English Title: Sweet Home 3
Korean Title: 스위트홈3
Director(s): Lee Eung-bok
Screenwriter(s): Park So-jung & Park Tae-hwi
Studio: Studio Dragon
Released: 2024
Runtime: 8 episodes, ~50m each.
Starring: Song Kang, Lee Jin-wook, Go Min-si, Lee Si-young, Jung Jin-young, Oh Jung-se, Yoo Oh-sung, Kim Mu-yeol, Kim Shi-ah
My Verdict: Tries too hard with the action and gore, but an acceptable conclusion. Overall, meh.
● This third season continues directly from the end of Season 2, which was in essence a “setup season”. This review assumes one has seen Season 1 and Season 2.
● At the end of Season 2, soldiers from the stadium go to look for one of their own and come across Pyeon Sang-uk (Lee Jin-wook) who has demonstrated that he is a powerful monster and is up to no good.
● Seo Yi-kyung (Lee Si-young) and her monster daughter (Kim Shi-ah) are somehow connected to Sang-uk.
● Park Chan-young (Jung Jin-young) and Lee Eun-yoo (Go Min-si) find Cha Hyun-soo (Song Kang) who is going through his phase of human-zombie identity crisis.
● Lee Eun-hyeok (Lee Do-hyun) is alive, who Eun-yoo has been grieving over.
● The first two episodes are basically “protect the sleeping character” episodes since Hyun-soo has his issues, so Eun-yoo and others have to stand by and wait.
● Meanwhile, Sang-uk causes trouble to those at the stadium.
● It doesn’t take much to see that these elements converge, that it is ultimately a conflict between Sang-uk and everyone else, particularly Hyun-soo.
● The pacing is mostly fine, although the first two episodes are relatively slow in the sense that they are repetitive. There are so many characters and threads that there is always someone to jump to in order to keep things fresh. As already mentioned, they converge and do so quickly enough.
● There is nothing particularly special about this season. There is more focus than last season, which is not hard, and it is somewhat predictable. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it is the concluding season; there is only so much one can do and the plot needs to head toward a resolution.
● Like the previous season, it tries too hard to be gritty with the action and blood and gore. The palette and lighting are consistent with the same style used so far. In that respect, it is shot well enough. The monster effects are sometimes good and sometimes less so, but if one can tolerate the quality so far, then one can tolerate this season.
● The music, like the previous season, is over-the-top. It’s not that the composition is technically bad, it’s just overly blaring in some instances that it borderlines on comical. Thankfully, it is not too loud in the mix so it is not as jarring as it could be.
● Overall, it is a concluding season that actually tries to wrap up the minor characters as well. Whilst that effort is appreciated, it could do more and better for a few. For example, it is disappointing that the enigmatic Father Peter (Kim Jeong-woo) does not feature more prominently throughout the season, including the end. [Spoiler] More generally, it could also provide more clarity about the origins of monsterization and to what extent and why that process can be altered and reversed.
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