband who we learn right away is rotten but WOW we REALLLLLY learn how rotten in a short bit of time… and the central catalyst for her work flipping, a paternal uncle she didn’t know existed (because her father left when she was a kid) dies and an abnormally valuable piece of land, a burial ground, is left to her by default as the only known remaining family…

She has to suddenly face some long-repressed or ignored memories from when she was 5-7 or so as well as a brief one from a moment in early adolescence when her mother has brought home a slimy feeling guy (amazing how some moments and the performances of them are strong enough with just a few words, in this case “You’re pretty just like your mother,” to really make your skin crawl!) and she went to peek into her father’s life where she sees a child who proves to be her half-brother. Back to the present, that half-brother is now a young man who shows up and announces who he is, demanding that he has just as much right to the burial ground as her.

For many people, I need not mention the beauty or skill of Kim Hyun Joo. She can make me cry, rage out, or shudder in half a second depending on her script (I liken her to Kim Seo Kyung in that sense… both are undervalued globally but can carry tender or tough, warm or cold, and complex roles with ease, showing enough nuance and charm the whole while)-not that all her scripts are gold, just that she has always been one of the lovely actresses that isn’t reliant on visuals but is actually able to give powerful performances across a wide spectrum (still waiting for her to be a truly f’d up villain, but I don’t know that it’d be offered with her face). That said, I do have a fully admitted weakness for her and have since 1999. She was my goddess then, and she is my goddess now. Other goddess-level actresses like Im Ye Jin and our original wave maker (more a QUEEN than goddess but her porcelain doll visuals helped, I am sure) Lee Young Ae preceded her in my viewing timeline, but Kim Hyun Joo truly made my face transform into one of a smitten, fluttering cat wanting to perch by her feet-which proved good judgment on my part from all I’ve seen said of her these 2.5 decades of viewing her adoringly!

Two of the three lead male costars have been in other works with her. Returning from the male lead role in Jung_E and a support role in Hellbound is Ryu Kyung Soo, certainly the most striking and unique character here (and who I would call the lead from both screen time/prominence and “irreplaceability” ie how central the role is to telling the story). He plays the half-brother to her in what is the most memorable role I personally have watched him in thus far. His character is one they refuse to give you any quick answers about in terms of telling you the motivations behind or the character of (or reasons for it)… they roll it out to the detectives and female lead slowly, methodically, and with his words and actions being unclear, and in turn we are left curious and possibly guessing. His execution was fantastic (to a point of wanting to pause on many frames and study his face and figure him out or just appreciate the craft he was showcasing though I let it play out at the speed designated, possibly because there was no 6 day or even several hour long wait for the next episode)!

The other returning costar is her co-lead from Trolley, the ever-charming/alluring Park Hee Soon with his gravelly voice and weary, melancholy expression. I’ve often found him magnetic as my eyes would declare, and it is not for some sort of “hot guy alert” reason but how he carries himself when embodying his characters and the nuanced, almost micro expressions that make him interesting to see as just about any character. Here he plays a detective who is consistently insightful, quick-witted, and incredibly thorough in investigations (the chief used an interesting expression regarding the reports written up by him, essentially saying they had ‘military level precision’ in terms of diligence and integrity [I can’t recall the subs from Netflix and don’t rely on them fully for accuracy unless the translation center in my brain is too tired/out cold and cannot process the words with any realistic speed]). His character itself is, on the surface, nothing much, but not only is there a backstory I enjoyed the telling of but he is, simply put, an excellent actor for the camera and in turn our eyes to follow as the story unravels. His exceptional intuition and veteran wisdom as a detective make uncovering details through him a delight no matter what he is in, really… well, usually. :)

Our final lead role is also a police officer, Park Byung Eun carrying out the role of a team leader with a complicated relationship with the savvy detective PHS plays. Theirs is a loyal friend&partner [, dongsaeng&hyung, hoobae&sunbae]-turned superior&subordinate antagonistic relationship, one filled with feelings of a conflict, guilt, and inferiority, between them. PBE plays the former hoobae, current superior who feels pitied and inferior in his capacity as an officer, and we see the chief belittle him and their team members show respect but not trust in his insight compared to his former superior turned underling… that makes his judgment even more poor because he feels rushed to solve the case and cannot think straight.

Writing this AFTER finishing the show in one sitting, I am of two minds. First, I think “well done, writer and director” in that they told EXACTLY ENOUGH but no more to fully grasp their present day situation and FEEL it even though it is not our main storyline. That is my dominant mindset and how I felt WATCHING it… but then in retrospect, I can see some, maybe many, feeling less than satisfied by there BEING these backstories for something so short and so plot-centered. I can definitely see a lot of viewers wanting “more action” whereas I really appreciate them giving me a story to sink into for these cops. I guess I have seen just tooooo many police officer props who exist as their title, not their name, their family upbringing, their spouse and kids if they have them, their aspirations, or even their work history beyond “this title means they are [tried tested veterans of the field/rookies who are drowning-level wet behind the ears, probably older/approaching retirement and running everything from behind a desk etc]…” assumed backgrounds.

I am a big fan of tightly controlled backstory narratives that let me feel like I am watching people with real lives and a wide spectrum of feelings, NOT PROPS/plot devices which sadly is what a heck of a lot of characters end up being. (You know how many characters solely exist to propel the story for the lead character(s) at this or that point and feel like they display a lazy writer not knowing how to get from points A to B to C? I call those characters props or plot devices because they aren’t given much to show their humanity besides their bodies… their feelings, quirks, even at times their jobs are really lazily thought through. That “tightly controlled” part is the problem for other sorts of writers who spend so much time writing up characters that they keep diverging from the core storyline and the character(s) that matter the most, whose stories are defining the arc of the narrative to begin with.

For that backstory here, since the creators opted to use a very short amount of time in total to juggle the plot and character exploration and development, they used one of the most easy to screw up tools: flashbacks. I don’t generally love writers using loads of flashbacks, but this kept the flashback scenes tight and purposeful. They weren’t the usual trite, shallow filler (the “empty calories” kinds of details thrown in that add little but bulk), at least in my viewing. They also didn’t try, in this short time, to shove deep philosophical/spiritual reflections at us which seems to be a common pitfall for thrillers that dive into territorylike shamanistic or religious rituals. The flashbacks in The Bequeathed are sensible: they happened long ago, and most revolve around people who are deceased in the story’s time frame. It would take twice the time (and SO MANY *BIG* time skips!) to make this linear and incorporate all the vivid details they use flashbacks to show us, and I don’t want that for this show! Where utilized, I found the flashbacks meaningful (many are going into the mind of the female lead as little fragments of long-repressed/ignored/“forgotten” memories get triggered by bits of the investigation and this new half-brother figure); they were consistently adding to the story positively, not distracting-thereby-detracting from it as happens more often than not, and as a perk, they were well-styled! No need to tell me about when they were flashing back to or for me to see kids at this or that age in the flashbacks-they gave the father a completely iconic couple of looks that briefly let me time travel to the times and places of the FL’s memories that were essential to the story!

The final 60-90 minutes of this were *truly* well-played! Color me impressed, but a writer managed to actually find a pretty dang original combination of details to ACTUALLY twist this thing like a pretzel JUST ENOUGH to make it memorable and different, not just a recycled plot from a thousand other stories. What overlaps is only natural… they ARE the same species, after all (both the writers-so far, though other critters might catch up one day!-and the characters written about)! What is different is still wholly human but for some reason just hasn’t crossed my eyes in this combo.

I need to give MASSIVE applause to whoever either found or designed and carried out the scene with the BEAUTIFUL kiln (/set) that briefly makes a spectacular appearance in this? I am leaving this review totally vague to avoid spoilers, but man, that scene won’t leave my head for a long while. It isn’t like kilns themselves are new to me. I have been in huge ones and used regular sized ones alike and, as dramas go, watched one being made in the awful melodrama When I Was the Prettiest from a few years ago (pottery is the starting point of its story, its primary location the kiln and studio etc, and it is at least half of why I watched). This simple, single, urn-making kiln, though, was both a massive surprise in this story but also just a magnificent place for the scene they wrote there. It is a case where a kind of “out there” unrealistic, different idea might totally flop for many but became my favorite scene in the whole show, the camera angles of it, all the actual clay(mud=clay) holding bricks together as they seal it to fire urns, seeing the inside of it (even though I assume movie magic was required, it sure felt like I was in there looking at the shelves of urns and all the sturdy brick walls around! Unless they used some GoPro sort of tiny camera in one and used very long robot arm style rods to have it shooting in all directions, I can’t imagine getting shots like that in a kiln the size of what we saw on screen, but bravo three times over if they did!!)… I dunno why, but it is stuck in my head!

This is random, but if only to remember myself later on, I want to document another peculiar near-uniqueness of this show:
It is not every day you see a display of self defense by nose biting! ;)

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A complete waste of time

When watching anime, there is a 3-Episode Rule, which is basically if it does not get good within 3 episodes, drop it.

Many dramas, especially chinese dramas do not adhere to this rule and starts off very, very slow. where the first 2 episodes are a complete waste of time explaining the background of characters. K-dramas on the other hand, usually adhere to this rule by giving you a very thrilling first episode.

Recently however, kdrama are moving towards ignoring this rule. This is one great example, where not only the first 3 episodes are a complete waste of time, but numerous segments of later episodes are also designed to waste your time and bore you to death.

It's difficult scoring this show as honestly, it's an extremely boring show and watching it to the end is a test of your patience. Perhaps you might have enjoyed the show or certain parts of the show, but you cannot deny that Dramas often live and die by it's plot, as we're better off watching theater for it's acting, or a musical for it's music.

I get that it's trending, but also remember that Netflix-And-Chill is a thing, where people just let their TV run and chill.

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An unfulfilling short series

I was really excited to start The Bequeathed because it seemed like it had everything I liked wrapped up into a short 6-episode series. It wasn't until I started the final episode that I realized there was no way they could wrap everything up as cleanly as I would have liked. The twists in the story weren't all that surprising, and I felt that I wasn't too invested in ay of the characters.

Yoon Seoha finds out she has inherited a family burial ground from a recently deceased uncle whom she had never met. Meanwhile, she finds out her husband is cheating on her and she likely didn't get the job promotion she thought she would. When a man claiming to be her half-brother starts fighting her for this burial ground, it seems like Seoha's life is spiraling out of control. No matter which way she turns, it seems that only hardships follow, and though she's suspecting everyone around her, she can't help but feel like it may be her family's own bad karma.

When it comes to crime K-dramas, there's a high bar. I love a good mystery, a good investigation, and a good, well-thought out killer. Unfortunately, this one just didn't quite deliver. While it was a very enjoyable and quick watch, I felt that something was lacking the whole time. I found Seoha difficult to sympathize with, as she always threw the blame on the closest person and never seemed to think things through. If they wanted to focus on the police investigation, they could have done that too, but that also felt like it was only peripheral even though they attempted to flesh out the cops working the case as much as they could. I think this story would have been a lot more compelling if told from the perspective of the lead detective instead of Seoha, or if Seoha was a bit more likeable as a character. Still, it was a fun show and an easy watch because of its length.

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Thrilling, Gloomy, and Unnerving— Featuring Some Twisted Familial Relationships

I don’t usually gravitate towards slow-burn thrillers, but this one hit different. Overall, the pacing of the show was slow, but there were some moments filled with action that got your adrenaline racing.

The Bequeathed is reminiscent of Beyond Evil, in terms of the rural, "small town" setting and the general "slow-burn" unfolding of the storyline, as well as The Revenant’s dive into the whole supernatural aspect. Construing an eerie and unsettling atmosphere, especially in a rural setting, can be hard. After all, you don’t have much to work with apart from empty plots of land that stretch as far as the eye could see; but despite having limited cards to play with, he knew how to manipulate them well. Cinematography, lighting, the camerawork, and soundtrack all pitched in to weave this unsettling atmosphere that kept me on my toes.

Despite its original and interesting premise, the drama did fall short towards the end. Although most of the smaller plot holes were filled, unironically, perhaps the most important overarching one was left untouched: "Why does everyone covet the burial ground?" Considering that the burial ground is part of the drama’s synopsis and was it’s overall theme, it’s hard not to consider this factor when rating the dramas plot holes (now, we’re treading on dangerous territory here..). Other than that, the dramas worldbuilding, flow, pacing, character and relationship development, and overall predictability scored quite high on my scale.

Is it a fresh concept? no, but it is a good take on the noir, slow burn thriller set in a creepy, rural town where a mysterious serial killer runs amok. If you’re into that, The Bequeathed may be a good option to add to your list.

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I NEED MORE OF THIS SHOW

I got this show recommended by a friend and the moment she told its got only 6 episodes i knew it was gonna be bomb. AND IT WAS!

Listen 6 episodes are easy to fuck up too, its not like this show is one of a kind never done before but it was such a good build up and i liked almost every character in there!!! I was so invested and it was only episode 1. The arc the build up the plotwists, theres really nothing to complain about honestly. The only complaint I have is that 6 episodes is too short for such a good concept of a kdrama.

The detectives and their back stories and the fucked up family, it was all just so good. Such a good and quick watch although I was dreading the ending because of how immersed I got into this story.

Also I really wish they showed the siblings get along but I guess its a too far fetched of a wish…the plotwist in the end shocked and disgusted me, I had all sorts of theories under my belt but it never would’ve been that…Oh well. Good shock value.

I recommend this a lot!! Amazing actors and acting, such a good quick show.

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Too much story for too few episodes

Feb 2024
The story pretty much takes us straight into the mood of this gritty and dark drama, which is heavy, unsettling and pretty dreary.
There are no particularly nice characters at all.
Detective Choi Seong Jun is probably the only one I found ok, but his reaction to something in his past and lack of doing anything about it, knocked him down in my eyes, too.
There is zero humour in this, at all.
The creepy events that the death of the owner of land with a family burial site on it, sets in motion, are really mysterious.
There are gripping scenes and the feelings of threat rarely let up. It's not as violent as some recent dramas, by far, yet it still manages to shock at times.
The final reveal of the cause of the events following Yoon Seo-ha's inheritance, are a real twist.
I found her central character very hard to like. Some of her actions should have had consequences and her personality was so fake, just like her patience, which was actually supressed anger hidden behind a sycophantic lifeless smile. She stands up to her slimy husband, but not to someone she works for, who basically uses her.
Supposedly intelligent, yet her utter cluelessness and trust in people most of us would see as totally dodgy, was eye rolling.
I also got irritated by the character's stunted and emotionless response to things, which just wasn't believable.
Then there's the police unit tasked with solving the strange goings on, which like in EVERY other K-drama, it seems, cannot be totally effective.
There's a lazy does nothing but approve stuff Chief and an inept Police Captain, who has tunnel vision and history with Seong-jun. This creates additional tension to an already fraught relationship between the two and does nothing for the investigation either. I found it really frustrating.
Another plot line involving Seong-jun was unnecessary in its depth and only a vehicle for the main story. It just wasted time.
A lot (too much really), was crammed into 6 episodes, all less than 1 hour long. The story was told and concluded, but consequently lacked substance.
Overall it was an OK watch and pretty clever, but I was far from blown away.

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