Saeng

This is one of those dramas that leave me with a lot of feelings and with many thoughts, none of which I am able to express in words.
I often give some insight of what I think a drama is about, what I believe its core themes are. I won't do so here, I think this is one you should go in as blind as possible.

But maybe as an advice for those who think about watching this drama, this is what you should *not* expect:
* fluffy, steamy or whirlwind romance,
* kissing or sex

Instead, you *will* get this:
* a slow paced drama about grief, about loss, about trans-generational trauma,
* a drama that focuses on the relationships between four people, one of them dead,
* many dialogue-heavy scenes,
* a slow reveal of what exactly happened in the past and what it means for the present,
* complex relationships,
* an ending that you will have to decide whether it is a happy one,
* excellent acting, minimal sets, and extremely intentional camera angles,
* metaphors,
* and did I say that this is slow? It's slow. And the story is not in what is happening, it is in what the characters are feeling and what they have to say (or choose not to say). And in that, it doesn't feel slow at all -- every short dialogue, every camera view is filled with meaning.

Don't expect a "BL", don't expect a drama that is focused only on a love story between two men.
The story is at least as much about the triangle between the mother, the father and the father's best friend as it is about the relationship between mother and son -- and the lines that can divide or connect them.