What Is the Story About?
The Series follows Gu San-Yeong, a financially struggling student who gets possessed by an evil spirit, and Yeom Hae-Sang, a folklore professor who can see demons. As the evil spirit connects the two, they need to confront the demon, a series of mysterious deaths and five sacred objects surrounding it.
Performances?
Coming to the performances, Revenant is truly and completely a Kim Tae-Ri show. The actress proclaims her throne as the undisputed acting marvel of today’s times in Korean Entertainment with her layered, menacing, scary and equally empathetic portrayal of Sanyeong, a woman possessed by a spirit with a tragic backstory.
Analysis
Written by the creator and writer of Netflix blockbuster Kingdom Kim Eun Hee, Revenant is a supernatural-horror-thriller-drama centered around an evil spirit, a struggling student and a folklore professor.
The series begins with a man attempting suicide after seemingly possessed by a vile spirit or sorts. We are then taken to the life of its protagonist Gu Sanyeong, a debt-ridden student who works overtime to make ends meet. She has almost given up on her life and is about to attempt suicide as well before being stopped by Hae-sang, another folklore professor.
Getting to know the man who suicided suspiciously in the starting was her father whom her mother hid about, Sanyeong visits her paternal house to pay last respects. She gets possessed as well and her paternal grand mother too dies like her father. What unfurls further is Gu Sanyeong being warned by Haesang about a long haired spirit who was responsible for his mother’s death.
Over a course of 12 episodes, Revenant takes twists and turns, wonderfully weaves connect between each character that died suspiciously, in a similar manner. The duo sets on a mission to find out about the identity of the spirit, its origin and also a way to get rid of it. The duo is helped by a honest police-man who also has a history with Haesang.
The best thing about Revenant is the way it cleverly tells its story. The who’s, the why’s, the how’s and the what next’s. It’s very interesting to see a supernatural horror mystery taking the form of a whodunnit, except that the who is a spirit with no records and identity. This also takes the leads to travel through a roller coaster of emotions, secrets, betrayals and a lot of lies.
Revenant doesn’t get a note wrong till its penultimate episode. The cliffhangers bang, the acting department rocks and the writing doesn’t slip. But the finale feels a bit overlong mainly because the purpose of the show is solved by now and what next’s rarely hooks one up in horror shows (atleast for me).
A flawless Kim Tae-Ri is the backbone of Revenant and one of the only two reasons for me to binge it. But the show literally lived up to its expectations. It seems like Kim Eun Hee was literally undoing all her misfires in Jiri San this time. In short, Revenant is definitely a worth binge series.An incredible blend of thriller, folklore traditions, and performances. It also helps that the show doesn’t rely on jump scares. That said, Luckier are the ones who’d discover the show now and can binge-watch it (the likes of us had to impatiently wait for weeks).
Other Artists?
As much as Kim Tae-ri‘s, Revenant has Oh Jung-se in his peak form, as a folklore professor, a gutted man consistently guilt-tripping and giving his all to save Sanyeong. One couldn’t help but appreciate how subtle and effective his performance is, and not a note falls wrong.
Hong Kyung is charming as the cop who investigates the unfortunate deaths and shares great chemistry with Kim Tae-ri. Jin Seon-kyu is phenomenal in his limited guest-role. However, the best supporting cast performance comes from Kim Won-hae who is exceptional as usual as the ageing cop who obsessively gets after the unfortunate chain of deaths. Overall, Revenant’s cast is solid.
Music and Other Departments?
Movie Closer’s music for Revenant is very effective. It makes the eerie-ness, spookiness and tension alive and kicking. Kim Eun Hee’s writing is the backbone of the show and the veteran writer is back with a bang after a bad turn with Jiri San. The cinematography work in Revenant is also so good, much like most of Kim Eun-Hee’s previous works.
Highlights?
Kim Tae-ri
Story
Screenplay
Supporting Cast
Climax act
Drawbacks?
Stretchy Finale
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes.
Will You Recommend It?
Yes. Certainly. The most entertaining Korean Drama that dropped in recent times.
Revenant Series Review by Binged Bureau
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