I don't often watch survival horror/thriller/action shows like Sweet Home but when I do I know I'll always come out of it kicking and screaming and Right I Was.

I'd begun reading the webtoon of Sweet Home late last year but as it was ongoing at the time, I lost my reading momentum so I decided I'll wait for the webtoon to finish updating and then I'll just binge it. Unfortunately, I have the memory of a chimpanzee and never got back to finishing it so when I heard it was getting a drama adaptation, I told myself I'd finish the webtoon first—personal rule: consume OG material before adaptations—And Then I Didn't. So. Sweet Home was postponed indefinitely until I got my sh¡t together but then I found out Netflix had it dubbed in my native language, which is always a vibe, so I powered through it in a couple hours and well, was That an experience :D

Sweet Home replicated the foundation and basic premises of the webtoon but exercised some liberties with it including the addition of a new major character (unfortunately, at the expense of an original major character, who I personally love) and also altering the characterisation and relationship dynamics of the rest of the major cast (also unfortunately at the expense of the specific nuances of the original relationships of which I enjoy). However, removed from its original source, which is understandable, Sweet Home is a thoroughly fun watch on its own with impressive cinematography and suspenseful storytelling. Though I personally prefer most of the webtoon depictions, I found myself separately enjoying some of the new additions too.

Regardless of the changes, I thought that the storytelling, acting and cinematography still aligned very nicely to express the absolute devastation of the friendships and camaraderie formed between the characters (in the show) and with such poignance that I already know I will be reeling from the effects for days to come. I particularly enjoyed the use of small symbols/anecdotes to emphasise the nuances of these relationships (i.e. Jaeheon’s soju, Sangwook’s smoking) as well as the curt and simple but pensive conversations the characters have with one another—not enough to really picture the full story but definitely enough to feel the sentiments.

I, too, hold the opinion that the cast is an excellent match for their respective characters and I've genuinely enjoyed the whole cast’s immersive and emotive performances.

Sweet Home always struck me as a Thematic sort-of horror, reinforced by the webtoon's storytelling centered around an overall philosophical conundrum about people and being (humans, alive) and society, morals, etc etc., among other issues, rather than a Scary, Gory kind-of horror, so I'm more or less hand-wavy about the lack of, uh, scare factor(?). I think the fear lay more in one's investment towards the characters and their fates than the horror visual quality of the show.

[Also, it just struck me: “psychological thriller” could also be another genre you can chuck into the bunch]

Oh! One more thing: I loved the OST; I felt that the rock music theme made everything so fun and badass to watch, and while it does affect a less severe atmosphere compared to the webtoon, I found myself not minding the watered down narration (and characterisations) all that much, especially with consideration to the time limit in proportion to the extensively fleshed-out character development for every major character in canon—and also because the lack of a deep dive was compensated by the accelerated plot (not so much fast-paced but speedy enough). However, I do agree that it is a shame Hyeonsoo's character arc was significantly dialled down, especially since he is the main narrating character.

I'm also of the opinion that the CGI was impressive! Granted, I don't hold very strong attachments to visual effects, etc.; I think they're significant to the production quality, but I'm not too fussed about it in general, so I thought Sweet Home's CGI monsters was quite well done (it was HD—I have myopia so don’t quote me on that though—and it resembled the webtoon monsters, which was personally a delight so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

All in all, it was one hell of an emotional rollercoaster and I am, once again, a victim of crying migraines. Please do give it a watch if you're looking for a fun, gritty(ish), bloody survival horror/thriller/action/suspense/whatever with a (however watered down) character focus and a bop OST and cinematography. Forming attachments to the characters /will/ come back to bite you in the ass, viewer discretion advised.