Studio Dragon’s Sweet Home is the live-action adaptation of Naver’s eponymous webtoon. Based on many viewers’ feedback, it seems that both the original source material and drama are equally fantastic yet slightly different as well. I haven’t read the webtoon but having watched the drama, I would have to agree – it certainly doesn’t disappoint. Along with Alice in Borderland, also distributed by Netflix, Sweet Home became the most talked about show for a period of time in December 2020 not only here at MDL but also globally – it currently ranks in the top 5 in the US and number 1 in 13 other countries, according to statistics. And for good reasons too, apart from being accessible on a major international streaming platform.

As it turned out, what I initially thought was a horror drama that was purely about monsters with thrilling action and suspense actually had a lot more going. What the trailers, vivid posters and edgy soundtrack compilation didn’t reveal was that Sweet Home was also a story about humanity, and the baggage of people issues that come along with it. I finally understood why 10 episodes (not including the potential sequel) were needed for this show.

This is a very well-crafted adaptation with an experienced cast of many familiar faces, stellar production crew, big budget CGIs, and outstanding cinematography, art direction, action choreography as well as excellent screenplay filled with well-written and colourful characters brought to life by superb all-round acting. It is directed by Lee Eung Bok, who helmed Mr Sunshine, Goblin, and Descendants of the Sun being the notable ones. The music score is composed by Gaemi, whose works include Mystic Pop-Up Bar, The King: Eternal Monarch, The World of the Married, and DotS, among many others. The visual effects are provided by Legacy Effects, VFX Studio Westworld and Spectral Motion, all of which worked on well-known productions such Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Films), Avatar, Game of Thrones and Stranger Things.

As for the main cast, there’s Lee Jin Wook (Voice 2 and 3), Lee Shi Young, Lee Do Hyun, and Park Gyu Young among the more well-known. The supporting cast comprises veterans such as the more familiar ones like Kim Nam Hee, Kim Gab Soo, Kim Sang Ho, Woo Hyun, and Park Sung Geun. The main character is played by the talented youngster, Song Kang in his second lead role.

In summary, the drama tells the story of how a group of inhabitants of an apartment building, Green Home (interestingly the apartment complex itself had a greenish tint), survive a monster apocalypse. How the monsters came about, let’s just say it’s not a natural evolution although some viewers may probably debate this. We see the best and worst of humanity in each and every single character of the show as they struggle to survive this disaster. In many respects, the characters likely mirror real life people that we meet in our day to day lives, for no monster is truly as horrifying as people themselves once they succumb to their inner darkness. At least, that’s my takeaway from this show. Each character has his or her own respective backstory, whose present lives are shaped by varying levels of tragedy and trauma of their past, which now intersect as they are forced to team up and face the onslaught of monster attack.

As far as character portrayals go, my personal favourites are Lee Jin Wook’s Pyeon Sang Wook, Park Gyu Young’s Yoon Ji Su, Go Min Si’s Lee Eun Yoo, and Kim Nam Hee’s Jung Jae Heon. For the supporting cast, Kim Sang Ho’s Mr Han, Woo Hyun and Kim Hyun as the shopkeeper and his wife respectively, were equally phenomenal. The characterisations adapted for the screenplay are immensely elevated by the excellent acting of these actors in particular. The depth and richness of each respective character arc and development, the deft execution and quality delivery of myriad emotional expressions, these were my major personal highlights from the drama.

As well-made and well-acted as this production is, where most of the cast brought their A-game and the special effects were truly exceptional, to me it wasn’t as close to flawlessness as it might have seemed to many viewers. I certainly enjoyed it but not as much as I had anticipated or hoped, possibly due to the immense hype that snowballed from prior to its official release up to the point of completion of airing.

The storytelling would have probably worked better with a shorter season of perhaps 8 or so episodes, (case in point, both seasons of Kingdom which had 6 episodes each) with a more compelling plot, sustained momentum and intensity by balancing the dramatic, thrilling and poignant moments. As it is, particularly from the mid-section to nearing the end with the sudden introduction of new characters, the additional build up felt dragged. It’s a case of each character being “fleshed out over excessively”. The pain, sorrow, fears and insecurities kept being reinforced incessantly throughout to the point of being rendered mere iterations, when discerning viewers have already utterly understood the message and underlying tone of human drama and tragedy being conveyed. Confrontations between characters and internal conflicts were magnified for maximum effect much longer than was necessary while the finale, when it eventually transpired and as thrilling as it was, wasn’t as satisfying or “epic” as it could’ve been to bring closure to this first season and more importantly, entice us viewers or at least me to higher levels of excitement in anticipating the follow-up season.

Regardless of the issues I personally felt, on the whole Sweet Home still remains a top tier production and a “viewing event” that’s very much worth a watch (and re-watch) and to a certain extent warrants the hype that accompanies it. It still could have been so much more and there remains vast potential to this series, so hopefully the second season would be even greater.