Vreemdelingen uit hel (2019)

One of the Best Psychological Thrillers

It’s been a while since I was left grinning from ear-to-ear after watching a drama, when this show ended I was left with the dread of the ending, and the excitement of having found a show that made me want to instantly write a positive review.

This drama takes an important stance on economic privilege within a society that is heavily reliant on societal class. The commentary made is that poverty has a direct correlation to your environment and eliminates your option to leave a negative environment. There is this mindset that people, of financial privilege, may have where they believe that poverty is a choice and that many people choose to stay in a negative environment because it is ‘easy’. This may come in the form of unsolicited advice such as: Living in a place with poor facilities? Just Move. Finding it tough to earn more money? Then work harder. The drama highlights the ignorance that financially privileged people take when trying to empathize with someone who is in poverty. The plot also displays the direct correlation between one’s financial ability and the limited options they have when choosing their environment. Many people who are privileged like to pretend that they have struggled and that they have ‘moved on’ from their previous poverty state. The juxtaposition between Jong-Woo and Jae-Ho displays the lack of understanding an individual displays when they haven’t lived through difficulty. As his boss and ‘friend’ Jae-Ho attempts to undermine Jong-Woo’s experience regarding the difficulty living in the Eden Residence. Jae-ho is quick to reply with his own, fake sympathy, experience about having once lived in a communal residence (which we later find out was a lie anyways). Jae-Ho, from his financially privileged background, found it necessary to overshadow Jong-Woo’s struggles. Jae-Ho couldn’t even begin to empathize with Jong Woo because he lacked not only empathy but first hand-experience with anything remotely similar to Jong Woo’s situation.

Poverty plays an essential role in understanding the backdrop of this show’s plot and how Jong-Woo remains stuck in the Eden Residence even after he realizes that there is something fishy. There is an extreme financial strain on Jong-Woo to earn money. He is one of the breadwinners for his single mom and disabled brother. The Eden Residence ends up being the cheapest place, at about $100 (115,000 Won) per month for rent. Many times throughout the show he clearly identifies that the people living there are strange, weird, and potential criminals, but every time he calculates his income he can’t afford anything over $100 per month. There is a gap within society, where people in poverty remain stuck in their negative environment and when they seek help either face more hardship or are not believed, as is the case with Jong-Woo.

There are three levels of Hell that Jong-Woo faces. The first is that he becomes physically stuck in this residence, he has no money to move out. What happens next is that he is failed by his friends and colleagues, which becomes the second level of hell--disconnect from a support system. Jong-Woo, many times throughout the show, tries to convince the people around him that the Eden Residence is dangerous. When his girlfriend, colleagues, and boss undermine and diminish his experience, it backs him up into a frustrating situation. The skepticism is worst when his girlfriend tells him that he “is being too sensitive” about the residents. At these two levels, Jong-Woo no longer has a physical safe space or an emotional one. His descent into mental instability continues as he reaches the third level of hell. Despite his concerns having been ignored by those around him, Jong-Woo continues to believe in himself and seeks help from the Police. He is once again viewed with skepticism and asked to bring evidence. There is only one police officer who believes him, but she too struggles to initially find evidence. Now stuck financially, emotionally, physically, and locally Jong-Woo becomes truly isolated, left alone with his fears and truth about Eden Residence. These three descents into Hell are the commentary on poverty and the depths that it can push someone to when they become physically stuck in a negative environment and have no means of escaping.

Many people underestimate how debilitating poverty can be, people at the residence were preyed on because they had no support system and no money to leave.

My favourite element in the drama is Jong-Woo’s mental deterioration because it is written in such a realistic and efficient way, although saddening to witness. When in poverty, you're more likely to be preyed on, because of a lack of support system, and Jong-Woo becomes Moon-Jo’s prey. The real deterioration is solidified when Jong-Woo himself begins to question his own account of events and questions his morality. The reason for this is that Moon-Jo, through their conversation, plants seeds of doubt that grow bigger and bigger throughout the episodes.

I find the most saddening scenes to be the conversations between Jong Woo and, the second new resident, Kang Seok Yoon. In these conversations, after Jong-Woo has begun to slowly lose his mind to paranoia, we see a glimpse of Jong-Woo’s personality before the Eden Residence. Jong-Woo is smiling and laughing and able to fully converse again because he has someone who, not only experienced what he has been experiencing but validates his emotions. The desperation, of Jong-Woo’s need to be heard out, plays out with his interaction with Seok Yoon. To have someone believe in you and your struggles is a validation that Jong Woo received when it was too late.

Another question that’s brought to light, in this show, is the inmate nature of humans and what exactly makes an individual good or bad. Throughout the show, we see Jong-Woo’s flashbacks to the military juxtaposed with his current struggles, especially at work. In both instances, he finds himself face-to-face with bullies. In these situations, where he is egged on by the bullies, Jong-Woo’s internal monologue relates to death and wanting to kill the other person, often asking himself “Should I just kill him?”. My take on this is not that Jong-Woo was innately violent, or a psychopath (as Moon-Jo wanted him to believe), but that his environment and being failed at all three levels, as talked about above, exacerbated his negative emotions. Let’s take a what-if example and say that if Jong-Woo never entered the Eden Residence then he would not have resorted to the violence we see at the end of the show. The violence he does is out of necessity because no one looks out for his safety, so he is forced to look out for himself. Had Jong-Woo been born wealthy he would have had an option to leave environments that he found to be dangerous.

Having the option to leave is one of the biggest privileges anyone can have, but when faced with poverty this option is cut off. One may counter that, even with a privileged life Jong-Woo would've faced those same types of people, and would’ve blown up again, and although it is true that he would’ve met those people --what's different is that he would have been able to tell them off or stand up for himself, without the fear of losing his job. He had to suppress his right to talk back because he needed the money. In the beginning, before anyone believed Jong-Woo, before he goes to the police, and before he realizes that the residence may be the source of crimes, we can see Jong-Woo have these negative thoughts, but never act on them. The difference between when he ends up acting on those violent thoughts and when he doesn’t, is that he only acts upon the violence when he is left with no other choice.

Moon-Jo tries, and succeeds in the end, in convincing Jong-Woo that he is innately evil. Jong-Woo can’t see the cherry-picking that Moon-Jo does when he puts forth these claims. Unlike Moon-Jo, Jong Woo did not kill people just because they are a nuisance.

Jong-Woo does not give himself grace for the acts he committed and instead believes that he is encoded to kill. I want to reiterate that the turning point for the complete acceptance of himself as ‘evil’ is when Jong-Woo no longer challenges his internal monologue about if he is or isn’t bad, he just accepts that he was always meant to kill, but doesn’t stop for a second to think that the situation he was in forced him to commit those actions. Whether Jong-Woo is good or bad is up to interpretation, but personally, I don’t see him as either, I see him as a victim of his environment; had someone taken my family and friends hostage, put me through what Jong-Woo went through, I probably would’ve lost my mind as well.

No one believed in John-Woo's struggle, no one validated anything he felt. Hell was everywhere for Jong-Woo because even outside of the residence, he was not safe anywhere.

Combined with its exemplary writing is the phenomenal acting, cinematography and editing. I want to touch on the acting first because Im Si-Wan’s acting range within the role of Jong-Woo took me by surprise. If you compare Jong-Woo’s character from episode one to episode ten we see two starkly different personalities. The main change is not only in his gestures, or lack of (in the ending episode), but his facial expressions. He loses a sense of life within his eyes, instead replaced with grim. I’m not quite sure how Im Si-wan managed to capture this level of mental instability, displayed in Jang-Woo’s character, but it is captivating. I’m scared of the Jong-Woo we see at the end because you can see physically, through the acting, how much emotional baggage and trauma he now carries. I love how this progression is quite slow, Jong-Woo’s character does not make an immediate emotional change from each episode, rather it is a slow build-up of trauma and gas-lighting that shapes the version of Jong-Woo we see at the end.

Paired with Si-Wan’s acting is Lee Dong-Wook’s who displays a chilling character through Seo Moon-Jo. During the Dentist scenes, Moon-Jo seems like a different person than the one we see in the residence. Lee Dong-Wook is able to display this quick change of personality that Moon-Jo has in a way that is eerie and chilling to the audience. One of the scenes that captivated this perfectly, is the rooftop conversations between Moon-Jo and Jong-Woo where he’s able to display a twisted love and hunger for corruption. Usually after these conversations, Jong-woo will say that he is confused by Moon-Jo’s personality because he looks normal on the outside but emanates a creepiness. This was my first time seeing Dong-Wook in such a villainous role and he absolutely perfected the character. It is that level of calm and clearness that Moon-Jo has, towards his steadfast belief that what he is doing is humane and normal, that makes him an even more chilling character. The lack of remorse in his expression, and instead excitement, when he commits crimes is efficiently captivated within Dong-Wook’s acting. The way that both Si-Wan and Dong-Wook control their facial expression and display a variety of anger, calm, worry, and fear makes it clear that these two actors were perfect for the characters.

I was even more immersed into the story because of the cinematography, editing and music. Had the lighting been bright, the music cheery, and the angles less sharp, this same residence could’ve been an Eden. To create a sense of dread the cuts are made to be narrow, giving a feeling of entrapment within the Eden Residence. Looking down the corridor feels suffocating. On top of that is the amazing transitions, between the setting of the residence, work, and the city that make it feel like the entire worlds are enmeshed together, as if to say that once you enter the Eden residence it begins to take over your entire life in a smooth and horrific manner. The lighting and music were just as eerie as the plot. The level of darkness, from the fourth floor being almost pitch black, to the main floor being slightly lighter, and the bright outside world made a visual division between each level of hell that Jong-Woo experienced. The cinematography, editing and music make it seem like we were actually within Jong-wook’s mind and how he views each of these settings.

What surprises me the most about this drama is how well it hits all the points. I’m a sucker for wonderful writing and am able to excuse many things, as long as the writing is well done, but with this show, there is nothing to excuse--only to compliment. I don't usually write about cinematography, editing or music, but I found them to be so essential to the storytelling method, for this show, that it went hand-in-hand with the essence of the plot. I genuinely cannot wait to rewatch this show and discover something more horrifying and new about the Eden Residence that I didn’t notice on the first watch. This is definitely a show to watch multiple times.

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