Based on a popular webtoon, Sweet Home is another post-apocalyptic Korean drama currently on Netflix. A group of disparate residents are holed up in a grungy apartment complex as humans begin to turn into savage monsters around them. Forced to band together, they fight back against the monsters as they try to survive and find out what has happened.
Similar to shows such as All of us are Dead and the always popular The Walking Dead, Sweet Home is all about looking at how humans cope in dangerous, dire situations and seeing whether they can hold onto their humanity. Swapping zombies for increasingly strange and odd monsters adds a freshness to the genre but as always, it is the connection between the characters that holds the audience for the ten episodes of the series. Young Cha Hyun-soo is suicidal. He goes to jump off from a roof when he is distracted by another resident. All hell soon breaks loose as monsters begin tearing through the city and the complex and suddenly Hyun-soo has something to else to distract him for his planned suicide. Sweet Home slowly introduces us to the myriad of characters living in the apartments, both good and bad. The characters are generally fleshed out quite well with a few twists to shock and keep you guessing. The characters evolve throughout the series with most growing closer as the danger increases and they get to know one another better.
The CGI isn’t great, giving off more of a stop motion vibe than most modern series but this isn’t something that holds Sweet Home back. There is gore aplenty as the residents fight back against the growing horde of unique monsters and the only thing that manages to pull the viewer from the suspense and drama is an overuse of Imagine Dragons for the soundtrack. Thankfully, the interactions between the characters are strong. There is a good mix of drama and comedy, similar to what worked on All of us are Dead. There are quite a few threads throughout the story due to the number of residents but the writing I strong enough to carry the story and make you care about the majority of them. You’ll have your favourites and be praying that they survive the chaos.
While it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, Sweet Home is an enjoyable apocalyptic drama full of interesting characters and memorable monsters. It’s definitely worth a watch if you are enjoying the rise of Korean horror at the moment even if you aren’t going to be waiting with bated breath for a second season.
