Completed Dramas / Movies (2026)

I was feeling low and this movie made me feel even more depressed and tired. The director beautifully captured the quieter and more real side of Singapore which media doesn’t show much of. I don’t know if it’s because I lived in Singapore and attended school there or because I had to look after my grandparents and do the chores she did or because I’m just lonely, this really hit home.
Sighhhhh.
It’s a simple, and quiet film but it’s also slow-paced, mundane and sad. Don’t bother if you’re looking for a forbidden passionate romance or anything dramatic. Watch with caution if you’re depressed, lonely or sad.

All in all, a very well-made and well-acted slice of life film.

Completed: 14 January 2026

There was barely any plot to this, but what I liked and appreciated was that the tone was set from the very beginning and all the characters were fleshed out well (a rarity nowadays). 

Completed: 15 January 2026

Hot couple with tons of steamy kisses, hypnotic BGM (probably the best I've heard in a C-drama), fast cars, and lack of annoying characters - what more could one want in a drama? It took a while to grow on me as the story wasn't without its flaws and clearly lost steam in the last quarter but it was an enjoyable drama through and through.

Completed: 17 January 2026

I don't think it was a bad drama per se, it just needed to be longer, and to end better; the first half could have focused on the past (like the drama did) and the second half or last quarter on the present. Unfortunately, the present was never quite addressed, and that killed the potential this had to be a thought-provoking and moving drama. Overall, it was a flawed premise with a flawed execution that focused too much on showing the same flashbacks from different perspectives, albeit that didn't actually add anything substantial to the story or our understanding of the characters. I won't question the ML's obsession or fascination with the FL but his research was rather flawed. Why the fixation on the 'witch' label? Just because others said so? Why did he not even consider other possibilities right from the start or even when it was becoming clear that she had to do with the injuries or deaths. He also did not have to face the danger to prove his point. For instance, why did he not try to run away knowing very well he will be injured. Why did he not let the FL on, on his plan? The FL had zero agency and was shown to simply accept her fate, and never do anything to question why or to try to fix things. She simply hid all the way till the end. For a show called 'The Witch' I found out nothing about the FL or her personality other than her daily routine. Don't get me started on the 'love' between the leads in the last episode  was too abrupt. Inserting himself as the last variable & having her find him wasn't testament to her love, it was obligation or curiousity. To be honest, I doubted his love for her too because he never knew her. He simply stalked her and she peaked his fantasy. His sacrifice came from his hero complex. The worst part, till the end - the question as to why was never even answered.
It is an incomplete story and I don't recommend it, but then it's one-of-a-kind and doesn't deserve all the hate either.

Completed: 18 January 2026

Barring the first 2 cringey episodes, this was a decent one-time watch. Nothing too memorable, but not a bad drama at all. Those who enjoy smut dramas would probably enjoy the kisses / love making scenes in this.

Completed: 18 January 2026

This started off so strong with the Wuthering Heights re-telling and then few episodes in, it's as though they changed writers with subplots sidelining the agency of the leads' characters and development only to make the tragedy greater. Not to mention, the FL was absolutely bland and badly-casted with no purpose other than looking pretty and shuttling between both male leads. Where was her personality and agency? Can someone please enlighten me why they were both obsessed with her? Lee Soo Hyuk's character was also largely underdeveloped. Jang Ki Young did his best but midway, his character, too, became confusing.
All in all, what began as a tale of passionate love, longing and rivalry between 3 leads (pre-reincarnation) was watered down to a story of weak characters wrought by tragedy with little agency.

Completed: 20 January 2026

The plot cannot be any more simpler than this. FL loves ML enough to be happy with his shadow, while ML wants more than that. Finally in the last episode, they have sex and they live happily ever after. I don't recommend this if you're actually looking for a proper love story to watch. There are better romance mini-dramas out there to watch. ML was an eye candy though XD

Completed: 21 January 2026

I dislike generalizing but in the recent years I've realised that it's not a South Korean drama if there isn't idiocacy or unnecessary plot twist added to the last / last few episodes. This was decent and the last 2 episodes happened. I'd rather they have ended it in the 15th episode then the stupidity and drag that was the finale.
Last episode aside, this was an addictive rollercoaster of all that is marriage. The lies, the deception, the love, the companionship, the trust, the ups-and-downs; so well-acted and so natural. Their love story was beautiful without being overtly dramatic or cheesy. On the thriller / suspense front, I appreciated how the central players were introduced from the start and while the plot twists were believable to an extent, there were clear plotholes and omissions that were not well explained and crafted.
All in all, I enjoyed this for for the leads and their marriage which was the main focus. The acting was stellar, as expected. Of course if I have to factor in the 9.1 rating on this site, I don't think the drama is worthy of that high a rating because it disappointed on other aspects.

Completed: 21 January 2026

Set in pre-war Japan, this was a charming, feel-good and wholesome romantic story with two couples; awkward leads who grew into companions slowly through communication and supporting one another, and witty, bantering leads who were able to drop their defences and find acceptance with each other. I thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful underrated gem. Time well spent :)

Highly recommended for all!

Completed: 22 January 2026

Like most people commented, this caught me by surprise with how weirdly wholesome it was. The leads were truly couple goals. Loved it from start to the end, though i wish this was longer.
Special mention for the way they filmed the sex scenes - so unique, and fun.
P.S I really want to know what her scent was that made him so crazy LOL  

Completed: 22 January 2026

Firstly, welcome back Narimiya Hiroki. You were missed. I am glad you still have it in you.
Second, there is some amount of gore in this, so stay away if you can't see stuff like someone's eyes being stabbed, or toenails being bitten off etc.
Third, WTF WAS THE FIRST PART OF THE LAST EPISODE?! Great action scenes and acting but I had to suspend disbelief with the way certain characters just wouldn't die despite all the injuries. Was the writer high?! Great way to ruin an otherwise decent drama.

All in all, the potential was definitely there but it fell short of being great. I found the story and concept compelling; 'loving' (if that's even the right word) someone to the end of the world, regardless of everything. The title is pretty apt. Both leads were clearly mentally ill. I understood her surrender, and his control but his feelings towards her wasn't fleshed out well enough and that made the amazing ending less impactful than the writer probably intended. I wish it was an episode or 2 longer. It was an enjoyable dark romance cum thriller, but it isn't for everyone, especially not for a moral audience or an audience used to watching perfect love stories.

Completed: 23 January 2026

Probelmatic age-gap aside, it was a well-made manga adaptation with leads who had chemistry. Time well spent :)

Completed: 25 January 2026

The leads were really cute and there was nothing unlikeable about the movie BUT it tried to pack too much to the point that I didn't get why some characters were there. At some point, it just felt a gathering of all the younger A-list actors from Japan, and I zoned out.

Completed: 27 January 2026

While this isn't Kurosawa's best work, it is definitely one of the better adaptations of Dostoyevsky's 'The Idiot' put to film. It's a pity the studio trimmed this beautiful film from a 4hr+ length down to 2h45mins. I would have loved to watch the whole thing as Kurosawa intended.. too bad it's lost.
It's a great watch nonetheless (without any spoiler) for the beautiful cinematography set against snowy Hokkaido, the powerful dialogues, Kurosawa's use of frame in contrasting Kadema's innocence with the twisted morals and meanness of the society. The actors were great, and I particularly loved the way Kurosawa used their eyes.
A very underrated gem that should not be missed. 

Completed: 27 January 2026

It's a pity this drama is so underrated because it's a well-crafted, well-acted, and well-made story that kept me hooked throughout. The use of the classical score and Galileo as the ending song, the ominous atomsphere, the plot twists, and Matsumoto Marika's fantastic performance as a scorned wife; it was all so humane and presented with such vulnerability and yet it managed to be satisfying and entertaining. I also love that it wasn't just a revenge story, but a psychological one where we went through the emotional journey and transformation of all the characters involved to the aftermath of it all (including the romance) making it well-rounded. It got a little draggy in the last 1-2 episodes, but they never derailed from the core story, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. 

Completed: 28 January 2026

I just keep falling into bad South Korean dramas, one after the next. Or maybe they're all just not as good as they once used to be? This drama had an interesting premise and actors who can act, and it's a pity, the writer failed it on all fronts. The murder mystery was badly crafted with too many loopholes and hardly any shock value or thrill, the investigation and legal procedural was done with little semblance to reality, characters were one-note and written with little depth, and the plot that went in circles for 11 freaking episodes. The finale appeared pleasant but it was all too neatly tied with a bow. I don't recommend this.

Completed: 28 January 2026

This is neither a conventional revenge story nor a thriller, so please manage your expectations accordingly. The revenge comes a little more in an emotional form rather than the I-destroy-you kinda way. If you have some experience with family therapy work or therapy in general, it will probably be easier to draw that connection.
At it's core, this is an emotional and psychological drama depicting a girl yearning for her father's love; the father who abandoned her and her mother for Shogi. What she terms as revenge is in fact, her entanglement, and her way of interacting with her father through the game of Shogi. It's a character-driven story that doesn't waste its time on endless flashbacks or digging deeper and deeper into the trauma or the characters' decisions, rather it goes straight for the emotional punch and let's the viewer sit with the characters' plight and decisions, and lets them form their own learnings and hypothesis.
Needless to say, I loved this.

More in review, with some discussion on the psychological aspect of this show: https://kisskh.at/profile/chillingindoors/review/535952 

Completed: 29 January 2026

This is another South Korean drama that could have been half its length. The documentary-style narrative, the willingness to have certain conversations on topics like sex, the reversal of gender role with the females being more dominant was really refreshing initially, but in the end, the show never moved beyond these surface level characterisations to explore more about these characters and what drove them to be the way they were. I liked this but it left me wanting so much more. Till the end, the question of 'who she was' and why she was so obsessed with defining her identity was never quite addressed, and in the end it came across merely as a plot device to build angst between the leads. The other characters and their relationships were also not explored adequately either and the show wasted time on filler scenes with random cameos that added nothing to the drama. There was also pacing issues, with too much time spent on the flashbacks, and the leads going back-and-forth while dragging out their meeting to the 9th episode, which gave the main arc (the present) very little time and focus.
All in all, a very half-baked attempt at what could possibly have been a classic contemporary romance drama.

Completed: 30 January 2026

I am surprised two male screenwriters wrote this because a lot of male screenwriters tend to get female characters wrong, and they got it so right in this one.
I can see why some people may not warm up to the FL initially but I think the writers depicted her with care, never tipping her over the fine line to that of someone despicable. Yes, she lied to various men who courted her in the hope of finding the richest, most suitable man to marry. But that's where both the beauty and contradiction of her character lied. She may go on a lot of mixers, but the moment she marries, you know she will be very loyal. She may enjoy his money, but she doesn't believe in merely taking, without working and earning her own money. She was a woman with principles, shaped by hunger and poverty at an earlier age, despite her ways that a highly moral audience may see as questionable. She didn't lie to her fiancee to manipulate him. She lied to protect herself. She lied because she couldn't trust that he would accept her the way she truly is. This was quite a contrast to her relationship with the ML; there was an instant attraction, and then there was a fallout because he wasn't rich. She judged him, and hurt him, but she never stopped caring for him through it all, and I loved watching her mask slip as the episodes went by. I liked the ML as well. While he never stopped caring for her and helping her, he wasn't a pushover or a doormat letting her toss him around. He had a silent, grounded presence in contrast to her glittering, prideful presence, making them complement each other perfectly. All in all, I enjoyed the FL's character development and her journey from a woman who wore a fake smile and a tough exterior to one with a soul, with vulnerability and a heart.
Highly recommended for those who want an authentic character-driven story.

Completed: 31 January 2026

Absolutely fantastic; an underrated gem in the psychological + horror + fantasy genre. More in review here: https://kisskh.at/profile/chillingindoors/review/536574

Completed: 31 January 2026

Shakespeare would be proud of this adaptation of King Lear.
The film takes us through the journey of a father blinded by his arrogance that he couldn't see the truth of his sons' greed and how the blood in his hands would come full circle to haunt him and kill him eventually. In the end, his whole lineage was destroyed. I didn't feel bad for them because they reaped what they sowed. Maybe I did pity Saburo a little for he was the only son who held his father dear and didn't use his banishment as an ego trip. But I guess he, too, had to pay for his father's sins in the end.
The writing was top tier in fleshing out all the characters' intentions and development with the actors doing full justice to the script. Nakadai Tatsuya and Harada Mieko deserve a special mention / standout for their performances. But but but more than just the performances, it is the scale and grandeur of the movie, the way Kurosawa used colours, the frames he used to enrich the characters' plights that was absolutely spectacular both for its time and even when as I re-watch this film a good 40 years later. I am in awe of what he was able to achieve back then and I always wonder what film-makers like him, Satyajit Ray, Bergman, Godard etc would have achieved in this day and age with all the technology.
All in all, this film deserves every bit of praise, appreciation and acclaim it received. Highly highly recommended for all.

Completed: 1 February 2026

currently watching

currently watching

currently watching

currently watching

Currently watching

Currently watching