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Sweet Home korean drama review
Completed
Sweet Home
18 people found this review helpful
by mamichu
Dec 19, 2020
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 7.5
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 6.5

Decent drama adaptation

> STORY
Given that the drama was set to have 10 episodes, I understand that there would be a lot to fit in if they were going to do an adaptation of a webtoon that has over 140 chapters. Still, I did hope that the changes they make would fit in such a way that the drama would make sense even for those who have not read the webtoon. In this case, well... Let's just say that the 'Sweet Home' drama adaptation is like a "longer movie adaptation" of the webtoon. I expected it to be very fast-paced all throughout, but I did find that there were times where it felt a bit slow.

The story, as they have changed it slightly, I felt was lacking and a bit all-over the place. Even when I knew that some bits were similar from the webtoon, I still couldn't help but feel a bit confused. First of all, why the hell are there so many surviving tenants in a 10 episode about humans being hunted by their desires? You would expect that with having too many characters to pay attention to that each of them has their own story to tell. But because of the episode limitation, a whole lot of the characters have not been to fleshed out -- even the supposed main characters themselves. If this was going to happen, I would much rather that they got rid of others quickly either by being consumed by their desires, killed by the other tenants, or eaten by the monsters. If this were a zombie movie where the bitten humans become zombies themselves right after, I wouldn't mind at all because we all know how that would go down.

My point is that the story is meant to be different in that the cause of the chaos in their world is psychological and emotional, which therefore means that having a deeper connection with the characters might weigh a lot more. (Because yes, we did get some background story and some struggle with some of the characters, but it still somewhat lacking in depth, in my opinion.) This is why I could not help but feel that the drama is a little confused about how it wants to be. Should it be like the other fast-paced zombie/monster pandemic stories? Or should it stay close to the webtoon's story? Or should it be like a mash of the two and a whole lot more? The addition of a new element in the story made it all the more confusing to me -- is the cause of this chaos biological? Psychological? Emotional? Evolutionary? Did someone plot this whole chaos? Was it an accident? Is this about weaponizations? Or what -- is this like COVID??? What is going?? In the end, they have chosen the option of having a possible second season to hopefully try and make sense of whatever happened this season.

> CAST (and MONSTERS)
The story aside, the actors did very well in portraying their roles. Even though the characterisation was lacking, it was still passable and the actors brought some life to their characters that would make you want to cheer for them. I actually thought that the makeup, special effects, and CGI weren't so bad for a drama that tries to bring life to monsters. Very good effort! If anyone is not a fan of horror, it would be best to skip those monster bits.

There was enough action in this 10-episode drama and while I was hoping for more monsters, what they have given us was enough. You wouldn't be disappointed in this aspect. I also liked the setting that they've chosen to be the Green Roof Apartments and the details that went into it; each apartment and their tenants have different stories after all. (This is why I was hoping that if they were to adapt this particular story that either 1. They spread it out in different seasons -- but given the costs for this to even be adapted, I highly doubt they'll go for this route. 2. They write it in such a way that makes sense for a 10-episode drama.)

> MUSIC
As for the music, I feel that they could have chosen better? I mean... I do not mind 'Warriors' by Imagine Dragons, but I just thought that they really had plenty of other songs to choose from? I don't know, I think it's just me. Other than that, the music sound effects and such were not too bad.

> Would I watch this again?
I wouldn't mind watching it again, it was a fun ride watching it the first time :)

> Would I recommend this drama to others?
Yes, especially if you like monsters and zombies films/dramas. Also the quality and acting in this drama is good! It would not disappoint you. (Unless of course, you are like me who is reading too much into trying to make sense of the story then... Well... It's up to you!)
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