My brain is dead, but at least I had fun?

I get people loving it because it was entertaining, but damn this was extremely poorly written. Too many plot points were simply ridiculous and beyond unrealistic and too many things were just vaguely explained. Some scene progressions were questionable at best, distasteful at worst. One of the best examples - the way they switched from showing physical abuse to a silly rap battle made me so uncomfortable. Or when the witness starts with “she almost made me blind”, but they end the statement on “she asked me to buy her sanitary pads” as if that was the worst thing he had to deal with - is this a joke? Social satire? What is going on?

I think the biggest flaw of the drama was Cha Woo In. She was stagnant throughout the whole show, and her character development happens before the story starts. She is presented as a basically flawless person - smart, strong, righteous, caring, determined. Anything she had to learn she already did, anything she had to improve she already did.

On the other hand, we’ve got some great development for the other characters, including many supporting ones. Stories that focused on admitting to your wrong doings, facing the consequences and learning from them. Lessons that show kindness can change a person, even if we think they can never improve. Surprisingly a lot of depth considering the over the top scenario.

The highlight of the drama? Everything Noh Tae Nam related. I would love to see a drama focused on him as the main character. This could be some great character study.

Production value was the standard high quality we get from tvN - nothing stood out either on the positive or negative side. The soundtrack was great, especially the opening song - Ha Hyun Woo has simply magical vocals.

Overall, it was fun, but painful for my brain.

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Simple yet refreshing, staying away from some well known cliches and tropes we often see in Korean crime shows. Surprisingly, the strength of the drama lies not in the thrilling plot, but rather the heartwarming connections and relationships the characters form with each other.

Not gonna lie, I did struggle a bit watching the first few episodes. It was not bad, it just did not hold my attention. You know how some shows start with amazing first few episodes and then fall into a writing dark hole and misery? Nobody Knows is a rare case of the opposite - starts just fine and only gets better with every episode.

What to love? The variety of friendships and partnerships formed between the characters. The really gradual, but undeniable character developments that are not exaggerated. Strong and empathic female lead, who charmed me with her badassery and emotional maturity. Male lead that overcomes his flaws and trauma and learns how to care about others again. Teens that seem more mature than adults in their approach to life, hardships, unjust behavior and learning from your own mistakes. It’s rare to see a crime drama where the characters are the core of the story and the thing that will keep you glued to the screen.

Sadly, as much as I loved the writing of the protagonists, I cannot say I enjoyed the villains as much. Rather one dimensional and cliche. Sure, delivered some exciting scenes and carried the crime side of the show, but definitely did not present the same level of complexity and depth as the good guys. And with how disappointing that aspect was, the overall plot suffered too and it was especially evident in the last episode.

Luckily, everyone’s performance was stellar. From the older and more experienced cast to the teens and kids - solid acting with some nice nuances in delivery.

Production wise it was great. Loved the soundtrack, the tones and editing - all creating a coherent picture and style.

Overall, not exactly addicting and thrilling making you binge watch, but somehow making you curious to continue watching at your own pace.

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Who comes up with these ideas?

This started so normal if we compare it to how it ended. I was in tears from crying during the last 20 minutes. Undoubtedly they had a lot of creative freedom while writing and filming this movie.

It has everything - decent CGI, awful CGI, small snakes, big snakes, friendship, romance, morality lessons, social commentary - all in the amazing trash quality.

I did laugh because of a few stupid jokes that were perfectly timed and well-delivered. I’m just glad there were exactly zero seconds where they tried to be serious about the plot. The acting was surprisingly fine - ain’t no high production quality mainstream title, but I was expecting something far worse.

Whatever comes to your mind after seeing the poster and the title is exactly what you will get.

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Two full semesters of developmental psychology flashed before my eyes as I was watching…

And with that, I just could not with this romance. That said, the drama was still extremely entertaining and fun to watch and had a lot of other great elements working for me quite well.

What I loved about it was the whole supportive community around Yuri - each and every character trying to help him, putting aside their own feelings. It was heartwarming and extremely enjoyable to watch. I especially loved his interactions with two 2nd male leads.

I also appreciated Harumi Junko in the context of her work - slowly learning how to enjoy what she does, what her strengths are and how she can motivate her students to strive for improvement and enjoy learning.

Sadly, it was hard to watch her in terms of romance. Being indecisive when you don’t know how you feel about people around you is one thing, but with her, she knew she has little to no romantic interest for the guys, yet still did not set proper boundaries for quite some time. Not only the truly questionable age gap (the romance became legal literally almost at the end of the show), but also the female lead’s personality made me not really interested in her journey to a happy relationship. Not to mention the lack of chemistry between her and the male lead.

The acting was quite good. It’s a rare case when the cast truly matches the age of the characters they are playing (we all know that mid 20’ actors usually play all the characters in the late teens to 40’), which helped a lot with creating a realistic portrayal.

I don’t really have much to say about the production - it’s a rom-com and it fits the standards of the good quality one.

Overall, it works better as a motivational and heartwarming slice of life than romance drama.

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Why was it so wholesome?

And why did I enjoy it so much! Give me a gory slice of life with amazing friendship and sweet romance. How does this combination make sense? No idea, but it was fun.

This movie is not scary, this movie is entertaining, heartwarming and silly. Yes, the deaths are gruesome, but the stakes are non-existent. This is probably the most chill horror I have ever seen - no worries, no true tension, just pure enjoyment.

The plot could be separated into distinguishable sections depending on the characters; knowledge of what is happening around them and the growing friendship. With that, it never felt boring, and surprisingly not repetitive at all. We’ve got a cute slice of life during the day, and nightmare in the night - how did it click so well? No idea, but I loved that format.

Production value was fine. I’m glad we only saw the Red Person in the dark and shadows, because giving us a good view of it would ruin the fun - the design was just too silly, looking like something from Five Nights at Freddy's.

Overall, initial confusion about the tone of the movie turned into a tiny excitement and overall a pleasant experience, which is a rare thing to say about a horror movie.

Ps. Don’t even watch the after credits scene - it’s dumb. They thought they got the viewers with a twist, but it makes literally no sense.

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Great buildup with a bit too much overexplaining.

How much you will feel the thrills and how much you will enjoy this movie depends on how fast you will guess the plot. The later you figure out the puzzle pieces, the better. For me, it was around an hour into the story, and after I understood what’s going on, it was a bit too predictable.

Still, the movie was for sure well crafted. Perfect pacing, with well written characters and outstanding performance from the cast. A bit of red herring and vague storytelling that helped create the suspense. Even after you figure out what’s coming, it’s still enjoyable. You start to pay more attention to details, dialogues and interactions between characters to see if they all support your theory.

It’s a psychological thriller that truly masterfully builds the layers of the plot and characters’ state. It’s a bit heavy on the explanation at the end, going the “tell not show” and not “show don’t tell” way. I believe the audience is smart enough to make sense of the clues and hints they have seen without the director literally showing what happened and why.

The best aspect of Anchor? Performances. I’m a massive fan of Shin Ha Kyun, and he did not disappoint in this project either. He delivers the lines and expressions with such an ease, you truly believe the character is a real person. Chun Woo Hee did most of the heavy lifting, being the central part of the story, and she aced the role. It was not an easy task to complete, and yet she made it in a phenomenal fashion.

Overall, a nice watch that did not feel long even though the run time almost hit the 2 hours mark. While the charm of it fizzles the moment you figure out the plot, it’s still a great movie with a good amount of twists and turns.

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This was sweet and funny, but at the same time left me thinking: what the heck have i just watched?
It felt a bit like nonalcoholic drink when you crave some percentage. It was so short, it did not really have time to set the mood, vibe and hit me in any way.

I still appreciate how they managed to give some nice and relatable messages that can apply to many different contexts, not just a specific one presented by the customers. Universal takes that could make your life better.

The acting was also good for a short web drama like this. Especially impressed with Kim Wook in episode 2 and his quick and effective change of performance.

My biggest issue? Lackluster production. The music was too loud, the cat sounds were cute, but at some point overwhelming. I was bombarded with different auditory stimuli, I struggled with focusing on what I was watching.

That said, I loved the fake cat paws. That was probably one of my favorite small details from the whole show.

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There are some movies that are obviously cheaply made, but you can see that at least some people cared while making them. This ain’t that. No one gave a shit about how the end product is going to look like.

The production was just awful. The continuation of movements and even the pacing of the walk was off almost every time the camera cut to a different angle. There is no excuse for the bad CGI either. Youtubers who do special effects as a hobby at home on their laptops can deliver better results.

Don’t get me started on the storytelling. Literally there was no way of differentiating between the present time line and flashbacks. And I truly mean no way. It made everything painfully confusing. You kind of need to guess what scene belongs where and what is the past and what is part of the present.

Where was the demon fighting? Where was the action? Where was the doom? It was all a basic love story. That horror genre is a joke and should be changed to romance…

Overall, while the performances were decent, everything around them was not even mediocre.

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So, it was not a comedy?

Halfway through the movie I truly had to go check the genres, because I could swear it’s a cheaply made comedy that was supposed to jab at some social issues and horror tropes. To my surprise, the comedy genre was nowhere to be seen.

Kuta did one thing well, and one thing only - they truly presented the characters as realistic and annoying social media influencers. They were surprisingly realistically written. Sadly the performances were mediocre at best, awful at worst. I mean, one side character literally laughed at the joke he was supposed to deliver for the viewers…

The directing was quite chaotic. The mix of found footage and normal filming is always annoying. You show me all the vlogs to give that feeling for realism, but then the other half of the movie is shot in a normal fashion? Either commit to the found footage or not.

The worst thing about this movie was how bored I was watching. The writing, directing, filming, editing… nothing truly holds viewers attention.

Overall, saying it was mediocre would be a compliment.

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Maybe it’s a good movie, but the initial character introduction and the set up for the plot was so long I lost interest and struggled to focus on the plot later on. The movie is only 1 hour and 30 minutes long, so why did it feel like a 3 hour deal?

On paper the script probably sounded like a fun quirky comedy with a twist. Yet, it was not really that fun, the pee and puke jokes were juvenile and the twist was obvious from the start.

Random complaint, but the color grading was truly not my style. Everything was orange/yellow, the color saturation too high, but at the same time the whole movie felt dim and dark. It just felt heavy for the eye.

On the bright side, the acting was truly solid and I loved the job makeup artist and practical effects team did on the ghost.

Overall, I guess it’s just not a movie for me. I can see it being a fun watch as long as it’s viewed by the target audience.

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Dark heartwarming comedy drama - mix I never thought could work.

Korea back at it again - making completely unrelatable scenarios feel relatable. The emotions were raw, the characters complex and the story both warm and heartbreaking.

It was unexpectedly funny. Yes, I know it was tagged with the comedy genre, but honestly speaking, many drama comedies have more bitter sweet takes on what’s supposed to be funny. Here, I actually smiled and laughed quite a few times. The story was dark and yet they managed to create some funny moments even from quite gore and violence driven situations.

The best part of the movie was for sure the (in my eyes) one sided connection between Tae In and Cho Hee. The way Yoo Ah In presented the character of Kim Tae In was both beautiful and painful. A character that seemed to give up on everything, just following whatever others told and not presenting even a slight of active behavior. The gradual and minimal and yet impactful change we see after he had to take care of Cho Hee was amazing to watch.

That said, I think it’s a movie you have to read the synopsis for. I honestly don’t think it would be obvious and easy to understand Cho Hee’s character if it was not for what I read about the plot. She is the center of the plot and one of the main characters, so the vague understanding of who she is that we get from the movie itself, could have been improved.

Acting wise - perfection. Yoo Ah In did not say one word during the whole movie, and yet I perfectly understood what he wanted to convey during his scenes. Moon Seung Ah did a phenomenal job with her portrayal of Cho Hee - a character so complex I am amazed a child was able to deliver a believable performance.

On the production side, I don’t think any compliments can truly express how beautiful the movie was. The wide shots gave such a warm and, strangely slice of life feeling, that grounded the movie in reality, even with the not so mundane plot.

Overall, a great movie with great performances and amazing visuals. One that I could easily recommend to anyone.

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This movie is painfully 3D.

It’s so over the top, I honestly think I would get sick if I watched it in 3D in a cinema. Honestly, the makers had no chill. They thought “What elements can we make in 3D?” and went with the answer “all”. Because of that it feels as if the whole movie was done on a green screen…

It just felt cheap? It feels closer to 2004 than 2014 production. Technically speaking, with good storytelling and production this could be a horror movie with a social message… Sadly the delivery of… everything was off.

It just borrowed plot lines, stories and twists from other horror movies without adding anything new and refreshing.

Overall, rather skippable. It's one of the movies that ends I the viewer has little thoughts about it.

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This being the 5th Whispering Corridors movie I have seen, I can confidently say, the storytelling in this “franchise” does not work for me. It always feels disjointed and at times extremely confusing with random flashbacks.

A Blood Pledge also has the weakest plot and motivations of the characters. I always felt like some of the Whispering Corridors movies at least try to tackle some more serious issues, but here the focus was on a random girl feeling insecure about the most unimportant issue, while the other characters truly have to deal with serious life problems.

Sure, the plot might have been a way to show how privileged the other girl was, and how blinded by her lack of real life experience she was, but it never felt this way.

The acting was one of the weakest from all Whispering Corridors movies. I guess Oh Yeon Seo did the best job, but even she was barely passable.

Overall, I honestly finished it only so I can move on to the newest installment.

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“People forget kindness easily, but they remember cruelty.”

The movie is basically 1 hour and 20 minutes of exposition that leads to the last 25 minutes of showdown that feel heartbreaking, but somehow cathartic. It’s really slow paced, until it’s not, but the wait is worth it.

Would I call it a horror movie? No. Sure, it does have horror elements, but it’s far more psychological thriller, or even dark psychological drama. Most of the movie has this borderline silly vibe, with underlying tension caused by the Head of the village - it’s hard to predict his nature. There are quite a few comedic elements, which for me make the dark ending that much darker.

It’s a story of a normal, rather good man Woo Ryong, and how external circumstances affected him. It’s hard to talk about the plot without giving away any spoilers. Most of the movie is just him and his son slowly integrating into a village, until someone sees it as a threat.

What I really enjoyed was how many small moments, lines and actions in the first half came back closer to the end - tying everything together.

The acting was great. Ryu Seung Ryong aced both the light and darker side of Woo Ryong. I honestly wish we had seen more of the unhinged one.

Production wise, the rats could have been better. There were moments when they looked beyond fake. That said, the rest of the movie was simply beautiful.

Overall, worth pushing through, even if you feel like nothing is really happening. For some, the sudden change of tone can seem abrupt, but for me it was slowly, but meticulously crafted with many details and hints of what’s to come.

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Could have been amazing, if kept on a smaller scale.

My biggest issue was how unrealistic this whole plot was, and how it forced too many characters to act painfully stupid - this stopped me from getting immersed into the story and caring for the characters.

The setting is truly interesting and allows you to slowly build the atmosphere. The dark tunnels, small spaces - all anxiety inducing. You could potentially feel the disorientation of the characters, when they are being chased by the killer. Sadly, I could not feel it. Why?

With the number of victims, the police reaction, or rather the lack of reaction, was quite ridiculous. It would be better to not involve the police at all, and make me wonder where they are when needed, than make me suffer watching this level of incompetence and lack of care.

I can deal with one stupid character… maybe two. But all of them? That’s just a pain for my brain. I get it, if everyone is smart, the movie ends before it starts. Just write a smart villain with a realistic setting that does not need characters with two brain cells to make it work.

Was the villain part of some supernatural evil gang? He was undestructable. I feel like one could cut his head off, and he would go: day like any other.

So, what’s good? Amazing performance. It’s Jung Kyung Ho we’re talking about. I am 100% certain he can sell literally any role and make it good. I also really liked Choi Deok Moon as Jong Ho, one of the victim’s father. Yun Seo had some clever tricks and moves, so it was truly entertaining to watch her navigate this deadly underground labyrinth.

Overall, good suspense, good visuals, great idea - if only they lowered the number of initial victims and kept the police away from it. Make it only a story of Yun Seo, Soo Jung and Jong Ho, and I would love it.

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