S AB

This is perhaps one of the better takes on the dystopian concept I've seen. Centred around intense pain, agony and suffering, the revolution does not take place in the way you would have expected. The plot was entirely unpredictable and the cast conveyed the exact emotions each scene required. Extremely well-produced with beautiful colour grading and perhaps one of my most favourite scores. It reminds me of Interstellar's - atmospheric and string-heavy. They have explored the inhumane, cold and detached nature of the dystopian reality well. They showed the lavish and ridiculous grandeur of those in power and the extent of what they would do to keep it. They were loud, unhinged and displayed grotesque greed. But what was made it great were the human emotions that slipped through the cracks of Jisung and Seon-ah. In the ruthlessness of it all lies two unfortunate souls that were intertwined together by some sick twisted fate. Every once in a while, you would see the sadness, loneliness, raw pain and how attached and connected they are to each other despite it all. As for the cast themselves - excellent would be the word. Jisung, Jinyoung and Minjung blew me away with their performance. All three of them have a way of expressing agony so well, you would've thought they went through some horrible times themselves. Jisung and Jinyoung's church scene will remain etched in my memory for a very long time. If you've watched it, you would know exactly what I mean. This drama shows that there's good in bad and bad in good. It makes you ponder where you would draw the line in the name of humanity, and question the lines you've drawn before. Despite being a dystopian drama, it draws very close to reality - there is no clear right or wrong, winner or loser. A plot that sparks discussions should be commended. While I would argue the final episode felt a bit too "cool", as a whole the drama exceeded my expectations. I would highly recommend this.