This review may contain spoilers
Started watching Sky Castle out of curiosity. Never thought I'd get hooked. Honestly, I'm so surprised that a satirical drama was aired and even broke a record because education is really something that everyone takes so seriously and I think this drama depicted it perfectly.
Acting wise, I would give them an overall of 10/10. The actors made the viewers hate their characters so much because they were able to embody them so perfectly. I honestly never hated so much characters in one drama ever. At first, I hated Kang Yesuh because, well let's be honest, she was just plain rude to every anyone when she doesn't get her way of things. Then I slowly started hating her mom, Coach Kim, her dad, Mr. Cha, Park Suchang, etc. But I think the character that I felt hatred toward the most was Hyena. Gahd she was just so irritating that I hoped her character would just die (and she did thankfully). She thinks she can outright anyone just because she doesn't really have anything to fear for. I understand she and her mom went thru a lot but in the end she conditioned her mind that she was always the victim and that became her flaw. While we all hated some characters, we were also able to empathize with them. That's how good they were.
However personally, there is one actor that I think needs to improve his acting a bit more and that's the actor who played Hwang Uju. He was able to portray his character well during light scenes but since his character had more depth towards the end he had to enact more heavy scenes. I don't why but I just find it hard to empathize with him during those scenes. It felt like it was "pushed". It might have been too much for him to portray.
Coach Kim is an interesting character, I expected more than what they revealed from her past. I would've loved to find out what is the main root of her personality. Would've loved learning more about her. And does ending mean, she's back? I think the final episode gave us more questions that answers regarding her.
I think 16 episodes should've sufficed, the drama felt too long at times but nevertheless I enjoyed watching every episodes.
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Realistic, Touching (Almost personal), Relatable, PERFECT.
I couldn't understand the hype when this was the most popular show at the time. I only watched a few minutes of the first episode and was so confused that I didn't continue it. But now that I have, one word comes to mind: WOW.I love everything about this drama. The pacing was perfect—not too fast to feel rushed, but also not too slow to bore you. The soundtrack was also perfect and blended so well into the scene. The theme song, "We all lie," was really perfect for this drama. So many scenes resonated with the song, and it's so pleasing to listen to that it really gets you in the feels.
What made this drama so perfect for me was how it showcased the education system and how accurately it presented academic pressure on students, especially from parents. As the eldest daughter in an Asian household, I can confirm it really is like this and that it's so normalized and common. It shows the extent parents go to ensure their child lives a "successful" life; what more from those of high privilege?
I came in here expecting my blood to boil each episode, as I did with Penthouse (as I was told they were similar, ps. they're not) but regarding how realistic it was, I could only be in awe. The development of the families, both individually and as a group, was very interesting to watch. The comedy laced in this drama was also so natural and so refreshing (in short, not corny), I looked forward to it every episode.
I'm so happy with how the story concluded as well. The events that occurred in the final episode were the culmination of the previous episodes, so it didn't feel rushed at all. It didn't feel much like a drama, it felt like viewing the personal lives of these people and I commend the writers and staff behind this show for creating such wonderful craft that can resonate with most audiences. Kudos.
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✒ Schadenfreude ❌️ The Pride Monster ❌️ & The Helicopter Crash °irony laden excellence°
Schadenfreude: Pleasure from learning about troubles, failures, or humiliation of others.In the end, it always comes back to the parents. In the end, S🏰 is a masterpiece.
Oh, these people are vile. “They say they love me, but they should be honest and say they need something to brag about,” says one kid. What's a rich, narcissistic, vapid, entitled mom to do?
S🏰 is an upscale gated community. There's a new family moving in. They're /decent/ folk. The rest of the families are hyper-competitive moms next to (though successful professionally) worthless men as fathers. Then there's others around the edges who prop up the horrible, oppressive charade w/ everything they have.
Yeom Jung Ah plays Han “Seo” Jin / Kwak Mi Hyang. She's a woman who ruthlessly got what she wanted when she married. Her daughter, Yiseo, excels. She MUST be accepted at the best medical school. We eventually meet Seo's mother i/l and realize that she, herself, is a big disappointment. She's using her daughter to get her mother i/l's approval. It's very sad. The actress is phenomenal, as evidenced by my escalating stress over the fact that I couldn't strangle her. She would run over Buddha to get her daughter accepted. Nothing can turn her. Not if the 🌎 were to burn down would she change course. Pride makes people that delusional.
‘What do I do now? What do I do if the word gets out?’ A woman's less than what's-considered-respectable past (her father sold beef offal😱) is in danger of being exposed. Smoke & mirrors are everything to these people. It's all vanity. See how much effort they put into being phony to impress people whom they don't even like! (Normies are insane). Meanwhile, the woman who knew her when they were growing up together is thinking: “I've only heard about collective selfishness. Now that I've experienced it, I realize that it's a nightmare.”
S🏰 is a 2018 release that is rated 88 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 20 75-minute episodes. It's about the human tragedy of pride. Pride is a liar, pride is the opposite of love, and pride destroys. In ep15, everything ratchets up.
The themes are parenting, motivating kids to be their best, what that means, but most of all, pride. S🏰 features extreme competition, the same thing that motivated the author of Squid Game-8.4. “I've never let loose & had fun. I've never played 1 game in my entire life. We've never gone on 1 vacation,” says 1 top student. Everything has been about 1 goal.“ “Those women use their kids to fulfill their greed. They can act all high and noble, but to me, they're nothing,” an outsider opines. This is why 🇰🇷 has the 4th (now the 3rd?) highest suicide rate in the world. “Competition to get into college ends up killing so many kids every year. But our society isn't changing at all.” This is a country where its residents are under so much pressure it literally is too much., It makes one wonder why people don't rise up & demand change. I guess that takes too much energy.
The new neighbor (Lee Tae Ran portrays Lee Soo Im) doesn't fit in at all. She's /genuine/. She doesn't put pressure on her son b/c he's self-motivated. She wants him to be /happy/. The 1st thing she does is disrupt Book Club, quite inadvertently. She couldn't be more strange if she was a reptilian alien w/ a forked tail. Her husband, a surgeon, was plucked out of obscurity to (hopefully) run the dept. All the other denizens of S🏰 have been reduced to 2 emotions: gloating smugness & rageful jealousy.
Yoon Se Ah plays Noh Seung Hye. I thought she was really good in My Sassy Girl-8.5, an underrated show, imho. This performance only cemented my opinion. She's fantastic. Since 2005. most of her features round up to 8 with nothing under 6.9.. She's been fitting in at S🏰 & acquiescing to her husband, who excessively preens to compensate for his innate feelings of inadequacy combined w/ his yeasty ego. Personally, I think this dame can act her butt off. Her husband, Cha Min Hyeok, is a Law professor. He's smart, but not as smart as he fashions himself. That's the trap so many intelligent people fall into - believing they know everything. He runs Book Club, which is often just him and the toxic egotist, Kang Yiseo (Kim Hye Yoon) bantering. Her lens is so thick that she interprets everything she reads as an affirmation of her egocentrism. She's the worst type of person, & Cha is an insufferable know-it-all. He has no insight at all but gives us a nice demonstration of philosophical gymnastics. ‘What is being selfish?’ Cha queries. “It's doing something that will help you reach your objectives,” answers egotist, Yiseo. Prof. Cha concurs, asserting that being completely selfish is how you become selfless. (!?) All this is complete tosh, of course. It's what narcissists say to justify how they are. Selfishness is being self-focused to the neglect of others & what they want, & it usually involves a lack of empathy. It's being an @$$hole. It's also existing in lies.
Oh Na Ra has quietly been in some of the best stuff ever. She usually plays a sweetheart, but here she begins as the most shallow and toxic sort. She's has room for growth and she will grow during S🏰. Kim Seo Hyung plays Kim “Joo” Young, an austere academic coach. She's a supreme ice queen. She's wonderful in Mine-8. Stern, and rigid, she's all-business. In ep10 she has a fit of laughter and it's actually a bit chilling. Her smile is terrifying, oily and creepy. She should do horror.
Song Geon Hee is one of the most miserable kids, Park Young Jae. Park You Na portrays Cha Seri, an older sibling, back from the States on break from Harvard. Cho Byeong Kyu of The Uncanny Counter plays Cha Ki Jun, one of the Cha twins. (About TUC, S1 is 8.4 and it's fabulous. S2 is insultingly awful. It's one of the worst cases of second season syndrome I've ever seen).
Kim Bo Ra is Kim Hye Na, a classmate who Woo has his eye on. She's a cutie. She was also in My Only Love Song-8.7, a hilarious show that I adore. Director Jo Hyun-Tak gave us The Atypical Family & Snowdrop, while writer, Yoo Hyun-Mi penned Snowdrop & The Bridal Mask. I'll watch anything of theirs. Every shot, the decorating, the lighting, the costume ~ everything ~ is carefully orchestrated in S🏰. The use of music is also skillful. Endless Night is particularly sad. They found a balance between decorating the houses with upscale decor and making them look institutional and impersonal. Everyone seems to have partition walls in their house. Does it signify cages, division, and the illusion of privacy? These partitions are beautiful but we can see right through them.
The Cha household is excessively dark and there's prison bar imagery everywhere. Hye & Min are in a tense argument over the design of the Study Room and have a showdown. He has already cut up her credit cards. He sits for dinner. It's instant ramen. The dining area is underlit shades of industrial grey & almost every element is a straight vertical or horizontal. We're in a very rigid household. His drab jacket is the color of excrement. She's spectacular in a form-fitting scarlet lace dress. The revolutionary? They work out a deal. The tea kettle shrieks🔊💨 in the background. “Enjoy your dinner.” Magnificent.
Many touches make for superb filmcraft.There's a touching moment in ep6 when a mom cuddles her son and admits that she's not sure if all the pressure she's been putting on him is the right thing. “There's no answer,” she (too casually) surmises. The camera pans out & we finally see what the blue & white figurine really is. There's overly bright shots that are not flattering to the skin. I can't tell if that's deliberate or not, but I suspect it is to show that under the bright lights we are all flawed. None of them are as perfect or special as they believe. Despite the heavy subject matter, they even manage quite a bit of humor..
The pyramid. Life is a pyramid for Prof. Cha. Only 1 reaches the top. He's done okay, but he wants his kids to surpass him. Pyramids can be a scheme. Education has become a pyramid scheme. Large student loans enslave graduates. Colleges believe they have a monopoly and they have resorted to chain restaurant mentalities. They are overpriced, they serve up junk food, and they also are quite the propaganda machines. Education is vitally important, but that isn't what's going on at most colleges. They are doing everything but teaching useful skills and critical thinking. They are bankrupting us at the same time. If your child is interested in tinkering with h/h hands, don't discourage it out of hand. Plumbers, electricians, and other handy people are the new millionaires. There will always be a need for them.
“Do you know why God gave us kids? You should learn that there's something you can't always control.” Control. It's the biggest illusion of them all. One family reached the point where someone had to give in or someone had to die. “I don't want to be your son anymore… I don't want to live in hell anymore.” “We've wasted our lives,” yells dad. “Love one another. As I have loved you. John 13:34,” reads the plaque on the wall. It's interesting that the person who committs suicide receives a Christian funeral. We're to infer that s/he didn't even believe s/he was going to get another chance. People who ascribe to reincarnation are often shown as using suicide for a reset. It makes it even more tragic, from one perspective, b/c this person had given up all hope.
“There's no such thing as friends. There is only self & self-achievement.” Prof Cha spent a fortune on a test prep booklet, & his sons shared this info w/ their mates. “You mindless idiot, they're your competitors. It's the same as sharing your bullets w/ your enemies! Didn't I tell you to think of your school as a battlefield? Everyone beside you is the enemy!” By the end he was screaming. “I don't agree w/ your dad,” their mom tells them later. “You did the right thing. Competing w/ others makes you lonely. I believe true success is living a life that's not lonely.”
If one puts too much pressure on the kids they will be driven underground, we'll see. Oh the irony! In ep9 a father is exultant with celebratory pride. The /truth/ will devastate him. But the other S🏰 denizens enjoy their schadenfreude. “I know people in Washington who will cut off your life support in order to charge their cell phone,” I read once, and find it totally believable. These people embody that coldness. They're absolute ghouls. There's no tragedy that they don't think about turning to their own benefit. And it all comes back on them, ironically.
The moms are held in direct contrast. “You can't stand by and do nothing while your kids are being tormented. You have to protect them.” says the unselfish mother; the one who only wants happiness for her family. “I cannot give up on your life... No matter who yells at me or throws stones at me… I will do anything," says a mother who has been singly obsessed w/ her child's college admission. Her child is melting away in front of her, yet she still believes her own lies about herself, what she wants, and what /really/ motivates her. Meanwhile, her progeny is fast becoming NOT her disciple. For just a moment, her child paused & started to appreciate what really matters while realizing how revolting her family's values are.
Two characters start to channel Reverend Dimmesdale from The Scarlet Letter. Their guilty consciences are eating them alive. “Cut out the rotten parts now. You must do it while you still can.. life is long… Think about 10 or 20 yrs from now. University? … it's no big deal. But the guilt of {spoiler🚫} will haunt her …You reap what you sow.” In the wake of his own family tragedy, rather than schadenfreude, this speaker tries to help his friend avoid mistakes.
“When will you stop obsessing about what other people think of you?” A grown man demands answers of his mother, because this problem is multi-generational, and continues into adulthood. Pride is always hungry. It's never sated. “How can you call yourself human?” When one hears that from 2nd and 3rd parties, one should stop and reflect, croche? Don't dismiss all feedback on autopilot. “I thought I was a rational person, but I found out that I was very biased,” we hear one character reason out. We see the first cracks in their inhumane resolve. Finally.
“After this incident, I realized that being able to eat together w/ my wife & son is enough to make me happy.” Once they drop the pretense they can merely love one another. “That's why I'm going to try my best to be a good dad, & a good husband, & a good son. I don't want to end up regretting anything in the future.” 1-by-1, the parents see how off-course they've gotten. The theme is, ultimately, regret. All the above leads to regret. Pride is radon w/ no color, odor, or taste. We can't see how it poisons us. But it does poison us & makes us blind to all our stuff. It isolates us. Isolation doesn't make a good life.
“I believe true success is living a life that's not lonely.”
In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:
Racket Boys-8.3,
Love to Hate You 8.9,
Reply 1988-8.6,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9,
Love Struck in the City 7.3,
Be Melodramatic-8.7
Familiar Wife-8.5,
Because This Is My First Life-7.7,
Birthcare Center-8.2,
Call It Love-8.4,
The Golden Spoon-8.1,
Revenge of Others-8.6
Itaewon Class-8.9
Law School -8, Why Her?-8,
Misaeng-9.1,
My Liberation Diary-8.9,
Mine-8,
Blood Free-8.5
My Mister 9.5,
I'll See You When the Weather is Fine 9
Anna-8.1,
Something in the Rain-8.6,
Wonderful World-7.8
Awaken-8.7
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It follows the story of filthy rich parents who go about extreme ways to make sure that their children gets accepted into Korea’s top 3 SKY universities (Seoul, Korea, Yonsei) to satisfy their own greed. The drama, despite being a light comedy at times, is extremely heavy, dealing with topics like depression, suicide, toxic parental expectations, and broken relationships. It highlights how flawed the education system is and how it can break children going through it.
What’s especially brilliant about this drama is it’s story and complex characters. Despite having almost all their main characters frustratingly flawed, and even downright evil, which would usually put people off, the story is so compelling that this actually becomes a draw. You’d end up caring for all the families, which makes it even more heartbreaking when you have situations where one family can’t be happy without making another devastated. The adult actors are breathtakingly talented, so much so that it makes the children actors who are by all means decent, seem bad in comparison. This is also the only flaw I can find with this drama. The direction really shows its charms during its intense scenes, making scenes that were already emotional absolutely unbearable. It really is one of the best directed kdramas.
Special mention for episode 17 which is without a doubt the single best drama episode I’ve ever watched, with the heartache I felt from watching it still lingering
TL;DR if you’ve ever felt suffocated by the education system, this will be a hell of a relatable and emotional ride.
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Material success versus true happiness?
This show is definitely worth the hype and record breaking ratings. It's tightly scripted, compelling, multi faceted with an ensemble cast of drama veterans who deliver very convincing performances.The social satire is well portrayed with some excellent acting and dialogue, it may appear high brow on the surface but I found myself watching back to back episodes once I got into the stride of things; this is due to the excellent script which is cleverly written with little to no loose ends.
This show tends to reveal information in an unfolding manner, so every episode peels back a new layer and facet of the story and characters and I think this is what keeps it so entertaining. You don't get the whole story at once, as each event unfolds new tidbits are revealed to keep the viewer fully engaged, so the pacing is tight and consistent. This is where I think the OST was used to maximum positive effect; the song "We All Lie" was so very well applied, every time this song played I knew something was about to go down, this was so exciting to anticipate.
The entire adult cast of this show is amazingly skilled, I enjoyed the fact that they were in the spotlight for a change since these actors usually play supporting roles, they really shine whilst bringing their characters to life and all their skill and experience takes centre stage. Each family was so clearly defined that it didn't take me long to figure out who's who.
The Show's social commentary about the parents' and often children's unhealthy obsession with obtaining top grades in school is delivered in a theatrical and sometimes over the top fashion and this is what gives the show it's special identity and uniqueness, the social satire and dark comedy aspect of it, showcasing the characters' ambition, greed and pretention.
The power plays and stringent adherence to social hierarchies contributes much into how the characters interact with each other.
At the end the Show adequately conveys character growth and plot resolution, I think the last episode went a long way to show us how each character was now living and behaving after mending their ways so to speak.
Overall this Show is bold and I think it achieves what it sets out to do, I thoroughly enjoyed it because it's so polished and very expertly written and acted. Bravo!
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This review may contain spoilers
okay the one and only character i love in this drama is Coach Kim's daughter, Kay. she's warm, innocent, sweet and loves her mother undyingly. i am glad she's not hurt even after eating the curry, i was so scared for her. the last scene when she reunited with her mother in the cell was just heartbreaking, i hope she's always happy and healthy.as expected, this is a weird drama difficult to get through because literally wherever left or right you turn, there's always a crazy person doing crazy sh*t that it gets so tiring/torturing to watch.
i am borderline glad that i finished this drama but it traumatizes me a lot that it's a real projection of how modern society functions. i also don't see a twist where it made me gasped for air or something (like you know, that dramatic moment). i was waiting for it, and it was not enough of shock value for me.
well the one message you can take away from this is given in the last episode when the four ladies were dining among themselves, and one of them said that as long as you make sure that your kids know you love them, and you mould them properly as a person of good character and emotional strength, they should be able to sustain the enormous pressure of growing up in a modern society.
this really hits home, and i hope that i always remember this message when i become a parent myself one day.
P/s i love twins mom and the twins too. what a wonderful, sassy and classy trio.
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It's some sort of meditation on contemporary issues, school, family, expectations, love. There are also some funny moments and also very tragic ones. Even the main villain is not 100% pure evil so it puts everything in some sort of gray area.
The finale was really good in my opinion, there is some character development and that's what I appreciated the most.
The OST song is BEAUTIFUL I normally skip the first seconds of the beginning of a drama but I never ever skipped this song.
I will rewatch this drama for sure, especially because of the ending.
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Makjang Drama that Surprisingly Suits My Taste
SKY Castle follows the story of four families living in the Sky Castle residences as they deal with their ambitions for their children’s futures.SKY Castle is actually what people call as a makjang drama. At first, I thought it wasn’t my kind of genre, but SKY Castle proved me wrong. The first episode was a bit boring for me. The luxury vibe and the “exaggerated” acting weren’t really my cup of tea. From the second episode onward, the series picked up the pace, the story progressed quickly, and we gradually learned about each parents' ambitions and how every character is morally grey.
What I loved most about this series is how it focused only on education topics and the intense pressure parents put on their children to become a source of pride. They will do absolutely anything to achieve that, and that’s exactly how the tragedy after tragedy unfolds.
It has a solid script for a 20-episode series. The story stays engaging throughout. It felt a bit flat in the second half, but it was still fun to watch. The ensemble cast delivered great acting. The message is powerful and they conveyed it very effectively. Overall, I really enjoyed it.
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I think this drama is like a mix of Gossip Girl and Riverdale (without the bad parts of Riverdale). Like they have the vibe.
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Simply brilliant and well put together
What an emotional rollercoaster this entire show has been. There were moments where I was laughing and then there were moments where I was bawling my eyes out with the characters. There were also moments where I was furious and angrily cursing at the characters lol my point being is that this show is simply so darn good that it keeps you hooked on.The cast and the acting is just brilliant! I’m really happy with the way the characters evolved and how the show wrapped up nicely.
Perfectly executed and the soundtrack being so darn good I can’t describe how well it fit with all the drama taking place.
No show’s ending has ever left me feeling so satisfied and whole. I love how they touched upon the education system and parenting ways and the best part being so many lessons were learnt at the end of the show.
Without a doubt I can say that this show absolutely deserves its high rating of 9.1
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A must watch! So original and captivating.
I watched this drama at the very beginning of 2021, and wow I did not expect it to be that good. It's definitely worth the hype that it had when it came out a couple years ago! okay the storyline is SO original and unique and the acting is splendid. The plot is twisted and wild and captivating and wow! Just amazing! I binged watched this one pretty quick, it gave me anxiety and I just needed to know what happens. It always spreads a very good awareness of the struggles and hardships that a lot students face when they have strict parents in Korea. Very amazing drama, well done to the cast and writers!!! A must watch for any kdrama fan!Was this review helpful to you?
