Midnight Museum (2023)

A fun watch but the story is sooo scattered

Ahh, how do I describe this show? It is a hodgepodge of genres. (A word of warning: If you’re afraid of horrifying images and somewhat eerie sequences, this one might frighten you a bit.)

The good:
GMMTV fans would love Midnight Museum for its stunning array of familiar faces. (My favourite side story was Bright and then followed by Nanon!!) Without spoiling the entire storyline, Midnight Museum was really ambitious and unique in terms of its plot. This was a commendable attempt by GMMTV to do something different, and I look forward to non-conventional storylines like this in the future.

The bad:
While some parts were so much fun to watch, the show has been criticised for its messiness, occasional plot loopholes, and a horribly rushed and bungled ending. The criticisms are not unfair. The initial episodes seemed like standalone stories, which was good fun to watch. But ultimately, this diluted the focus of the entire story and wider plot, which was really about the mysterious identity of Dome.

With an entire universe of cursed artefacts, otherworldly beings and the incomprehensible nature of spacetime, it got hard to keep up. By the time their journey reached its end, the conclusion didn’t feel as meaningful or satisfying as I would have liked.

Nevertheless! I enjoyed watching this. For the most part.

Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/05/07/midnight-museum-2023/

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my humble opinion

Firstly I will talk about the acting, etc.

The actors did a good job, there aren't many things for me to highlight, just the lack of Gun always being able to play an incredible character. I love that about him, he manages to get into character, that's very interesting.

Regarding the production and the plot, I loved every detail. In my vision I didn't see any apparent problem. the plot is fantastic.

How I thought it unfolded. I can say that from the first episode I loved it. In the first episode, this drama had me hooked. I was intrigued to know what was happening or what would happen.

spoiler:


I'm not happy with the ending, it's not sad. but they could have done better. There are several aspects that could be improved. But it was still an incredible experience.

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Main plot made no sense. Actors' performances were excellent.

This drama was much more "bromance" than I expected with a similar vibe to the Chinese drama "Guardian".

Unfortunately, the main plot made no sense. Therefore, although the actors' performances were excellent, I did not fully enjoy them. There were even a few scenes where it was hard to understand why they were crying. It was almost traumatic for me that I could not sympathize with their beautiful tears.

Compared to the main plot, the subplots, each of which was a complete story, were relatively coherent and understandable. However, they were rather mediocre and lacked depth.

The cast was gorgeous, and everyone, including the guest actors, showed superb acting ability. The script was too confusing in some areas, it still worked because of their skill and passion. I was really impressed with Tor and Gun, who played the main characters, for their consistent performance of messy storyline. Among the sub-characters, Nanon's emotional expression was outstanding and worth watching, while Namtan and Foei also did a great job. Also amazing were the scenes in which two actors (Gun and Nanon) shared one character. It was so exciting and this alone made me glad seeing this drama.

The music was less impressive. I guess they didn't have time or budget to work out the details. I was also bothered by the cheap-looking accessories. Especially the cane was awful. I couldn't help but feel sorry for Tor, who had to carry it almost every time he came in. The costumes were good on the other hand, but did not seem to fit the Thai climate.

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I love this series

Midnight Museum is on my top list, even though it is not finished. I really like the casting and characters. Actors potrayed their roles really great, for an example Bright character Moth gave me the vibes he was supposed to give. Also Pat chayanit played her role very well. The storyline is elite. It is like mystery solving, supernatural storyline. I only watched 4 episodes so far and I am exited for the next ones. Maybe the only think that is not good for many people is the scenes with blood, I personally like them, because it brings me to the plot, but people have different opinions. Lots of people did not expect this type of series from GMM and I am one of them. I really recommend this series, 10/10 must watch .

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A mess

I enjoyed the first 4 episodes but the 5th was bizarre. That's when I realised, this show has disjoined stories and many times those plots are just left without explanations of what is going on.

I would like to say I'm enjoying the acting but let's be fair, what exactly do the main male leads have to do? The museum owner just looked worried and Dome looked like a deer in highlights or spaced out. The only exception being 1 episode where they were more free to emote. I would say the secondary characters had more range and possibilities because all the action involved them. Again, this is on the writers.

Even though at the end, they explained some of the main mysteries like why Khatha hired Dome and the source of his abilities, it doesn't explain Dome's origin. I can't tell if the story is meant to end here or they are suggesting a continuation. Then again, I won't watch part 2.

There is a real issue with the writing and directing of the show. I honestly don't know how so many gave this show anything above a 7 with such massive problems. This show is also not interesting enough for me to try to rewatch it in order to understand what I missed.

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I get where they were going with this, but they didn't quite get there. Yet

I have to start by saying that Tor and Gun's performance in this series is top tier, and they pretty much saved the confusion that was this series. I'm a hardcore fan of Gun and Nanon's acting, and I've never really seen Tor's acting. But he was quite impressionable here, and I'll like to see more of him in subsequent works (who else thinks he looks like he could be PP Krit's older brother?)

Now let's get down to business. Before you dive into it, keep in mind that this isn't a BL. At least by Thai BL standards. As a fan of Gun, I really looked forward to seeing this series. The synopsis was charming; a simple barista who gets entangled with a mysterious museum curator and gets drawn into a world of mystery and supernatural stuff happening at the midnight museum, only for all hell to break loose on his arrival.

It was surprising to see Bright in his psycho era here, I mean he pulled it off so well, and that just goes a long way to showcasing his versatility as an actor. He could be your boyfriend or a freak, whatever floats your boat. It was also nice to see some of the cast from My School President, The Eclipse and Theory of Love in some really versatile, creepy roles.

The music was sorta bleh to me and left much to be desired. I wasn't really expecting much honestly, it's a mystery/supernatural series and the common trope is eerie music that builds up and builds up until there's nothing left.

The story itself was relatively simple, and I wish the writers had kept it that simple yet entertaining. There were some plot holes that needed to be filled and major character development that I have been waiting for, and it never came.

Khatha and Dome were really one dimensional characters with one having one too many fainting spells and the other getting his ass beat by youths thanks to him doting on Dome. I mean, you're over how many centuries old and still have that youthful vigor. What happened? And Dome, you better tell us where you come from. (I haven't finished the series yet).

Overall, the story felt really rushed and felt like ten different movies less than an hour long each meshed together with little coherence and much exposure to the actors. Each episode told a different story of how they were trying to recover the items stolen from the museum, yet I was so confused most of the time. The set felt incredibly empty and isolated too. It gave off the same annoying vibes as Red Wine in the Dark Night, where the story was also rushed, creepy, confusing and had barely any side characters. I don't know if it was meant to be like that with little interaction with normal people, but that would have been a little more realistic.

I did enjoy some moments of the show though, like Triphop constantly correcting Khatha when he calls the female cop shorty, and him being such a great right hand man to Khatha. I'm pushing myself to finish this series because of the solid acting here and I'm eager to see how Khatha and Dome would end. Would Dome really be the one to break Khatha's curse? That's if immortality is a curse like June said.

Speaking of June, I think the actress was fantastic too. And Foei, my man Foei served! Both in acting and looks, I was pleasantly surprised seeing him as a more serious character, unlike his goofy character in Theory of Love.

Another thing I would like to point out as a Christian is that I found Episode 6 offensive. If you're going to take inspiration from the garden of Eden and present something theatrical out of it, at least get your facts right. God didn't separate the man from the woman, he threw them both out of the garden of Eden together. Thank you.

It's a good watch, not a great one. It's like one of those series you see when you're on a break from work or school. It's sorta feel good, but you most likely wouldn't see it again. If you're a huge fantasy/mystery/supernatural genre fan, you might like this series. But I'm definitely not watching this again.

Edit: I finally finished watching the series and I take back a few things that I said at first. I think with all of the flaws, this series is still a masterpiece in all. My initial review is so long that I don't want to start writing about how the last four episodes changed my thoughts. I'm glad we got to see what happened in Khatha's past and how Dome is linked to it all. I was tempted to rewatch some of the episodes to see where they had left clues that I missed. The last episode though... I'll say no more.

If you haven't, give this series a shot.

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Messy museum

What are you looking for? Unrequited love, horror, fantasy, religious fervour, intrigue, power hungry immortals? It's all here.
The unrequited love was sweet and silly. The horror was the kind of thing you would see in a nightmare. .

Khatha spent a lot of time looking fed up with everyone and irritated with the world in general. I guess that's an outcome when you're immortal : everyone must get on your nerves eventually, especially if they don't know the bigger picture. I'm not sure I really understood the bigger picture!

What I liked: most of the acting was good, but the acting by Saiparn (Anthika) was so good that I could see why anyone would join her cult! She was so believable as a disciple.
Gun's acting as 3 separate, very different characters (in the same episode!) was a nice touch. He was good too.
The guest actors in some of the episodes were great: Bright's version of an obsessed ex-lover was brilliant. Nanon played 3 (?) different characters and they were all believable. The way his face and mannerisms changed depending on who he was, was intriguing and worth watching. There was even Lee (one of my favourites) in an episode and he played a character I've never seen him play before - slightly mad.

The story was interesting: it's a pop up museum. I love the idea of things that are there, but not. It felt a bit like seeing something out of the corner of your eye.

What I didn't like: Sometimes the acting felt one dimensional. Not sure how many times I can bear to see Khatha's irritated face. How many times was Dome going to faint or fall asleep??

It felt like there was more to say and understand, so maybe there's a season 2.

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If you want to watch because the main cast looks promising, please don't.

It's because they barely have any screentime. And their storyline barely moves and is rushed in the end. There are too many subplots and side characters for like 60% of the show, so Khatha and Dome barely get any screentime. Hell, the side characters get so much screentime that they can be called the main characters at this point.

If I make a Gun Atthaphan cut for this entire show where he is awake and acting instead of being unconscious or stuck somewhere, it would only be of 30 minutes max. And the plot in itself is a mess - is it about time travel? Multiverse? Mythical creatures? Inspired by religious things? Black Magic? Cults? You wouldn't know because it is a clusterfuck of all of these.
(Since when centuries' old magically summoned devils started dying of mere bullets? lol)

But still 2 episodes were very good storywise- the one with memory butterflies (the acting was top notch) and the episode where The One appears for the first time (Gun can play multiple characters well).

Such a wasted potential that it left me angry. It could've been so much better. They have left an open end at the final episode hinting at a season 2 but I wouldn't wanna watch it if this is what the director is gonna do again. The VFX was trash too towards the end. Tor Thanapob as Khatha was amazing but even he couldn't save this show for me. But I will look forward to his work from now on.

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