I am a fan of cult and pseudo-religious groups plots myself such as in dramas Save me (2017) and The Guest (2018). When I first read the description of Hometown it felt a bit confusing, tbh. After watching the drama it became clear why. The two timelines thing is totally fine, it's not confusing most of the time. The acting is really good, especially Uhm Tae Goo. He's so good that it's suspicious that he's so good at playing this role. His relaxed and airy way of speaking and the intense look in his eyes really makes him believable for his character. I believe it's my first time watching Yoo Jae Myung and Han Yeri as the main characters of a drama, but they were also really good. Especially Yoo Jae Myung. The younger cast also did a very good job, especially the actress playing Jo Jae Young. The drama has a promising plot but it feels a bit like it's trying to do several things at the same time so it's not focusing on just one thing and that's when the drama becomes confusing. Some stuff happens really fast, some stuff takes a really long time in this drama. It would be better if they balanced it. It feels really unbalanced at some point. I also wish the reveal scenes had more shocking factors in it. I feel like they were really underwhelming considering the reveals. Soundtracks doesn't really stick to mind, really forgettable. It's creepy but I saw comments like "This is a 10/10 for creepiness." Seeing those comments, I expected more but I don't think it was creepy to that extend. I don't know how well this drama was perceived when it was first released but I feel like the acting and the story was a bit wasted because of the poor execution.