Fascinating Topic, But Could Have Been Executed So Much Better
Personally, as a Christian, I don't appreciate the Christian symbols and some Bible verses being misrepresented by this (or any real life) cult, when any symbols or ideology could have been used. It's so unoriginal to negatively portray Christians, yet they won't do the same with other religions or beliefs. Is there some reason that this show was not made with a cult that uses the star of D avid, free masonry, a pagan sacrificial cult, or something original? Besides, even secular ideologies like the neighbor of south Korea is a cult, so cults don't have to even involve religion. I don't think this series did a good enough job to not basically slander Christians as a bunch of crazies. In some scenes, the cult's symbol of the boat under the cross is not even fully visible, for example, from perspectives looking up at it. It's sort of corny how they made the cross glow red, when any symbol in that color is going to look eerie. Near the end, there's some half-hearted attempts to counter this misrepresentation of Christians, but to some viewers' subconscious, the damage is probably done. Why did the show producers have the 1 friend out of the 4 guys wear a regular cross, not the cult's altered cross, in the scenes where he shamefully didn't want to save Im Sang-mi? Greed, power, control, and psychopathy were the main driving forces of the main leaders (Jo Wan-tae seemed atheist), not Christianity, but this distinction should have been clearer from the beginning.The soundtrack is really boring, which doesn't match the suspenseful, psychological thriller nature of this series.
The psychology of the main character's boymom (boymom-ism is kind of a cult of its own, this would make a good series topic), the cult, and the psychopathic leaders were the stronger parts of this series. The various methods of deception, the gradual increase of abuse towards members, the exploitation of people in desperate sad situations, and the claustrophobia-like feeling of cult members being anywhere in any job, was all covered well. The twists and turns of the plot, and costume design, are strengths of this series too.
OTOH, some of the plot is lacking. For example, why did the dad not just move with his family to another city, such as a big city with more jobs? Korea has more than just 2 cities. Another thing is, I feel like the main character (Im Sang-mi) constantly questioning things for years would have landed her in more trouble than what was portrayed. That's great that didn't happen, but the other members were hysterical, and it's doubtful they would have tolerated that much noncompliance.
Some characters were annoying, such as the main character's boymom. The boymom had the expectation of her daughter to put herself in harm's way against multiple boys, all to protect her brother, which is wrong and backwards. Even before the tragedy, the boymom was parentifying and negative toward her daughter. Is this a critique of the rampant favoritism of boys in many Korean families, part of what sparked the 4B movement that is now gaining traction worldwide? It's annoying how the female lead is only allowed to be strong and protective of males, but isn't allowed to be strong and save herself or other female characters. Jo Wan-tae, the curly haired sidekick manlet of the cult was really hateable. While it makes sense for this plot, more justice should have been dished out to him. At a certain point, there were too many characters and some didn't add much to the story.
Overall, this series could've been done so much better. Hopefully future kdramas about cults will take some lessons from this series' drawbacks.
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It's an okay drama..
LIKEScenes that stood out and at the back of my mind:
When Eun Shil saw Sang Mi's situation and Eun Shil's reaction to that - annoyed me
The pathetic Joo Ho who totally got possessed and his behaviour - I wanted to fly kick him
DISLIKE
Started all good but got draggy in the middle
Though went back right on track, drama was not thrilling enough
MUSIC - personal fav
Hallucination - The Vane
REWATCH VALUE
It doesn't matter if I re-watch or not
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Sujet peu commun important
C’est la première fois que je vois un drama qui parle de secte. On est vraiment plongé dans la détresse du personnage principal, et on a qu’une envie c’est qu’elle s’en sorte. J’ai toujours adoré cette actrice, Elle joue extrêmement bien ce rôle. c’est très agréable de voir les second personnages masculins, former une bande soudée pour l’aider. tout se forme petit à petit, donc tu comprends l’embrigadement dans la secte, et même les alentours, comme la Police par exemple. tous les acteurs jouent très bien, je recommande vraiment !Was this review helpful to you?
seo yea ji is my woman
this people is crazy as hell wtf..⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀
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However, as the story went on, the execution became exhausting for me. The drama felt unnecessarily stretched, with many scenes and subplots that didn’t really add value. Instead of building tension in a focused way, it often felt scattered and repetitive. I genuinely feel this story would have worked much better as a shorter drama or even a movie.
That said, the acting deserves appreciation. The main leads performed well, the bromance elements were nicely handled, and the antagonists did a convincing job portraying manipulated, brainwashed followers. The performances are one of the main reasons the drama remains watchable.
Overall, while the concept and acting were strong, the way the story was laid out made it difficult for me to stay fully engaged. It simply wasn’t my taste in terms of pacing and structure. I’d personally rate it 5.. mainly for the idea behind the plot and the cast’s performance, but the execution didn’t work for me.
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I was in for quite a rollercoaster. The first time I tried to watch it, I thought it was really bewildering how easily people could get sucked into believing the things that cults preach ( hence why I gave up because I was just ... wtf???? ); however, it makes a lot more sense the more you continue and progress through the show. The reason why I say that it makes more sense later is that you ( as the audience ) start to see how the cult is viewed from the lens of the main character ( who is more than ready to bolt from the cult ) but as well as through those who are devout followers of the cult. While that didn't mean that I felt sympathetic towards the cult members acting out in certain ways, I could also see how easily they could be brainwashed into believing certain things.
I would say that it started to drag at some points ( and honestly, I ended up watching it in 2x speed because things moved rather slowly ) and probably didn't require so many episodes, but I won't complain about getting to watch more Woo Dohwan and Taecyeon on my screen. Dohwan really did a fantastic job and I started seeking out his other dramas after I finished this one.
This isn't a drama I'd really watch again because, for me, those are usually more feel-good dramas, but if someone else wanted to watch it and asked me to watch with them, then that would probably be the only time I would give it another go. Would definitely recommend for the acting and intriguing storyline!
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This review may contain spoilers
intense and gripping
This was def one of the more original and interesting dramas I’ve seen. It was not your typical show that you might be used to seeing. The subject matter was unique and hadn’t really been explored before in dramas but this one did a great job of pulling you into the absurd and frightening world of being in a religious cult. Certain episodes will challenge you not to lose your sanity as the madness around the characters ensues. The writers did a great job with everyone’s characters, especially Sang-mi. Her brother’s death was just heartbreaking. She had suffered much tragedy in her life and her entire family had been turned upside down, so it was extremely easy to root for her to get out of the crazy situation she was in. Seo Yeji is really an amazing actress and I will definitely pay attention to her dramas in the future. Taecyeon as Sang-Hwan was great, but Woo Doo Hwan was the better lead. He didn’t always get a lot of scenes, but when he did he nailed them. I can’t believe he was just a rookie actor in this drama. Also a special shout-out to Jo Sung Ha for his portrayal of the deceiving father of the cult. I’ve seen him play a corrupt politician in another drama but this role is his best I think.This show doesn’t have much rewatch value. It got slow for me after the first few episodes but things intensified towards the end. I love intense gripping dramas like these as they are more my taste. 8/10
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I wanna say that the rewatch value is low because it has so much sensitive content and it's not a drama you're looking for when you're stressed, because, in fact, this is the type of drama that will stress you out!
The plot was really interesting and dark. When I read the description before watching, the word "cult" was the final push before I decided to watch it. The drama was really creepy and it has a lot of content that might trigger one's mental health. As a romance-comedy enthusiast, I'm so glad that I enjoyed so much mystery and suspense thanks to this drama. The plot had an actual story in it and it definitely showed the good and bad characters. Somehow, I think that this whole drama is a reflection of what we have now. We believe in things and we choose to be ignorant of reality.
The cast was... WOW. All I can say that they were amazing. This is my first Seo Ye Ji drama, and I'm so impressed with her acting skills. She executed fear, hatred. and anger very well and all at the same time! Plus, her voice is just so new to me and beautiful. I loved Taecyeon and Woo Do Hwan, but Woo Do Hwan was the character I ended up focusing on more. His character was someone who was very righteous despite being gutsy, and he would definitely protect the people he loves. The supporting cast was amazing too but I would like to applaud for Jo Sung Ha's acting. His two-faced character made my blood boil and that's what signifies him as a great actor! Even by speaking calmly, he can make me mad.
The OST was okay, but I wished they could've used it in the actual scenes of the drama than hearing it by the end credits.
Overall, the plot was very good and the whole drama was really interesting! Every episode was a cliffhanger. It was kinda slow for me at first, but I liked how they slowly approached the climax with intensity to the end. This is my first OCN drama and I'm truly glad to say that they do make amazing crime thriller dramas! Highly recommended for people who like crime, thriller, and suspense genres.
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If you're the type of person to enjoy an interesting but intense story with clever plot twists, superb acting and suspenseful situations, you'll enjoy Save Me.
As is already mentioned, this drama deals with a lot of mature themes that you don't quite see every day in Asian dramas.
Cults are still very much a taboo topic, but Save Me covered every vile, rotten aspect of them in such an ingenious and plausible way, that you're only left to question the amount of evil in this world and why it exists.
The series starts out fairly slow, but picks up rather fast which makes up for it.
You might be confused at first, but don't worry, as everything will soon fall into place.
As you get more sucked into the story, you'll start to get invested in the characters and their backgrounds.
The intense, nerve-wracking situations coupled with the climactic soundtracks followed by cliffhangers at the end of most episodes will tug at your heart and leave you coming back for more.
The acting is on a whole different level; it's kind of scary how you forget that these aren't actual people,
but fictional characters that only serve the purpose of carrying out the story until the end,
that's how good it is.
I have to point out Seo Ye-Ji's acting, she really outdid herself.
Her expressions, body language, voice, especially her eyes;
I don't think I've ever seen someone with such expressive, poignant eyes that capture any emotion with such perfect precision.
I also have to praise Woo Do-Hwan for his impassioned acting, he really brought his character to life.
You can see the diversity and skill he holds shine throughout the show , and especially when he has to act as an entirely different person.
Taecyon was nothing short of incredible, as always.
I really do love how he gets into the mindset of the character he plays,
which is also why he's so successful at pulling off so many different personalities and expressions.
The whole cast was fantastic, everyone did their parts extremely well which is exactly why you sometimes forget that this is an alternate reality.
Save Me unveils every single sickening, appalling act of evil in its rawest form.
It will keep you on the edge of your seat at the end of each episode, and will leave you begging for more.
It does get very hard to watch at times, and you might find yourself taking a breather every once in a while because of how painfully accurate it portrays certain topics.
The lovely feel-good ending comes as sort of a reward for both the characters and you for not giving up and enduring it until the very end.
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The first episodes are a bit slow but they always leave you hanging at the end of each episode and the second half of the drama is thrilling from start to end.
Save Me is also a very dark, heavy drama, don't watch it if you don't like to suffer. Is also very realistic, the ones that comment that it isn't.... Cults are terrifying, very real, they brainwash people and make them give up on their families and lifes. Also have in mind when you watch this drama that you as a western probably think "wow why doesn't she leave? It's so easy to scape" but South Korean Culture is completely different, you have a much hardcore submission towards elders and a sense of responsability and respect we usually lack, so I feel the female lead is very consistent and clever.
The cast is superior, I love everyone in this, the chemistry is mind blowing, the reactions are logical and very human too, I love the little moments that allow you to understand each character motivations and relations.
I enjoyed this SO MUCH. My life is now empty. If you're doubting, go watch it, it's worth it.
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