Save Me (2017)

A MUST WATCH !!!

Synopsis:

Sangmi and her family move from Seoul to a small town. During their time here tragedy strikes their family. Sangmi’s mother becomes mentally ill due to this. Her father loses all hope and turns to a local religious organization for help. Slowly her parents get sucked in to a religious cult. Three years pass and her friends from high school (Sanghwan and Dongchul) unite together with others to help Sangmi and her family escape as well as expose the cult of their other dark secrets.

Review:

*100000/10* Out of the 60+ dramas I’ve watched so far this is hands down by far the best one yet. It’s quite a dark drama that deals with heavy topics like sex*al ab*se, s*icide, and violence. It’s not a typical kdrama in that it doesn’t have a romance subplot. However, I can guarantee you that this drama will keep you on edge till the last episode. From other reviews I’ve heard that the first half was pretty slow. Personally I didn’t feel this. But it definitely picks up in the 2nd half. The cast is impeccable. Everyone has amazing chemistry. And I quickly became a fan of Woo DoHwan’s and Seo Yeji’s acting. Wish there was a romance between the two. But, I like how they kept it more focused on the cult. Overall it’s a great drama that I recommend to all.

TLDR:

About a girl who’s family gets sucked in to a religious cult. Her and her friends help her escape the cult as well as reveal the other sinister secrets it hides. Rating: 1000/10 great cast only downside u might not like is the lack of a romance. The main guys are shown showing interest in her but after the time skip she only has feelings of desperation to get out of the cult rather than romance. But u can definitely feel some tension between the characters bc of romance

Lire davantage

I want Woo Do Hwan to beat me up like he kicked butt in this drama

Story: This concept felt very refreshing, since I don't think there are any other dramas that revolve around quite as much as this one (the only other one I can think of it Memorist maybe?). The writing was great and I never knew what was going to happen next. No cliches and I really liked that. Also very much enjoyed that this did not have a romance. There was way too much to focus on already. It would have just detracted from the story.

Acting/Cast: 10/10 across the board. I lovvvve Woo Do Hwan and Seo Ye Ji. Also, Jang Yoo Sang is dramaland's eternal brother. Go Joon as a freaking gangster! Freaking fantastic. Just so good I can't handle it.

Music: No OSTs in particular stood out, but nothing detracted either

Rewatch Value: High! Just for the fight scenes alone. Hardcore Parkour.

TLDR; fresh concept, great writing and acting, might make you lose your faith in humanity.

Lire davantage

It's good

I normally watch crime/ thriller/mystery dramas and I finished this one within a week. It's pretty good, and many of the characters made me mad LOL. But that's good because the acting is pretty good. Wouldn't recommend watching if you're sensitive. This drama made me very frustrated because Sang Mi was misunderstood and claimed as crazy. I like how the drama portrayed the cult and the people affected by the cult. Super weird. It may be a little confusing in the beginning but gets better at the end. Overall, this drama was a ride and I enjoyed it!


TW: suicide (in the drama, not my review)

Lire davantage

"Save Me" is one of those dramas that makes you take a step back and take in what you see. It left room for afterthought and gave more room for discussion which is not something that you find regularly. Everything from the cast to the OST captured what the writing was trying to accomplish.

Seo Ye ji and Woo Do Hwan are the ones who carried the drama in terms of emotional range. They demonstrated everything of what the scene needed to display. The thing however, that I enjoyed most was the use of the side characters and how this was not just mainly focused on the story of the cult but also about political corruption. I also loved how they were used for more than just comedic relief but also served a purpose to move the plot.

The only complaint I had with the plot was that the reason for the homeless people dying was never really shown and seemed like an unnecessary plot device to make the cult look worse (not that it needed any help in doing that).

I also enjoyed that they did not use romance in any portion of the show, because if we are being honest it would have been to much if they added that to the plot. So instead they left that for after the drama with an open ending on that effect.

Would I recommend this drama?

Yes, but I do issue a warning that it is darker and does have a few trigger warning topics such as suicide and sexual assault.

Lire davantage

good drama but i didn't want to rewatch it again T_T

Save me is a very suspenseful and frustrating drama. I distinctly remember seeing how Seo Yeaji was completely neglected by her parents who went crazy because of a cult.

I was so immersed in this drama that I didn't want to rewatch it again because I remembered the feeling of watching it. But it's actually a good drama and very interesting too.

How Female lead struggled so much to get out of the cult's circle was frustrating. Many felt the same way after watching this drama.

The acting was also good with a very complicated role, they all made a good performance, their expressions even made me laugh.

Lire davantage

¿Uno de los mejores thrillers de kdramas? Probablemente

Cuatro jóvenes intentan rescatar a una excompañera cuya familia cayó en las garras de un culto y su líder carismático.

Con esa breve premisa les prometo horas de desesperación, de frustración y tensión. La forma en que todo el tiempo la protagonista parece estar a punto de escapar, pero siempre está latente la sensación de que algo se lo impedirá, sumado a la actitud y trato de los miembros del culto para con ella, son una sumatoria de cosas por las que de hecho es excelente el manejo del suspenso en esta historia.

Las actuaciones en general son excelentes, sobre todo Seo Ye-Ji, quien interpreta una protagonista femenina muy buena y que se sale bastante de lo que uno acostumbra a encontrar en kdramas. Por otro lado, si bien esta serie no tiene romance (la prota no tiene tiempo de pensar en amor cuando vive temiendo por su vida y familia) Taecyeon, que interpreta al first lead, si bien el actor me cae súper bien, en esta serie es insoportable, y claramente es por el personaje . No sé si esa era la intención del guionista, pero considerando que es el protagonista masculino, no le ayuda en nada. Sobre todo no le ayuda a este personaje cuando a su lado tenemos al co-protagonista y second lead, interpretado por el maravilloso Woo Do Hwan, la cosa más bella que ha creado Corea , cuya actuación también es fantástica. Ni hablar de Jo Sung Ha, quien interpreta al padre espiritual; es un excelente antagonista. Podría seguir con otros actores, pero reitero que todos son buenísimos.

La fotografía no es nada especial pero me encanta la paleta de colores: fría en todo momento, cargada de azules y grises, acompañados de una iluminación pálida que acompaña perfecto. El único problema con esta serie es que al ser de OCN, quienes censuran todas las armas blancas y sangre, el blurring continuo de cualquier cosa violenta te saca mucho de onda, te recuerda que estás viendo una serie. Igualmente, "Save me" me parece tremenda serie y la recomiendo a cualquier fan de los thrillers.

Lire davantage

overrated

So I decided to check this show out because the hype was INSANE. Allegedly this show has SHOCKING plot twists and an addictive storyline but none of that was anywhere to be found. I was intrigued at the beginning and wondered where the story would take me but I definitely did not like where it took me. First of all it's just BORING. Like nothing about this was entertaining and everytime something interesting would happen it was presented in such a boring way that I couldn't care less what was happening. The characters' motivations where so confusing that I couldn't even root for anyone. The acting was either over the top or they barely reacted to the events taking place. Overall just a very odd show and definitely wouldn't rewatch it.

Lire davantage

La trama, muy resumidamente, trata sobre una familia que se muda a un pueblo y debido a ciertas circunstancias termina involucrándose con un culto religioso del que la protagonista quiere escapar, pero no puede. Por suerte, cuatro chicos con los que fue un tiempo a la secundaria descubren lo que está pasando y hacen lo posible por rescatarla, descubriendo en el proceso los horrores que rodean a esta secta.

Save me es una historia bastante fuerte que puede poner de los nervios a muchísimas personas, sobre todo durante los primeros cuatro capítulos, que literalmente no te dan ni un respiro. Toda la serie está rodeada por un aura bastante pesada de desesperación y frustración, por lo que es imposible no sufrir viendo las situaciones que vive nuestra protagonista (esto se incremente al tener una trama tan bien desarrollada. Todo es súper creíble y eso lo vuelve más aterrador).
Realmente no hay palabras para describir lo contenta que quedé con el avance de los hechos. A los personajes nada se les da fácil, todo les cuesta un montón, al punto de querer gritar "¿No les puede salir una cosa bien, por favor?!!!".

Pasando a otra cosa, los actores (y los personajes) me encantaron. Seo Yi Ji (Diosa), Woo Do Hwan, Jo Jae-yoon, Jung Hae-kyun... Todos una maravilla. De hecho, puede que el que menos me convenciera fuera Ok Taec-yeon, el "cabecilla" del grupo que intenta rescatar a la prota, pero sigue estando muy bien.

En fin, la verdad es que no les quiero decir mucho más para no arruinarles la historia (que tiene unos momentos bastante impredecibles), pero sepan que les súper recomiendo esta serie.
Es verdad que por el medio tiene algunos capítulos que se vuelven un poco "largos", pero no aburre nunca, y el final es tan bueno que vale la pena remarla un poco si se les llegara a hacer densa (cosa que por suerte no me pasó).

Si quieren ver algo con una trama bien llevada, personajes únicos, momentos turbios, mucha acción y un buen cierre, esta es su serie.

IG de reseñas cortas: @altoplottwist

Lire davantage

great acting but too slow pace

The acting is great, interesting storyline but its too draggy and I got bored. I had to warch on high speed to finish it. I wanted to know how it will ends.

Sang Mi suffered so much and to be abandoned by her family, specially her sick father. It was hard to watch. Sang Hwan character is so annoying and he always makes the situation worst. The real hero is Dong Chul. He risked everything to save her but it seems like Sang Hwan got all the credit for it.

Its interesting storyline and very sad to see how easily people can get brainwashed and even more that places like that exist.

Lire davantage

I’m speechless…

This drama was so addictive! I’m definitely going to start watching more thriller/action dramas cause I was on the edge of my seat the entire time!! I was pissed off 90% of the time, but the end was pretty satisfying! I wish Apostle Kang got punished too tho!! She literally drugged people, killed her husband, and was an absolute NIGHTMARE!!! I don’t get why nothing happened to her! Also they gave Han Sang Hwan all the praise in this drama, but Deok Cheol did ALL the important heavy work, by staying in harms way 24/7 living in that awful place WILLINGLY to save Sang Mi!! He should have gotten thanked at LEAST!! I don’t even think Sang Mi thanked him, she said it to Sang Hwan tho. If anything Sang Hwan messed up the most! He couldn’t control his temper and would hastily do things that caused MORE issues for EVERYONE like taking Sang Mi to the police station! I just feel that Deok Cheol deserved more credit than he really got!! Also I was hoping Colonial Sanders would suffer more than he did! Anyway I will definitely not be watching this again only because I feel like my blood pressure skyrocketed while watching this and it’s just not good for my health LMFAOOO!!! ???

Lire davantage

"Save Me" was another drama that I had tried to pick up once before and failed to get past the first episode but after watching Seo Yeji recently in "It's Ok to Not Be Ok", I decided to give it another try.

I was in for quite a rollercoaster. The first time I tried to watch it, I thought it was really bewildering how easily people could get sucked into believing the things that cults preach ( hence why I gave up because I was just ... wtf???? ); however, it makes a lot more sense the more you continue and progress through the show. The reason why I say that it makes more sense later is that you ( as the audience ) start to see how the cult is viewed from the lens of the main character ( who is more than ready to bolt from the cult ) but as well as through those who are devout followers of the cult. While that didn't mean that I felt sympathetic towards the cult members acting out in certain ways, I could also see how easily they could be brainwashed into believing certain things.

I would say that it started to drag at some points ( and honestly, I ended up watching it in 2x speed because things moved rather slowly ) and probably didn't require so many episodes, but I won't complain about getting to watch more Woo Dohwan and Taecyeon on my screen. Dohwan really did a fantastic job and I started seeking out his other dramas after I finished this one.

This isn't a drama I'd really watch again because, for me, those are usually more feel-good dramas, but if someone else wanted to watch it and asked me to watch with them, then that would probably be the only time I would give it another go. Would definitely recommend for the acting and intriguing storyline!

Lire davantage