Beth E

I was spellbound from the first moment and often found myself leaning forward, on the edge of my seat. Cumberbatch is simply magnificent. Stunning, surprising performances. Incredible actors. Perfectly cast. I feel in love with Benedict in this mini series. I had no idea how beautiful an actor he is. He leaves no emotion unexplored, no gesture missed. His inspiration for how he portrays Melrose can only be characterized as god-sent.

An absolutely profound film that raises questions, and presents definitive views on human cloning and what it could mean. Besides the fully engrossing performance by Park Bo Gum as Seobok, the other ML playing the ex-intelligence agent were spectacular. PBG's acting was mind-blowingly brillant in how he captured the character with 80% of the acting being through physical & non-verbal methods. One of the reasons this movie ends up capturing your every emotion is that although it's a 'Vast' concept, and larger than the imagination, the story is told between the two protagonists. It becomes real personal, real quick and your heart breaks for what he's been through. There are many philosophical questions raised that will stick with you. I'm now a HUGE fan of Park Bo Gum. I agree that I wish the movie could've been longer. Very well written and leaves a permanent impression on some of the ethical Qs of how far are we going to take the science. After watching this I thought, "Well, I'm definitely against cloning." For entertainment value, a solid 5. For content, a solid 100.

I was torn between 3 and 4 stars. I decided to only give 3 stars bc the main lead couple of KinnPorsche brought the entire series down, imo. Not Kinn, he was true to character. It was Porsche that ruined the entire series for me. He was so self-conscious of the 'acting' vs absorbing himself into the role it comes across as very amateur. - Apo who plays the role of Porsche is 90% a BAD ACTOR. Yes, that may seem harsh, but it was literally painful to watch him. He was not up to par with any of the other actors. - I'm not sure how old he is in real life, but even in the 'reaction' and 'special' episodes, he behaves very immature. Barcode who plays the younger brother Porchay, and who is at least several years younger that Apo, is far more mature in both his acting and emotional maturity than Apo. - Bottom Line: he got on every one of my nerves to the extent that I wanted to start ff through their scenes. 3 Stars also for the cheesy, corny, poorly scripted, poorly produced action scenes. 3 Stars for the multiple enormous plot holes that made absolutely no sense. For example: there's a shoot out in a warehouse. Everyone except Porsche does a very good job. Porsche / Apo seems to not know how to play his role. He's awkward or he's overacting and immature. I can't imagine what it must've been like for an actor like Bible /Vegas to play opposite him. But, to get back to my main point: during the shoot out 1 of the longer-term body guards get shot & dies. It's completely glossed over. There's no mention of it at all, except for Kinn, who's known him his entire life says, "Oh No! Big!!" That's it. That's the extent that the death of his best body guard he's known for 15 yrs is dealt with. AND - fricken Porsche just lays there & lets Big get shot. Doesn't shoot back, try and fight back. Nothing. Either that's bad scripting or bad acting. And, from what I know, actors can contribute to a scene. Make suggestions on how it should be played or acted out. After having watched 14 epi + all the special episodes my conclusion is: APO IS NOTHING MORE THAN A PRETTY FACE they cast for visuals. It doesn't feel as though he contributed more than what was on the page to his role. BORING. FLAT. DULL. UNINTERESTING. ONE DIMENSIONAL. UNIMAGINATIVE. INEXPERIENCED. 5 Stars for the rest of the cast. 4 Stars bc the script had so many holes in it, it felt like it was a quilt knitted together by passing from house to house in a village. Either the character of Porsche was written to be obnoxious, immature, cocky, foolishly arrogant, or, that's simply the way Apo is. Typically, you see the actor's honest personality come through in any role they play. In the end, it's the essence of the actor in the core of any role. Apo drug the whole thing down bc he had such a primary lead role. If he had been a supporting character, this would be at least 4.5 Stars overall. I realize this is probably a very unpopular assessment. But - this is my review and that's how I see it. Thank goodness for 2nd (Kinn's best friends), 3rd (PeteVegas), 4th (Kim Porchay) & 5th (Yok's bar) lead couples. They were all really good! And Bible, aka, Vegas, was OUTSTANDING.

Talk about timing & fate... WHOA! This series that deals with emotional scars, trauma and mental health issues, that WE ALL keep hidden, came out Sept 2020 smack dab in the middle of the CoVid19 pandemic (Dec 2019) when humanity across the globe was in lockdown and countries were falling like dominoes as the virus spread from East to West. Daily life was severely restricted & social interactions outside the immediate home abruptly cut off. There was no adjustment period. One day you were shopping at your local Target, the next you weren't permitted to leave your home and every facet of daily life terminated. It was like the aftermath of WW III and you were the sole survivor. People were losing their minds. And then, Netflix debuted this show, that dealt with those exact feelings. It immediately shot up to the Top 10 shows on Netflix in its 1st week and stayed there through the duration of it's airing. I can't help but wonder if it wasn't because it was resonating audience's emotional states in real time. There weren't that many shows released at the time as all productions suddenly were canceled. So, this series was able to garner the attention it deserved. Looking back, the timing of this show has struck me as serendipitous given the real world circumstances. Initially, I thought this show was a bit dark and would be emotionally difficult to handle while I was already experiencing such grim depression. It went into my 'Watch List' for future viewing. I have finally gotten around to watching this, as a huge fan of Kim Soo Hyun, and all I can say is, WOW. Had I known how affirming, healing and validating this drama was I would've watched it long ago. But, we deal with things when we are ready. So, it is what it is. The FL is provocative in every aspect and a 1,000% Top Star. Same for the ML Kim Soo Hyun, a tremendously gifted top Korean actor. I highly recommend checking out any of their past work (My Love from the Stars; Eve, Recalled) on Viki or Netflix. The director also made another outstanding atypical romance drama, "Encounter," starring Park Bo Gum. If you liked this, you will eat up "Encounter." One of Park Bo Gum's best performances I have ever seen. (Also, Seobok) I won't repeat what other reviewers have already described. Just wanted to give a different perspective. This is such an important piece of art as a reflection and reference for the world we now live in. The positive and shame-free presentation of different types of emotional states offers a revised and healthier way to see these conditions. Kudos for educating millions on Autism and breaking through societal fears associated with mental health.