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Provocative like a tiktok star cutting his wrest to get viewers!
Sorry this is gonna annoy many.Over rated- over the top- very hysterical, and I'm not gonna talk about about how it's visually and audioably stunning coz those are the main good things about it.
A group of ugly souls eagerly to climb the social stairs to the top, mainly they worship the cult image of themselves in the eyes of others in this sociopathic society. Everyone is black in heart, with no shade of light.
first character is a woman thinks very high of herself, she is unstable, with unsafe personality, she is ok with cheating her husband, but can't stand him cheating her!
BAD ACTING, that's it! All she's doing is screaming and eye- laser everyone, not even one good scene.. Among all of this screen presence many of her scenes were meaningless and stretched to the edge. YET kudos to the makeup artist for making her looks like a real villain coming out of comic book.
The male lead is germ phobic who treats lower people like germs that should be eliminated. Great actor, kudos for the restrained subtle performance and for not screaming and yelling around like the rest of the crew.
Too many similarities with Sky Castle, yet Sky castle was a satirical drama mainly focused on education system and the characters there were multi- dimensional unlike here! Most of them are one dimensional personas they are bad, obsessed, and really creepy.
And seriously what's with the forgiving attitude of the mother towards the killer of her own child?! And how come she suddenly becomes this manipulative!
The poor lady on the other hand, though she is so loud and hysterical. Her soul is contaminated with anger, loss, and grudge that motivate her to avenge and overcome her nemeses.
Like father like son/ Like mother like daughter. And this is the summary of the second generation. Only the son in the twins seems to have grey shades in his personality, but I dunno I felt he and his sister share an incestuous affair, or at least feeling. His feelings towards RO Na might be considered as his door towards a better life style without all this evilness.
Somehow I felt I'm watching the Koren vr. of GOT! All the characters are conflicting and the weaks fall down the way till the end. Old theme but always works.
For some reason everyone screams, no one speaks in calm or low tune at all, and the music is so orchestral, I think if the main leads were going to the toilet, an instrument of orchestral high notes will accompany them. Also the dialogue was so theatrical and over the top all the time.
The last twist felt really forced to me, are you guys sure this one was written originally ad 3 seasons? I felt it was meant to be only 1 but the writer is stretching it out of investment method not an artistic one.
P.s: Half of the budget of this drama was spent on the glass and ceramics that the actors broke in every tantrums they had!
pros: make up- art directing- male main lead- production
cons: writing- acting
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Not a typical or cliché', shattered all my expectations
Cheerful with a happy ending, but to deliver that ending It went through a whole punch of social problems such as, bullying, divorce, starting late, sexual harassment , discrimination and early marriage.A couple is getting divorced after a long love marriage, and we have no idea why. All we can see is how they are doing in their late thirties, comparing them to the dreamy image they had as teens when she was a pretty girl, and he was the tall dark and handsome athlete. As we watch, we can notice that their relationship was hit by silence as time passed. Each one of them has become an introvert, and the lack of money added more fuel to their problems. Even the support one offered to the other wasn't understood or made any echo in this silence between them. One of them sacrificed the life dreams to support the other, and one who couldn't see anything but the laziness and the anger of the other one didn't know it's just a hidden bitterness.
Somehow the husband became 18 again, and a chain of comic situations start to happen between him and the member of his family. He became a friend who is active in their lives, not a distant father.
Acting is so good especially from Lee Do Hyun. Other actors are also good, yet they really look much older than the age of 37.
Soundtrack is amazing, and the message and the ending are so perfect with a great perspective of the concepts of marriage, life, regret, dreams, and work. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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Ok to some point
It was REALLY GOOD till episode 11, then it took a real nose-dive! Slow path and lazy writing with over the top acting towards the end. And for some reason it seems that all the actors/actresses used the same hair dye and make-up, they all looked simultaneously styled. Acting wise, the main actor was ok, while the actress was a little bit over the top and had her own dull moments, the show stealers for me were the supporting cast, whether it was the brother, the 2nd lead or the colleagues at work.Was this review helpful to you?
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You will love it, but hate some basic aspects of it
Love between devil and fairyI know some are gonna hate me for saying this.
It’s not a review, just random thoughts:
- The intro and the outro are ethereally beautiful, telling the story in a symbolic way. Also, the scene where the 2 friends hang out inside a painting is mesmerizing.
- The CGI and special effect budget were like 3$ max and probably deducted from the costume budget!
- Rong Hao’s back story was very short and needed more details than that.
- Basically no one is evil, and no one is good too. Everyone has his ideology and noble purpose to fight for. Though a good conversation over a drink would've solved all their so-called hefty disagreements.
- Dylan and Xu Hai Qiao were the saving grace when it comes to acting. Can’t say the same about the others, they were below average, and FL was in a league of her own.
- The War Lord, and The Great Emperor of the Sea Salt left the battle and their people to save their love interest! Let’s talk about priorities here guys! (What a man does for love!!)
- The ruthless Demon who is fearful and magnificent, turns into cute little duckling runs after the FL quacking. 🙄 A rule that has never changed in fantasy series.
- As usual the FL has to be annoyingly stupid and cute. But MAN! She took it to the next level, her acting as cute little fairy is terrible, her voice made my ears bled, I hate dubbing, but that actress needs it the most, i understand that she is some sort of a singer, but she is definitely not any sort of an actress. (Sorry to her fans, I tried to like her, but she kept getting worst episode by another, and standing next to Dylan made her acting looks worst comparing to him)
- The twin story was abrupt and forced.
- The Great Emperor/ King of the Immortals celestial heavenly whatever kingdom acts like a 3rd world government employee who needs a signature and seal on every paperwork and stating that the rules and regulations can never be broken all the time. Chill man!
- Love the costumes except for the weird shields of war which don’t seem to protect anything at all. Dylan’s costumes were the most lavish and beautifully embroidered, fits his character very well.
I guess that’s most of what I want to say.
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The Ugly Truth of Worshiping "Image" in the Eyes of Others
The story follows a man in his forties who lives with his blind father—a legendary craftsman of Korea’s finest traditional seals. He receives a call informing him that the body of his mother, who disappeared 40 years ago, has been found. Alongside a pragmatic, scoop-hungry documentary producer, the "ugly" truth about the mother’s death and her past begins to unfold.This is a movie about ugliness—not just the physical kind the mother was shamed for, but the ugliness of the soul. In the very first scene, the blind father gives a long speech about how people wrongly assume the blind don't appreciate beauty. Hold on to this sentence, because it defines the entire film and its shocking twist.
The movie is built on the idea of "stigma." The mother, whose face remains hidden for most of the film, is branded as "ugly." When she married, people mocked her, thinking that just because someone "noticed" her, she suddenly thought she had a voice and rights. There is also the stigma of bullying, the victim-blaming faced by her coworker, and the blind husband's own feeling of being "cheated" or fooled.
The most "ugly" things in the film are the "walls of trophies." Whether it’s the father’s awards for his beautiful craftsmanship or the old factory owner’s disgusting photos of his "prey" displayed like achievements, both built their glory on spiritual rot. In the end, the only one labeled "ugly" was the only one with a beautiful soul.
Everyone else is ugly in their own way. The producer is a hypocrite seeking only success. As for the son, he deserves an entire series of articles to describe his character. The ending is striking; when we finally see the mother’s face in a photo, she is a carbon copy of her son. If the son were a girl, he would be the "ugly" one.
He inherited his mother’s face (which looks average for a man) but inherited the rotten soul of his father—the man who killed his mother simply because of her looks. The father interpreted every laugh around him as mockery of his wife’s ugliness in a society that worships "image." A society that literally idols how it looks in the eyes of others. The son chose to keep that "idol" standing by burying the truth.
In the final scene, the son breaks down in hysterical tears, signaling his defeat. He surrenders to the social "idol" despite knowing it’s a lie. He chose to protect his father’s reputation as a "beautiful Korean legend." Shattering that image would be a massive slap to the face of society, and his choice was driven by pure selfishness and fear of losing his own status.
The movie is good, but the "reveal" felt a bit weak. Given the build-up and the documentary-style interviews, I expected a much bigger shock.
The first real shock is the mother’s past with her brothers, who only showed up for the inheritance. They described their childhood as a "happy family" right before the truth revealed she was actually a survivor of a very toxic family. She was honest and brave—the exact opposite of everyone else—yet she was betrayed by the person closest to her, all because of her face.
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