Netflix Kdrama Review: Somebody Sex And Violence Favoured Over Logic In Intriguing Yet Perplexing Serial Killer Romance

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22 Nov, 2022

Netflix Kdrama Review: Somebody Sex And Violence Favoured Over Logic In Intriguing Yet Perplexing Serial Killer Romance

An autistic programmer meets a sociopathic architect, and as their unusual relationship moves into Bonnie and Clyde territory, the atrocity reaches a climax.
It is a story of human nature, difficult to decipher, but one whose theme is alienation and marginalization. A little logic, a lot of sex

3/5 stars

When the first three episodes premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in October, one of them looked exciting but disappointing.

It was full of interesting ideas and had a killer atmosphere, but the story was vague at best. What is this story and where did it go?

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The entire series is now available to stream on Netflix; While the rest of the episodes are interesting, the story is just as confusing as before.

As seen in tightly woven films like Happy Ending and Darkened Heart , director Jeon Ji-woo had no problem conveying the story clearly. The lack of narrative clarity in his later works leaves us feeling drawn to our own conclusions.

This is a bold move considering the very risky elements in the story.

So, to summarize, Someone is a love story between autistic programmer Kim Soom (Kang Hae Lim in her first leading role) and Song Yoon Oh (Kim Young from Hello Me! ). kwang), a serial killer who works as an architect.

Although Sum struggles with people around him, he understands cars.

These technical skills, combined with her confusion about social behavior, led her to create One, an AI-powered chatbot that levels the social playing field by letting shy people hear their wishes.

Someone: Netflix's K-drama about serial killers has a strange charm

Soom is looking to join startup Spectrum, where he will build a Tinder-style chatbot in the Somebody app as CTO.

Yoon-oh is a tall, energetic young man who begins to take advantage of someone. He is a sociopath who recruits lonely people through a program and kills most of them, but not all. This causes Spectrum to attract negative attention from the police. The company will not release personal information, but an internal investigation is ongoing.

Sum soon starts talking to Yoon-oh and meets him in person despite the obvious danger. Sadness is drawn to him, and the more time they spend together, the more he feels that he has finally found someone who understands him.

Kang Hye Lim (left) as Som and Kim Young Kwan as Yoon Oh in a photo from 'Someone'.

Yoon-oh also learns something from Soom and carefully gets rid of his secret lust for violence. It begins with a terrifying scene in which a dying cat is rescued from its agony, which can be a real challenge for many viewers.

It is certainly not the final test of our tolerance for cruelty.

As their unorthodox relationship develops, someone calls for a switch from racetrack killer lovers to this year's Bonnie and Everything - bringing back memories of Bonnie and Clyde and The Barren Lands .

Also pictured are Soum Yeon's girlfriend Gi Eun (Kim Soo Yeon), a police officer who uses a wheelchair after being paralyzed in an accident, and Gi Eun's lesbian lover Im Mok Won (Kim Yeon Ji). Shaman.

Kim Soo Young (left) as Gi Eun and Kim Young Kwang as Yoon Oh in a photo from 'Someone'.

Yoon becomes one of Oh's victims when Gi Eun lures him to an abandoned swimming pool, sleeps with him, and then leaves him there without his wheelchair, forcing him to crawl back to civilization in the middle of the night.

After this shocking incident, Ki Eun decides to take revenge, but her shame forces her to go alone. Instead of telling her colleagues what happened, she turns to Mokwon for help and Soma, torn between love and loyalty.

The rest of the show is mostly about sex and the characters putting themselves in danger, two actions that are often synonymous in the world of Someone .

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The themes of alienation and marginalization come through loud and clear, but the form in which they are presented will disturb many viewers.

The cast of bisexual, disabled and homosexual characters seems tokenistic, and the show's carnal stances make matters worse. There is more to a man than sex, more than we need to understand.

All the women in this story live in an abyss of loneliness, and someone 's use of risky sex represents the desperate measures they are willing to go to in order to fill it. But sex is the only way the show can describe this longing for connection; After a while, things started to look a little strange.

All characters are driven by deep desires and impulses, but this often leads to incomprehensible and sometimes unacceptable behavior.

Kim Soo Young (left) as Gi Eun and Kim Young Ji as Mok Won in a still from 'Someone'.

Sum puts herself in great danger with Yoon-oh, which we can relate to because on a deep level these two characters can understand and trust each other. Not so with Gi Eun, who is constantly reckless.

At one point, she goes to meet Yoon-oh again in a maze of narrow streets, and she leaves that no one knows where she is and she can't help herself.

If this perplexing behavior were limited to the main characters, it might spark some thought on our part - what makes these characters behave this way?

But unfortunately even the supporting characters don't work within reason. These include the workers who fail to remove the woman in the wheelchair from the demolition site and the policemen who ignore the suspect Yoon-Oh.

Kim Yong-kwan as Yoon Oh in a still from "The One".

Whatever the director is trying to say, most of it gets lost in the randomness of what is otherwise a brilliantly crafted and highly effective performance.

Someone is streaming it on Netflix.