English Title: Light Shop
Korean Title: 조명가게 [lit. lighting store]
Director(s): Kim Hee-won
Screenwriter(s): Kang Full
Studio: Mr Romance & Moving Pictures Co.
Released: 2024
Runtime: 8 episodes, ~45m each. (min. 40m – max. 1h 17m)
Starring: Ju Ji-hoon, Park Bo-young, Kim Seol-hyun, Uhm Tae-goo, Lee Jung-eun, Shin Eun-soo, Bae Sung-woo
My Verdict: Intriguing premise. Exposition/revelation-driven so the structure is a little crude but pacing is well-managed enough. Solid series.
Based on the 2011 webtoon of the same name by Kang Full, this series follows a group of individuals who wander around a lighting store situated in a dark alley, the only store that is open during the night. The tone is consistent to psychological mystery-horror although I would not classify it as horror even though it has elements thereof.
I watched this without knowing much beyond the above and it is recommended to take that approach. With that in mind, this review attempts to avoid discussing particulars that may spoil the series.
Ju Ji-hoon plays the store owner and Park Bo-young plays Kwon Yeong-ji, a nurse at the local hospital’s ICU. Although the two are listed as leads, due to the relatively large number of characters, the two do not have that much screen time.
The series opens with a young man (Uhm Tae-goo) getting off a bus late at night. At the bus stop is a young lady (Kim Seol-hyun), obviously waiting for someone. Meanwhile, high school student Hyeon-ju (Shin Eun Soo) braves the darkness by going to the store because her mother asked her to.
Not including the two leads, there are a total of nine characters. Although the distinction between each character and what they are doing is clear, the relatively large number of characters makes their names difficult to remember initially. This may be in part deliberate as their names are barely said early on.
It is immediately obvious there is something odd with the world presented. For example: the young man repeatedly disembarks the bus; most scenes are at night; and although the urban environment is normal enough, the alley and the store have a surreal quality. It does not go as far as Dark City (1998) but there is a hint of that.
If one does not already know, then one would suspect it is at least in part another plane or dimension. It is deliberately unclear what these individuals are—Are they alive or dead? Are they even real people?—or how this plane or dimension connects or blends in with the real world, and that is what makes this intriguing.
Structurally, there is nothing new. The opening episodes introduce the characters separately so it is quite disconnected in that sense, then the mid-season episodes tell the background of the characters thereby revealing in part how the world works, and from there progress to the resolution for each character. As such, the plot is in large part exposition/revelation-driven rather than action/event-driven.
Such a structure is arguably a little crude but the pacing is well-managed enough. At merely 8 episodes and each wisely avoiding the approach of the 1.5-hour bloated epic, it mitigates any pacing issues.
The work can also be considered character-driven in the sense that there are obvious themes given the relationships between some of the characters. The characters do not have much agency. I will not elaborate to avoid spoilers.
Thankfully, it does not try to present any of the revelations as some overly dramatic twist. There is a steady stream of signposting, sometimes subtle and sometimes not. In any case, there is a consistency that shows Kang Full is a solid writer.
The visual style is measured, even precise. Thankfully, it avoids trying too hard but it can go further. For example, there are a few long shots to convey surrealness. They are nicely done but there could be more.
Although the worldbuilding and presentation have generally been done before, there is enough originality in the particulars that make this series interesting. The characters and their background are mostly ordinary but this is not a criticism as this is presumably the point, that it is about ordinary people. Even if the characters lack agency, the cast plays their respective roles well which helps sell the themes and the series as a whole.
As already mentioned, the structure is arguably a little crude. Also, there could be more about the characters and the world in the resolution but, on balance, it is a solid and sufficiently satisfying work worthy of viewing.
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