Save Me (2017)

This is a show that I know it's probably better than what I'm giving it credit for. But this is a personal review so it is entirely my preference.

Honestly it was a very hard to watch show because of the subject matter. The twisted religious aspect is pretty uncomfortable to watch. Add bullying, suicide and child molestation and you got yourself a realistic horror on screen. The situations that are presented on screen are terrifying and it is just not an enjoyable experience. But if you have no problems with this sort of content I think you might enjoy this drama more than I did.

I do have to say, the acting is brilliant. Everyone did such an amazing job to bring their characters to life. I think that's why I had such a hard time watching this show. The villain characters are sick and scary in a realistic way. They are twisted, disgusting and frustrating to see on screen. That is a job well done by the actors but I'm not sure it's a very enjoyable experience for the viewer. The hero characters are somewhat frustrating to watch for a lot of the drama. With the exception of Dong Cheol, I wanted to slap almost everyone on screen. When you have quite a few threatening villains but only one competent hero accompanied by a group of useless stupid boys who are terrible friends, it's a combination for a very frustrating experience.

The pacing of the drama is really slow for a lot of the first half. Once the set up is done and we get to the cult part I hard to watch at fast speed because they drag these uncomfortable scenes so much until we finally get to the active ML part. For a lot of the drama Sang Hwan (ML) is a reactive character and when he pursues a more proactive role, he is quite frankly useless and stupid. This is a ML that I found it very hard to root for for a lot of the drama. I think he is a well written character, the actor does a great job, but I just don't think he's a very likeable character. And so whenever a scene with him popped up I was hoping it would end and give me another Dong Cheol scene (the actual good boy we need).

FL plays the role of a victim for a lot of the drama. Her character has a strong personality though and you can see she is actively trying to fight back but she's just not strong enough to really accomplish much. In the first half her scenes are pretty hard to watch because of this. But it gets more bearable after the midpoint. The actress portraying her is haunting and brilliant.

From episode 9 onwards things become easier to watch and I had a more enjoyable time. The drama picks up speed and becomes better. But the path to get there is really draggy in a torture porn kind of way. The ending was a bit rushed but nothing I can't forgive. I wished they had given us more time to enjoy the karma part of the drama when it came to the villains. A lot of them do terrible things and we don't see them suffer enough at the end so I felt a bit disappointed that so much screen time was dedicated to torture FL but we only got to see some of the worst people getting arrested and nothing more. It was a bit of a let down and it made it feel like all that time we had to watch them make FL suffer was for nothing.

All in all I think this is a solid drama if you are into dark, horrific, twisted stuff. The story is frustrating and scary and it accomplishes what it's set itself to. If you can stand a lot of screen time with that you will probably have a better time than I did. I personally am not going to rewatch this one. The acting is extremely solid but most of the characters are frustrating so it is not a very enjoyable time.

Citeste mai mult

too dark and heavy to be called entertaining with a slow phased first few episodes

My gosh.. too dark and heavy to be called entertaining with a slow phased first few episodes. But it's definitely an eye opener, on how blind faith can be corrupted by greedy corrupt people.

Watching this feels like riding a freight train going through a dark tunnel, with no way off but to endure and go through it. While the final episode feels like finally seeing the light.

The story convey a very strong message that even with all the darkness in every turn, there could still be a little beacon hope. Even from strangers you didn't even know.. All you need to do was to ask for help.

Actors were well casted, musical scoring also good. A little romance on side could've made this perfect.

Citeste mai mult

Wow

I'm just speechless.
You know, when you watch a drama and movie and it makes you feel some type of way, you can't explain... this was what i was feeling after watching this show. It made me feel sad, empty and kind of depressed... For me it was one of the hardest one to watch, it was harder than watching a horror movie, but isn't like psycho movies/drams/series always the most hardest to watch?
This drama was so thrilling and my heart was always gonna explode, when something thrilling happend. I was so into it, felt with every charakter, was laughing, crying, praying that in the end it will everything be good. Also the end wasn't really satisfying, it was still a good end.
The thing, i was dissapointed with that Dongchul deserved better. He risk his life to get and live in this cult to save her and yes of course Sang-hwan was helping from the outside (what was important as well) but Dongchul wasn't even thanked properly. He was kinda forgotten and almost being ignored for what he was doing.
But his actor Woo Do-hwan was so amazing, like i really love his acting, he was my favourite through the entire drama. Also I still can't understand why Seo Yeaji didn't won an award with her role, she was honestly so breathtaking and just amazing. She played her role too good.
This drama was just everything and i got so much goosebumps. through the entire show. I still don't know how to feel about it. I kinda want to really watch it again but it's like a horror-trip.

Citeste mai mult

I had a really hard time finishing this drama. Not because it was bad, but because it was very dark and left me questioning all religious groups by the end.

In the beginning, I was very intrigued. I was curious to see how this storyline would progress and ultimately how it would go down. However, at times, the progression felt a little slow. But I think it was by the middle that I started to feel a little uncomfortable watching this. You see, here's the thing. I've never been a religious person, but I figured when the time was right I would gladly explore that realm. However, this drama completely knocked that ball out of the park for me. I don't think I've ever been so traumatized by a drama in my life. Of course, that isn't to say that this drama wasn't good. It did a compelling job of storytelling. But is it my cup of tea? No.

All of the actors and actresses did a tremendous job with maintaining the suspense. But really, I think the antagonists were the rising stars of this drama because it's never easy to be a convincing bad guy. I mean, not just anybody can make a smile look so evil.

As for the soundtracks, it was dark and rough around the edges. I think the main reason why my overall ratings for this drama is so much lower than what others might've given is because of the music. Again, not saying that the soundtracks were bad. My opinions are irrelevant. But is it my cup of tea? No.

Overall, I think the cast members were great and did an excellent job at bringing this story to its full potential. I would recommend this drama, but only to those with a brave soul. And I hate to say this, but I just can't bring myself to rewatch it again. I probably should've known from the start that this wasn't going to be the drama for me, but I truly thought I could handle it then. I just didn't know how much of a wimp I really was. But now I know.

With that said,
Llama out.

Citeste mai mult

Finished watching Save me,with my mum
I enjoyed it the second time OCN Really know how to make an Dark atmosphere.

My thoughts.
The acting in this drama is amazing from the main to the support roles, made you really feel what the characters are going through and for me very believable. I find if an actor can make you hate the character they are playing then they are doing a good job.

The direction is amazing in this drama and did a remarkable job at capturing the Creepy elements that really set the dark and creepy tone from the first moment and continued it throughout.
Great lighting, E.g When we first see the cult in the first episode they used The blue and greyish colour palette
the crew in general did an a amazing job. tbh

The Tension in this drama is really something They built the tension really well with the music at the right time or no music at all can really drive up the tension(and your blood pressure) You just never get a chance to feel at ease. even though I was watching this drama for the second time my blood pressure still went up & I was stress eating.
This drama can be mentally and emotionally draining. with the feeling of hopelessness & Anger mixed in

I didn't really care about the politics/ governor I felt it took away from the main story even though it did get intertwined with the main part of the drama.

people will say the first few episodes are a little slow which I agree, but I think it works as a gradual build up and too introduce the characters and there motivations.

OCN have a lot of balls to do a drama this dark for Cable(?) TV It’s dark,and has a very unique plot.
Defiantly recommend but its not for the faint heated (: <3

The reason Why my re watch score is so low is because I don't think I would watch this the 3rd time (:

Citeste mai mult

Overall, I enjoyed watching this! It was a nice change of pace in terms of genre and story. It had its flaws like any other show, but I can say I was engaged from start to finish (warning might contain slight spoilers!!):

STORY: Shoutout to OCN for giving writers the platform for writing stories like this one, it had a very interesting premise! I will say it started off a bit slow, there's a lot of background and then another arc before things start getting intense (the "saving"). But I think that we needed it, it gives us more of an understanding of the characters' motivations behind their actions. This was definitely one of the more frustrating dramas I've watched. I was angry at the cult, the government, the police force etc!! It goes to show how deep corruption can run and how money/power trumps everything, especially the innocent, which is something very prevalent around the world. I don't know if it had the most satisfying ending for me, I felt it a was a little rushed in the last episode. I think that there were some characters that didn't get the ending they deserved (Spiritual Father, Apostle Kang). But overall, a solid story!

CHARACTERS/ACTING: I really grew to like a lot of the characters and was rooting for them. I loved how all four friends played a role in saving Sang-mi, actually all the characters had a role to play in this story. No talent was wasted in this drama! I admired Sang-mi's resilience and determination to free herself and her mother, and Seo Ye-ji absolutely KILLED it! Seeing her in this after watching her IOTNBO was a complete 180 for me. Dong-chul is my guy, Woo Do-hwan always brings his all to his characters. I felt frustrated at Sang-hwan at times, I thought of him as too naive, like if your dad wouldn't help you with your best friend, what made you think that he was going to help with a girl you barely knew? And then of course there's the cult. No doubt that all three actors were amazing as Apostle Jo, Apostle Kang, and Spiritual Father. I felt that sometimes SF didn't have a big enough presence in this since he IS the main villain (the white hair says it all), I felt way more anger towards Apostle Jo and Apostle Kang. Last and certainly least is Sang-mi's dad who's solidified himself as worst dad in dramaland. I get it, he was going through a rough time and the cult signified hope for him, but you see your daughter pleading for help/safety and you choose to defend the people causing her harm? That's weak. Anytime he opened his mouth I was rolling my eyes.

MUSIC: Music didn't play as big of a role in this drama as others, there weren't any really tied to significant moments, but the OSTs are pretty solid! Standout artist is Inkii who did two songs for the show. I was sad I didn't hear "I Am" in the second half of the show, that's the favorite!

OVERALL: If you want a change of genre and great acting from all involved, watch this!

Citeste mai mult

Well. This show touches delicate issue of society- Spiritual practice. How bad ppl take advantage of common ppl in the name of spiritual practice. Here goes the story. Pastor who thinks himself as spiritial father wants to get salvation. N number of blind devotees follows him including powerful ppl. This insane pastor beleives if he marries a pure girl & make her spiritual mother then he and all his devotees can attain salvation. So our female lead is stuck with them against her will. Her naive family also fell into this trap. She is locked and torchered in the name of spiritual practice. She tries to escape but all in vain. Atlast she thinks of ruining that place gerself. 4 boys from Female lead school whom she had met 3 years ago thrives to help her to free her.
Lots of fightinbg, disturbing scenes, illegal activities in the name of spiritual practices, how ppl are brainwashed by them. It shows how extreme common ppl r conned.

Citeste mai mult

Second half lost quality

Ngl, I was slightly disappointed with how they concluded the drama . The first half was really good, intriguing, there was lot of tension and buildup. But from the second half onwards , all that buildup didn't lead to a satisfying fruition.
SPOILERS AHEAD.
There were so many loose ends. The ending was definitely rushed as though they wanted to wrap things up in a hurry.
Couple of factors I found unimpressive
* The spiritual father somehow didn't live up to his scary legacy. I mean he was just smacked out pretty soon in the end, which they could've did a lot sooner.
* There were lot of involvement of politics in the show. Now I've seen stories about the dangerous threat political and powerful people pose to the protagonists in a story giving them extreme challenges to overcome. They insinuate that the spiritual father has a lot of power and is deeply involved with political powers but somehow he was just too easy to take down.
* I mean they actually had no defense apart from Apostle Jo to be very honest who's the only smart guy in the cult. Yet the leader just disposes of him and blindly takes in two gatekeepers. The big guy who was DOng-chul's friend was only put there as part of plot armor so they can have a group fight in the end to beat the cult baddies.
*They did the Journalist girl so dirty. I was appalled by the lack of remorse and absurd amount of stupidity of the main leads in dealing with her death. The girl literally helped her mom come back to her senses and assisted in helping them out yet they couldn't care less when she died. I How stupid was Dong chul had to be to send her in such a condition, (just tranquilized and beat up before) alone to cross the river, knowing how dangerous that place is. How could they not anticipate that she could be intercepted when she was sent all alone. Worst thing is Dong chul called Sangwan after he sent her away?? SO he wasn't even waiting there to begin with. I mean really? So much value for a innocent human life that lend helping hands for you. He told her his friend is waiting there, but he called him afterwards. How'd you know if he'd be able to reach on time. What a wasted death, even after she went missing nobody looked for her, obviously she'd be dead geniuses.
*Sang mi makes a lot of stupid decisions for example what was the reason for her to tell the taxi driver that she's going to police station? he might have or not, smh
*How was apostle kang not investigated after being involved in the administration of illegal drugs in the nursing home?
They were focusing on wrapping up things fast that not enough time was given to reach a good conclusion and a fulfilling resolve to all the elements in the story.

Citeste mai mult