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We are patterns seeking creatures.
And when you mix that with religious fanaticism driven by guilt and fear, you are on a highway to hell.Revelation for sure falls stronger on psychological thriller than supernatural horror. It’s not the scares, but the mystery that is the focus point of the movie. How far will Min Chan go? What will be his next action? And who will suffer the consequences.
The movie shows how religious belief can literally alter your perception and find patterns in places they don't exist. The way Min Chan saw Jesus literally everywhere from mountains to altars, angels in the sky - all to unconsciously convince himself he is on the right path and everything that happens is the god's will. Just to take the responsibility off of his back.
While I appreciated the fact we witnessed how easy it is to slip into religious fanaticism, I wish the introduction to the main character was a bit more elaborate and detailed. Not everyone spirals so bad when faced with the situation he was facing - what made him go so far? What internal and external factors led to that outcome? It’s something this story did not explore enough.
Surprisingly, what I enjoyed a lot was the fact that Seong Min Chan was actually not the smartest guy, I would even call him dumb. I mean… googling about the potential legal consequences of the crime you just committed is literally helping the police and prosecution with the investigation. And that was just one of many idiotic decisions and actions he made.
Acting wise - great. What else to expect from this cast. Obviously the most spotlight fell on Ryu Jun Yeol and oh boy he delivered. The psychological change his character went through from beginning till the end was so well portrayed I wish this was a short drama and not just a movie. On the other hand, some of the supporting actors kind of missed the mark, especially Moon Joo Yeon as Min Chan’s wife.
As much as I liked the production, somehow I wished the “holy images” he saw in random things were just slightly more vague. At the same time, I feel like they kept being more clear the more obsessed and delusional he became. Maybe it was just a visual way to present how much his perception is being affected by his mental state.
Overall, it was a weirdly light watch? Taking into consideration how serious the crimes of the criminal were, how far into delulu Min Chan went, I did not really feel that tense - more on the side of curious and entertained.
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Calming, uneventful charm.
Nothing really happens in this movie. It’s a bunch of random stories and at times completely out of context conversations between characters you know close to nothing about, and somehow it was truly enticing.After finishing the movie I truly wished there was a guy like Master with his small diner somewhere in my neighborhood. The small sanctuary after the hard day of work, that sense of a small community the regular clients created.
It would be a crime not to talk about the amazing aesthetics of the show. The camera angles, the lighting, the editing and directing - it all created a beautiful movie that was just pleasant to watch.
The acting left nothing to desire. With characters that are not exactly well defined, it might be tricky to truly present them as unique individuals, but Midnight Diner made it. All performances made me believe these are the people I could potentially meet on the street myself. Normal, relatable people with their normal, mundane lives.
Overall, I have no idea why I liked it so much, but I did and that’s what matters. A movie about technically nothing, yet it never felt boring. I was engaged from first to the last scenes.
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The thing that I loved about the directing was how all the cases were linked together - each chapter had a scene we already saw in a previous story, but from a different perspective.
Chapter 1 - Room 504 - The Writer
One of the weakest plots of all the 5 chapters. While the small details in the background added to the eerie atmosphere, overall I was not impressed. The story was not scary at all, but I have to appreciate the acting from Lee Chang Hoon, who played a driven writer on the edge, because his writing has not been going too smoothly lately. I could feel his frustration.
Chapter 2 - Room 907 - The Pharmacist
The best of all the chapters. From the interesting story, to the creepy visuals - I was sold. The setup for the plot reminded me a little bit of P.T., with the radio station giving news about the murder. The loop of the characters’ actions and the corridor shots that made it seem as if I am there observing the situation, made this my favorite part of the movie.
Chapter 3 - Room 708 - The Salesman
Annabelle, but creepier. Except for the "companion" making me uncomfortable, there is not much to say about this chapter. The pictures created for some scenes were nice, but overall it was more entertaining than scary.
Chapter 4 - Room 604 - The Student
Trigger warning for gross body horror. Pimples and a lot of weird stuff happening to the face of one of the characters. Rather nauseating. That said, the body horror was quite well made - no complaints on my part about the effects and makeup. The story is rather simple, and focuses more on the visual aspect of it.
Final chapter - Room 1504 - The Caretaker
Had one of the scariest scenes from the whole movie - the elevator moment got me on the edge of my seat. The Caretaker concludes the story is a coherent way that makes sense, while leaving a door open for a possible sequel.
Overall, The Grotesque Mansion is just a simple and easy watch. Good for an evening when you might be a bit tired and you want to be entertained, but without forcing your brain to do any work.
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This review may contain spoilers
Directing and writing chaos.
I truly have no idea what was the vision and direction for this show. What was the main conflict? What was the plot? What was the genre? It was everything and nothing.Starting from the plot, I think Fighting Mr. 2nd does a huge disservice to season one - the cute, fun and a little bit dramatic story. Here we get full on makjang for the first episodes, that turns into corporation politics, and then into big old nothing.
None of the conflicts make much sense. Shi De agreeing to cut contact with the love of his life, because the dad said so was unbelievably stupid. Shu Yi trying to get his revenge at first made him one of the most toxic (for everyone around him) and unstable characters ever (at least that made sense, it was destructive but fitting). Then we have the "blond lady" misunderstanding and no true chat about it between the main characters. Not to mention the stolen files in the firm, which brought exactly nothing to the story - just stole the precious screen time that could have been used in a better way.
Zhen Xuan and Shou Yi romance could have been an amazing story, but it was simply impossible to do it justice as a side couple in a 3 hour story. Both characters were too complex and had serious underlying issues that should have been addressed in a more detailed manner. I am quite confused why they said Shou Yi has affective disorder though, since the ones that go into that category are stuff like depression, bipolar and manic disorder - mood disorders, so his lack of apparent empathy and incapability to form relationships with others was not quite fitting the label he was given.
Then we have the messy directing. What exactly was the plan? Was the dad supposed to be a scary controlling figure or a laughable, but a slightly obsessive comedic addition? Was the main romance supposed to be realistic struggles of the couple or over the top dramatic melo? I'm not saying you can't have comedy in the serious shows, or deeper topics in a lighter story - the tone needs to fit though. Here, it was a mess.
At the end we get to the problematic aspect of drinking on the set. For some it might not be a problem, for me it is. I see no excuse for drinking on the set. It puts the actor, co-actors and the whole production in danger. You don't just get your actor drunk for the sake of realism.
The only redeeming quality of the show was the acting and the music, and more specifically Unbreakable Love, which isn't even the original song made for the show.
Overall, season one was a good BL with nice characters and good pacing. This was just... a mess.
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If I had to describe the plot in just a few words I would say: Fight against the supernatural evil, and the one hidden in humanity, that leads to bettering oneself. The format is repetitive, it’s undeniable truth. They dealt with one evil spirit, a new stronger one showed up. How come it’s not boring?
At first, the cases are simply a background for introducing the characters, creating a team work and So Moon’s dive into a whole new world. Slowly, the past connections between different characters are discovered, and the background plot starts to take a forefront position. The progression from the simple procedural plot to uncovering the past mystery and dealing with the main villain is perfectly gradual, and speaks of the great pacing The Uncanny Counter has.
The core of the show are the characters. The cast is pure perfection, and whoever was the casting director, they should get a raise. We are presented with more or less four teams: high school friends, Counters, Yung partners and the evil assholes. Each group is well written and portrayed, and even the villains are charming in their own twisted ways. I still wanted to see them dead, but I was also curious about their next actions and shenanigans. The loyalty among the young friends, the protectiveness of Counters, the moral dilemma the partner’s faced - all that made me love each and every character.
The acting is top notch. Jo Byung Kyoo is a true star of the show. His acting made me cry, scream, laugh, hit my head on my desk… He was So Moon. Kind, smol, positive, but also flawed character, that was willing to slowly learn, mature and improve himself. Easily in my top 5 favorite characters of all time.
Each and every actor committed to their roles completely. I honestly did not feel that even one scene or expression was off. I was especially surprised by Kim Se Jeong's performance. I knew she was a good actress, but she improved so much with the few roles she had previously.
Production value was everything I could wish for. It is a mainstream kdrama, high quality of visual aspects is expected though. The directing of the fighting sequences was well done, making them exciting to watch. Some of the stunts in the first episode felt slightly off, but they quickly improved and became way more natural.
I’m not gonna lie, I did not pay that much attention to the soundtrack as I was watching the show. I was completely “distracted” by the plot to notice what kind of music is being played in the background. That said, I usually don’t care that much about the OST, unless they are extremely bad, not fitting or painfully overused. After listening to the song as I was writing the review, I must say: they are good. Each has a completely different feeling and emotional quality, but they are all making me want to listen to them on repeat.
So what are the flaws? The biggest one was the slightly anticlimactic ending. With all the set up, I was expecting a bit more. Tiny, convenient plots that are either added or forgotten, like Moon, at some point, is never shown attending school. We just don’t see him going there at all. Never to be addressed nor mentioned. He is still a student, he wears his uniform… but he ain’t even close to being in class. Then we have the introduction of Oh Jeong Gu close to the end that felt out of place and useless.
Taking into consideration how well crafted the story and characters are, I was able to ignore the flaws. These cons barely moved the scale, since the pros were that good.
Overall, damn yes. This show had such an emotional impact on me, there were moments when I had to pause the episode, since I was scared/not ready for whatever was going to happen. I loved each and every character. I was curious about the plot and how the team would deal with the obstacles they were facing. There was not one boring episode, and even though I am fine with the given conclusion, I would not mind a possible second season.
*Trigger warning: severe bullying. It’s pretty bad guys, especially in the beginning episodes.
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I am quite honestly annoyed. It was an easy 10/10 for me at the beginning. The story was simple yet effective in making me excited and interested. I cared deeply for Praewa and was anticipating all her "evil" shenanigans. But then they added so many plots and background stories for characters I couldn't care less about, it went downhill quickly.
If only they kept it as simple as they presented the plot at the beginning: revenge with pure chaos and death. Let Preawa win, let everyone die. Focus the mystery part of Preawa finding out the real culprit of her misery. Why do we need the "past events" story? It brought NOTHING to the plot, was dumped on me in the last episode, and I was like: cool... But why? What exactly was the purpose of it?
Truth to be told... the last episode was just bad. Amazing letdown compared to the rest of the episodes. The ending was neither shocking nor exciting. They definitely did not construct the story well enough for me to think "wow... yes, this makes total sense, why I haven't seen it coming" as the last few scenes happened.
Best part of the show? Ticha Wongtipkanon and Nene Pornnappan Pornpenpipat. Truly aced the roles given. Preawa looked mad AF and I believe every scene she gave. Nene surprised me a lot in the last episode, being the saving part of it. I also appreciate how daring they were with some graphic elements.
Overall, I don't even know. It's hard to judge a show that had an awesome beginning and tragically bad ending. On one hand, I want to recommend watching the first 4 episodes and drop after that, on the other hand... What's the point of watching just half of the show? Do with that information whatever you like, but don't get too excited while watching at first, because the letdown will be massive later on.
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There is a level of stupidity even horror movies should not cross - they crossed it.
Kind of a Paranormal Activity meets The Exorcist, but worse. It did not have the fun campy feeling as paranormal activity had. Neither was it able to create the atmosphere The Exorcist delivered. Kind of all over the place, with a bit too exaggerated plot. I simply feel like they tried way too hard on this. It was also unnecessarily gross.The things the possessed girl did were so over the top I could not stop laughing. At times it felt like a poor attempt at a dark parody movie. The level of stupidity of other characters? Unimaginable. I could have excused it, if the main lady was not literally a professional shaman - she should have known better. All these characters could easily achieve Darwin’s Award. They truly contributed to human evolution by removing themselves out of the gene pool of that fictional world.
I mean, when the movie tries to tell you a person can be possessed by the grass, you know this is going to be a crack ride. Sadly… it was not even silly entertaining - the movie dragged so much I could not even finish it in one sitting. It’s disappointing, because I actually enjoyed the first 40 minutes.
I don’t really have that much to say about the movie. It was so stupid I feel like I have to restart my brain.
It was pretty though. Quite a few screenshots taken.
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Roy Chiu is extremely good looking and I legit got distracted by his beauty a few times.
The movie did exactly what I expected it to do - entertained me. The plot is fairly simple and they explained the lore of the ghosts enough for me to understand what is going on. The funny scenes made me laugh, and the emotional ones made me feel things (though I'm easily moved, so this is an extremely subjective statement). I enjoyed all the characters and random English words thrown by them.
I must say, the way the movie was filmed and edited was exactly my type. From the beginning I was enjoying the aesthetics of it.
Any flaws? The final scene between the big bad guy and the hero was... extremely anticlimactic. It was built up well. I could see that male lead is trying to outsmart the villain, while Hsueh is dealing with, let's say, trauma. Sadly, what followed was weak. With how entertaining the movie was, I expected some epic fight by the end.
Overall, a short, fun movie for a relaxing evening with which you don't have to strain your brain too much. If you are searching for pure entertainment based on some crime/supernatural elements, go for it.
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When the mains deliver, but the setup is underwhelming…
I’m not gonna pretend like I started this drama with hopes of getting a high quality inspirational tale of overcoming your struggles, finding support in people around you, dealing with your trauma and fears, but I am glad the drama delivered in that area. Why did I start it though? For Lee Yang Seob’s face, and his face only. And here I also got what I asked for - damn he looks fine.Here’s the thing, My Lovely Boxer is just a drama that completely lacks balance. It switches between a heartwarming slice of life focused on the character development and makjang mafia and I’m just confused why. The whole rigged bets set up was so underdeveloped, overdramatic and distracting, I’m here asking - was there really no better way to force Tae Young and Gwon Sook into working together? Every time the focus shifted towards Kim Oh Bok I wanted to scream “NO ONE CARES!”.
If only we’ve got more information about him, if they actually tried to develop the main villain into a complex and interesting character. But no, he was there as the most cliche and empty plot device and I’m not happy. And he is not the only bad character that sucked writing wise - same goes for Gwon Sook’s father. I am sorry, but his crimes were too severe for an off-screen character development. I’m not buying it. You cannot give a character off screen development and then act as if it’s all good, it’s not.
That said, I did enjoy most of the plots not related to the bets and the father in any meaningful way. The development of trust and support between Tae Young and Gwon Sook was amazing. Her dealing with her past and being strong enough to face it - great. Every friendship she makes - loved it. Wish we'd seen more Han Ah Reum, since for me she was one of the more relatable and interesting characters.
Acting truly varied depending on the actor. Both Lee Sang Yeob and Kim So Hye did an amazing job portraying the main characters. On the other hand, Kim Jin Woo did not impress me with his delivery. Random observation, but there were also two extra actors in the last episode playing members of the rigged bets ring, and let me tell you, that was some high level of wooden acting and robot delivery.
Production value was fine. There were some editing issues - hands positions not matching between cuts, but nothing too in your face. Pretty much a standard Korean drama quality.
Overall, it was a fine watch I don’t regret finishing, but you would also not catch me recommending it to others.
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Female lead was dumb, the police were dumb, the friend was dumb, even the villain was dumb - don’t let people fool you into thinking it’s some tight cat and mouse chase with a brilliant killer who outsmarts everyone. It’s not hard to outsmart idiots. It does not make him a genius.
What’s good? Acting and editing, some directing choices. I liked the shots presenting the world from the eyes of the phone user, and then from the angle of the camera. We never really think about how much our phones see, as we assume the camera is off. So it’s creepy to see how much one could spy on us, if they had the access to the camera itself. Overall, there were many pretty shots, they knew how to make it visually interesting.
As a side note about the “social commentary” - I am so tired of this “phones are dangerous, be careful how you use them” topics. How about showing what the true issue is: lack of laws and procedures when the cyber crime happens, lack of police involvement when the crime is being reported, worst case - ignoring the reported crime because “nothing can be done”. Criticizing the government and police for the lack of protection of the citizens should be the focus, not “people use phones in irresponsible ways and depend on them too much”.
Overall, what a waste of time, even for Im Si Wan fans.
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Refreshing concept with basic execution.
Honestly speaking, I don’t even have much to say. I’m not the biggest fan of the reincarnation trope, but it is something new in the BL genre, hence I gave it a try.As I said, the idea behind it is fun - not only do we see the reincarnation trope, but also a new twist to it - female to male reincarnation. How many interesting ideas for plots and conflicts we could get out of it! Do we get them here? Not really, and the few we get are barely developed.
Yeon Seok was quite a fun character in a constant mode of panic for various reasons. I did enjoy Jin Gun’s performance, even though sometimes it became a bit too comedic for me. On the other hand Jeong Ha Yeon as a character just did not catch my attention at all. Jeon Chang Ha acting in some more emotional scenes requires improvement, but overall, I was not mad about his delivery.
Overall, I don’t regret watching it, but I could do without it too. It does not really bring much to the table.
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Not scary, but disturbing.
More than once I asked myself: what am I watching? Either because the scenes were truly graphic and they did not shy away from some triggering scenes, other times the picture they were framing was simply funny in my eyes. I think that's the unique quality many Japanese horror films have: they just go for it and see no limits.To some extent, the story led nowhere. Did I mind it? No. From the beginning it was more about questioning what will happen to the characters next, and not where they will end. As we all know, usually horror stories are not that nice to the main characters. That said, the plot was still at times confusing (especially closer to the end) and some stories were for sure not explored enough. Given we only got 25 minutes for each episode, I still believe they did a fairly good job with the plot.
The thing that amazed me was for sure directing and editing. I was in love with the style the whole drama was shot in. They committed to show the gore and violence and some of the worst sides of humanity. The sounds and music used in it were PERFECT choices.
The acting, damn it was good. Ririka's performance was especially to die for. Truly believable and raw. You could feel all the emotions Kiyomi was feeling, though at times I would rather not be able to see and understand it all.
The goal of this show was not to scare, but to make you feel uncomfortable. There are no jump scares, but we did get some long scenes showing the most despicable acts. As I watched it, I questioned how bad these people are and how much their actions are influenced by the supernatural.
Overall, I would like to say trigger warning for rape and gore. If you expect some cheap jump scares followed by loud sounds, this ain't for you. If you are grossed out by gore, this ain't for you. If watching serious abuse is too much for you, this ain't for you. It's a good show, but the target audience is rather small because not many would enjoy watching it.
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At first I was not sold on the cast. I loved Namtan as Mind, but could not get into her acting as Mean. Luckily, I got on board in later episodes. I also felt like Krist is a bit too old to play a high schooler, but again, got used to him as I watched more episodes. They both did an amazing job in conveying all the emotions and bringing these characters to life. For sure I liked Kay and his portrayal of Gun more than Sungjae’s performance. Jan did a stunning job as Tida. I hated her quite a lot, but still felt slightly bad when things started going against her wishes.
I think the only problem I had with this version was that I did not care about the romance at all. I much rather watch the friendship blooming and skip any romance altogether. While the guys looked truly in love with Mind, I could not feel the same emotions from her. I saw she liked them and felt a lot of gratitude towards them, but the romantic feeling was not there for me.
The plot is for sure intriguing, but not exactly on the realistic side. Did it bother me? No. It was cohesive and exciting. I can imagine how nerve wracking it must be for someone who has not seen the Korean version. The anxiety that keeps one on the edge of the seat every time Mind almost gets caught. I wished I had never seen the Korean version to appreciate this one more.
The leading premise of the show is clearly “bullying is wrong”. That said, I appreciate how many times the “kids/teenagers” made exactly the same mistakes, judged each other before even trying to find out the truth, called each other names and blamed each other without proof. It made the message more realistic. Many young people claim they would never partake in bullying, but they are… They just think their reasons for it are valid and the person deserves it. It’s not easy to change and it’s not easy to see faults in your own actions.
Overall, I would for sure recommend this over the Korean version. It's produced with less over the top style and is more grounded in reality. The characters are more likable too. The only thing that drove me mad were these long af bangs Mind/Mean had. Poor girl, my eyes hurt every time I looked at her.
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When stupidity is scarier than the vicious virus.
Not gonna lie, at some point I kind of wanted the drama to end with the end of the world. Watching all these characters behave the way they did make me think: maybe the world would be better without people in it.That said, what a ride this show was. Not one episode was boring with all the zombies, scheming and danger. Adding great chemistry between the cast made this drama a pure joy. Sure, I wanted the majority of the characters dead by the end, but how much fun was it to watch the chaos unfold.
Happiness has this uncanny, surreal vibe to it - no one reacts to any given situation in a realistic manner, the society deals with it in the most chill way possible, there is little to no information about what the government is doing with the guy working for pharmaceutical company (given he is associated with military)making all the important choices that involve worldwide survival. Nothing about this show is realistic, little to nothing truly makes sense and yet… I liked it a lot.
Production value was top notch. Sure, they overdone the “zombies'' with funny eyes, but at the end of the day, the infected were not supposed to be the scariest part of the show anyway. For me, they were adorable and had many comedic moments. Face covered in blood, but they will be like: I’m fine.
Isaac Hong’s Pain was probably the best song of the whole OST. Listening to the soundtrack while writing the review, it hits me how dramatic it is compared to the drama itself.
The show sends a vaguely clear message - happiness is not defined by where and how, but with whom. It’s the people in your life that can make it or break it. That said, with all the awful characters in the drama, I rather stay alone and not risk it…
Overall, I started to feel far more frustration in the 2nd half, since some of the choices the characters were making (including our main duo into that mix) just made no sense and showed complete lack of planning and ignorance towards the obvious dangers, both in the form of the virus and the residents themselves. The last episode was a bit disappointing, not delivering a conclusion the show deserves. Even with all that, I would highly recommend it. The entertainment value was so high, I will gladly turn a blind eye to the things that bothered me.
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“I couldn’t properly embrace myself once, in my entire life. So I suffered.”
This review is extremely subjective. I won’t even try to pretend there is anything objective in it. Knowing there will be some kind of plot twist ruined the show for me. Before it happened, I was feeling a lot of frustration and impatience to know what it is, but since I predicted it early on, I just felt disappointed when it was revealed.Here’s the thing, while the show has some amazing moments, life lessons concerning treasuring your life, every little moment, appreciating people around you etc, I truly did not like the majority of the characters. The last episode sucked all the sympathy I might have had for Kim Hye Ja with just two or three scenes. That’s an achievement.
I do believe the show was unnecessarily depressing and sad. After 10 episodes of misfortunes that were multiplied in the last two episodes, the closing narration just completely missed the mark for me. It was like putting a plaster on a plane crash victim.
Talking about the twists - if you start the drama knowing there will be one, there is a high chance you will predict it. For me, the expectations of some unexpected, well built twists made me disappointed when in reality it was the most obvious scenario that could have happened. Because of that, the last episodes just had little emotional impact on me - the disappointment was too strong for other emotions to surface.
The acting was truly amazing. I was especially amazed by Ahn Nae Sang, Lee Jung Eun, and surprisingly Nam Joo Hyuk's performance. While Ahn Nae Sang and Lee Jung Eun aced the more subtle emotions, Joo Hyuk truly delivered with the strongly emotionally charged ones.
Overall, I don’t regret watching it. As I said, it had great messages and moments, many memorable lines and conversations. Yet, the primary emotion I will associate with it till the end will be disappointment.
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