Strangers from Hell Review: A Well Written Show You’ve Probably Never heard of

I watched several thriller dramas, trust me, this one is the most underrated thriller drama coming from Korea. This drama is like no other Korean drama you have watched.  A complicated storyline, with an unpredictable twist, and talented actors like Shiwan and Lee Dong Wook. It is similar to Kim woo bin's white Christmas a perfect if you like to embrace the dark side for a little bit.

'Strangers from a hell' is a psychological thriller drama. The main character Jong-woo moves to Seoul after his college friend, Jae Ho offers him a job. He finds a cheap place called Eden Apartments and moves into that apartment not knowing that his neighbors are far from being normal. It is based on the webtoon of the same name. 

Now, I will explain why I liked this drama.

1. The Acting 

I've seen several dramas with strong acting and last year a drama called Mr. Sunshine had a phenomenal cast who are equally good and this year this drama has a phenomenal cast and the actors in this drama are equally good. It's an injustice to rest of the supporting cast to just praise only the main actors but I will do it anyway since this is one of those rare incidents where idol actors impressed me.  

Shiwan is a natural actor who can play any given role be it a psychopath or a kind-hearted underdog (Misaeng) his expressions are very natural and he proved himself not only as one of the best idol actors but also as one of the best young actors in Korea. 

Lee Dong Wook is amazing like always his expressions and his scenes with Shiwan are worth looking for, his performance as a manipulative and intelligent psychopath is one of the best creepiest and chilling performances I ever saw in Korean dramas. 

2. Hidden deeper messages of the drama

Mental health problem is not taken seriously in many Asian countries and developed countries like Korea are no exception. South Korea has one of the worst mental health problems in the world, but Korean people routinely ignore symptoms because 78 percent of elderly Koreans think depression means a person is weak. In this drama, both Jong Woo and his girlfriend face immense pressure from their superiors leading to the emotional damage and even though they never deserved to face this they still face it because in Korea elders should be respected even though they are rude and arrogant that means a Hoobae (junior) must respect sunbae (Senior) just because they are rules of Korean society. 

The drama showed how people never care about other people's feelings and how people don't talk about their problems because people will judge them. Jong-woo never talked about his harsh experiences in the army to anyone and when he came out from the army and started working at his new job his superior made things hard for him for a silly reason that his crush talks to Jong-Woo. 

Both Jong-Woo and his girlfriend works really hard and instead of compliments, they get criticized by their jealous superiors whose sole aim is to criticize others just because they can and the worst part is that even after facing all the criticism they rarely get promoted and  have to work more than what they are paid for without any reward for their hard world.  This toxic office culture exists in my country as well and almost several young I've talked to about it loathes the thought of dealing with hierarchy in the workplace. I hope this toxic office culture changes in the future.

3. Monsters are Created, not Born 

We all start out with a blank canvas. The texture of the canvas might be different (our genes), and the artists might be different (our family members, friends, loved ones). But we are a blank canvas. As time passes the whiteness of that canvas fades and is replaced by several colors. Various perceptions, judgments color our minds.

I watched a Tamil language movie super deluxe (Hands down best Asian movie of 2019 after parasite) there was a scene where the wife along with her relatives find out that her husband became a transgender and everyone begins to judge him but the only person who never judged him was because to him he will always be his father.

This shows the purity and innocence of a child untainted by society. Jong-woo was this child at some point in his life but growing in a toxic world changed him into a cold and cynical person. while he is suffering from traumatic memories from the army he moved into a place that is more negative and dark than the outside world and this led to the eventual end that the drama came to.  

The elders in Asian society try to feed their own bigotry and shun anyone who doesn't abide by their own moral compass they try to feed youngsters lies about people from a different race, religion, and country; the thing is that even though the elders are wrong youngsters can't say anything to them and tell them that they are wrong; because of society which gives elders to power to judge and humiliate youngsters. 

4. Cinematography

It's creepy and hard to look at and that's what makes cinematography in this drama so good. The cinematographer displayed the right mood set by the story and I can surely say that this guy has a promising future in the coming day.

Final Thoughts: It is a dark and binge-worthy drama that keeps at the edge of your seat. It’s not every day a thriller like this comes along and manages to fascinate the audience despite the obvious flaws; with uniquely presented cinematography and quality writing, this drama is one of the dark horses in 2019. 

Final Rating: 3.5/5 

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