Beyond Excellence.
This is one of the best drama... The acting was super good .... Story was very interesting..... Ost was good ..... I love the Han joo won and Lee dong sik's characters..... I loved how they were enough strong to face everything..... Idk why many people found han jo won quite annoying... I think he did nothing annoying... He was just trying to find the real culprit ...In this drama every characters were necessary... I think the casting director is smart he picked the right actors who fit in their role perfectly...
Only one thing I didn't like that kang jin mook died easily after killing so many people....
He deserve to rotten in the jail.....
Dong sik and Han ju won's life was quite cruel ... Especially for Dong sik ...... However I gald that they didn't kill anyone despite of everything.....
I wanted to happen something between ju won and jae yi .... But nothing happened ....
I felt a little bit bad for oh ji hun ... He didn't get any chance to confess his feelings for min jeong....
I usually don't rate ... But I felt this drama deserve more rating ..
People should watch this drama... I think none will regret after watching this...
Was this review helpful to you?
That said, as much as I'm no stranger to these kinds of genres I have to say that this drama can be pretty dark, heavy and intense. In which it might get a bit taxing to watch as almost every character in this drama seems suspicious and makes you wary about everyone. And the way Lee Dongsik kept acting very suspicious at times can be pretty exhausting to watch as one alternates from wanting to believe he was innocent or guilty, and it gets worse when almost every character in this drama behaved in similar ways. You can't help feeling like you're being gaslighted to believe anything you're being told and later get fooled over and over, throughout the drama by almost every key character. It gets pretty tiring if you're the kind who easily becomes engrossed in the plotline and is treated with constant gaslighting and manipulations from the characters.
On the bright side, it made the plot very unpredictable yet on another, it makes one question whether or not you should continue watching the drama as the main character tried too hard to act as the ultimate villain, just because they've become quite disillusioned with how the law works. It only really gets better or tolerable halfway towards the end, partially because the truth starts to finally get unravelled and the main characters start to become much more honest with each other, and we realised how some of the earlier behaviours had just been a false facade/
Overall, it was a good story though you do need to have quite a bit of patience to get through the first half of the drama before being able to properly appreciate the mystery and storyline.
Was this review helpful to you?
Good but
The story line is okay, the mystery part is okayy, the setting is okayyy, the characters are okayyyy except that the LCY is truly a pretty girl to watch, but somehow it is still a drama worth to watch. In short what really makes me thrill about this drama wasn't the story line, mystery, the setting, nor the plot, but was the perfect teamwork and relationship between LDS and HJW, where you will wonder if you can achieve it with your partners or colleague in that way all the time. However, the story is still a little bit too draggy and to be honest sometimes will watch until fell asleep and couldnt bear to fast forward. Only if the drama is not that draggy it can be quite a perfect drama to me.Was this review helpful to you?
Started off as an anti-buddy cop drama.....but ended up being much more than that…..
Where do I begin....this was spectacular! If you're someone who enjoys a good slow burn mystery thriller THEN THIS IS FOR YOU! There are absolutely no reasons for not watching this.....so here is why this show deserves all the accolades, praises and is one of the best shows of 2021. I have not given any spoilers so feel free to read.
1. Simple done right: At its core, beyond evil is a very simple murder mystery but it is the execution that blows the mind of the audiences. Classic isn’t always bad. With the amount of dramas Korea is churning, the pressure to present new and unique stories rests heavily on the shoulders of the makers. But Beyond Evil is a great example of sticking to basics of a genre yet somehow reinventing story telling styles.
2. Three Cheers for the Screenplay: As I said the story is simple, then what made it a standout show? It was the screenplay. The carefully placed hints, the decision to reveal what aspects of story to the audience, when, how and systematically placing flashbacks in every episode is mesmerizing to watch. I cannot praise the writing team enough for the amount of intelligence and creativity they showed while building every episode.
3. Layers, Layers and Layers: This show can be very deceptive. On the face value it might seem like a straightforward murder mystery but at the end of the day it presents umpteen perspectives to the same plot. The show has successfully bypassed binaries of good and bad. It elevates the discussion on grey characters and grey scenarios. Every character has motives, secrets, complex emotions and varied outlook that clashes with each other. These layers add depth to the story without distracting the plot, rather it enriches the narration.
4. Remarkable Character Development: The testament of a great show is when the characters draw the audience into their world, make them invest and embark on a journey together. This show does exactly that. If you compare every character from ep1 to 16, you will be able to distinctly witness an evolution or devolution. Not a single character remains same by the time the show ends. Every character changes for good or worse.
5. Top Tier Acting Skills: I have always believed that Korea produces one of the best well rounded actors not only in Asia but also in the world. This show proves my point. If the screenplay/script is one pillar of the show then acting is the other. Our two lead titans Shin Ha Kyun (Lee Dong Shik) and Yeo Jin Goo (Han Joo Won) are outstanding. Everyone has been praising Shin Ha Kyun for his spectacular performance, even speculating possible Baeksang (totally deserving), so I thought to comment on Yeo Jin Goo. I never followed Yeo Jin Goo’s career in the past and I only saw Hotel Del Luna, which honestly centered on IU and therefore he did not leave any impression on me. But his nuanced and compelling performance in this show attests his years of experience in the industry. I cannot wait to see what kind of projects this young actor will choose in the future. Special shout out to every other cast member….they were equally great and deserve to get bigger roles after this show.
Beyond Evil has definitely raised the bar high for the industry. This is one of the finest of its genre, so featuring it on Netflix is a great decision. A show that will be remembered for a very long time…..
Was this review helpful to you?
Masterpiece
It's like watching a puzzle slowly put together with each new piece/episode providing new inisight to the bigger picture. Everything is brilliantly connected and every character matters and is involved in some way.The show is not just about finding out who the killer is but most importantly about the people involved and how deeply they were affected by it.
I don't see an issue with the pacing, it's what you would expect from a psychological thriller, no time was wasted. It slowly builds and forms the story with each episode and once you get to the end you see just how perfectly thought and planned out it was.
The cast I can't praise enough, all of them were phenomenal and had me so immersed that at times I forgot to read the subtitles, especially Shin Hakyun who blew me away every episode.
The ost seemed a little odd at first but I quickly fell in love with it and thought it perfectly fit the show.
No words are enough to describe how much I love this show and I'm not really good at reviews so if I could only use one word to describe it it would be masterpiece, it's by far the best k-drama I have seen.
Was this review helpful to you?
Definitely 1000% Daesang Award-winning Show !
Daesang Award-winning Show and performances by the 2 main leads - The Best Bromance Duo carried by Yeo-jin Goo and shin ha Kyun!!wow wow wow wow DAEBAK INFINITE TIMES INFINITY!!!
BEYOND EVIL IS ONE OF THOSE SHOWS that literally leaves you glued to the screen, to the plot build-up, piquing your curiosity radar into thinking what happens next, one of the greatest whoDUNIT stories ever told in History!!
Standing ovation for :
1. The Leads Shin Ha Kyun and Yeo Jin Goo for powerhouse performances, delivering their characters to the T, they were just perfect!! And it's unbelievable that Yeo Jin-goo is just all of 23 of Age!!!
Yeo Jin Goo is just perfect as an Actor, wow!!!!
2. The Writers and Director and Cinematographer of the Show Beyond Evil!!!! Kudos to the Team for the perfect edge-of-seat psychological thriller for the audience!!!
This show deserves lots of Awards and TOP HONORS!!!
Was this review helpful to you?
Beyond Masterpiece
Plot is well-written. Nothing unpredictable. Every episode will make you crave for more. When you thought that you finally understand it, the show will throw another bomb. The acting is phenomenal. They choose the right people. All of the cast is amazing. They didn’t even drag the story even for a short time. They always gives you something new. Something to think about. Gives you chills, will shock the hell out of you, can make you laugh then cry. Beyond Evil deserves more recognition and love. A masterpiece indeed.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Rice car
I feel like this drama is basically a Rice car. On the surface it looks amazing. The cast is full of good looking people, and the two male leads absolutely nail their roles. Did Shin Ha-kyun deserve the actor of the year award from the Baeksang Awards? Probably. Did the show deserve the best script? Absolutely not.This drama suffers from trying to be greater than it is. In doing so, it tries to add suspense and wonderment through (if I actually counted) probably around 50 different plot twists. I'm all up for plot twists, but they weren't meaningful in any way. Just a bunch of cheap suspense tricks. E.G. You see X as following victim at 8:10 so he must be the killer. Surprise we now know that at 8:15 X actually left the victim and the at 8:16 Y was the last person to be wit the victim. So on and so forth for almost the entire series. I don't really know why people claim that they were at the edge of their seats from suspense, but to me this is not suspense. It's the equivalent to cheap scares in horror movies. Just like cheap scares don't count towards making a scary movie scary, these cheap twists don't create actual suspense and certainly don't qualify as good writing.
People also praise the character development in the show, but I am still wondering what they are talking about. Sure we are all cheering for the two male leads to get along and at the end they finally do, but I basically just revealed the entire series of events that lead to that development with, "they finally do." LDS is dead set on finding the culprit for his sister's death the entire series and continues to hide from his friends what he's doing until he's doesn't and until he's not. We never see the progression of his anger slower subsiding, realizing that there is more to life than being stuck on his sister's murder for over 20 years, or that he should share that burden with his friends and family. The only semblance of development we get from LDS is his attachment to HJW which can be summed up over the prison scene where he says, "we protect our own," HJW multiple random barge ins and suspecting LDS, a bowl of soup that LDS treats HJW to, and the last episode where they smile at each other. HJW's development isn't much better, he's pretty much dead inside until he feels sorry about his father's crimes and then again the smiling scene before the end credits.
Lets talk about the council woman's unconvincing confession. She confessed because her son said he'd kill himself if it turns out to be true that she killed chief Nam and KJM. But she didn't and her confession has no bearing on that. There was no evidence that she did killed anyone and it was never shown that her acquittal banked on such a confession. Heck it didn't even show that she was ever arrested or charged. A huge leap in logic to reach the outcome we got. Plot convenience is not good story writing.
Now lets talk about the crucial moment where HJW learns of his father's crimes and convinces LDS to not take things into this own hands. He promises to go to hell to bring his father down by gaining his trust. He makes this promise knowing that the recording he has would be inadmissible in court. Not only does HJW not go to hell, he didn't even go to jail. He did absolutely nothing Beyond Evil worthy to go to "Hell." In fact, his father goes to jail because the Council Woman's plot convenience "confession" ( her word against theirs) magically makes the recordings admissible in court? Yea, sorry that's now how that works. And what exactly did gaining his father's trust do to bring him towards arresting his father? Absolutely nothing. Just some more showboating that make the audience go "OMG," with no actual substance. Just like the cheap plot twists exhibited throughout the series. What was the point of HJW saying he'd gain his father's trust if there wasn't actually going to be any follow up on that? Just more rice.
This show did not deserve best Screenplay of the year. Not even close.
Was this review helpful to you?
One of the best drama deserving of its award
The moment I have finished the series felt like a weigh has been lifted off me but at the same time, I craved more. I thought I must write a review at all cost. So here we are!The drama gave off a premise of what one would think of a typical crime drama where our protagonist gets wronged by the police so he seeks justice. Nope, it isn't all that.
In the drama, we have our protagonist, Lee Dong Sik, whose sister went missing 20 years ago, became the police officer he is today. He meets another officer whose views and perspective of things differ with him. Han Ju Won. From their clash of perspective to their suspicions, the two work it out to find the meaning of justice for the both of them.
There were a lot of GOOD things about the show that in fact just stating it in words alone isn't enough unless you experience its goodness yourself.
From the plot to character development, this drama nailed it all. I have to even say, everyone of the character feels like a main than a supporting and the casts? Everyone's superb. The drama will really leave you at the edge of your seat everytime you finish one, thinking what's going to happen next? Who's the real culprit? how will they catch him? Typical questions one would raise over a crime-mystery drama but Beyond Evil answers it all and will give you a satisfying end.
I must warn you of the stares between our actors Shin Ha Kyun and Yeo Jin Goo as their roles Lee Dong Sik and Han Ju Won, it gets to the point of addicting! The chemistry is too wonderful as partners, as brothers, or however way you want to see it.
Acting-wise, I think Shin Ka Hyun is truly the god of acting, the whirlpool of emotion he'll bring you and the eye-acting he offers is enough to pull you even more into the show. That doesn't mean Yeo Jin Goo falls behind, he manages to match against the other senior actor and offers his best, I think this is his best role just yet after Hotel Del Luna (for me). Choi Seung Eun whose known as a rookie, on the other hand, will catch your attention just as it caught mine.
The OST? Man, The Night will be on repeat once you finish the drama like a curse. I love it so much and it is so on point for the drama. Truly a masterpiece.
Anyway, I think it is a drama packed of human drama, thrill, emotions, and a whole lot more. But more importantly, I think it is important to find the message it was trying to convey.
I hope that this drama will be given a chance because it deserves the attention. I hope you enjoy it as much as we (the fans) do.
This is a first, but I think it has a rewatch value of 10/10. I would rewatch just to feel it all again.
Happy watching!
Was this review helpful to you?
Beyond Evil is a fantastic thriller that will leave you questioning everything
I am totally new to Dramas and this will be my first review on here so please bear with me and I found this show to be so interesting that I have to express how I feelSTORY:
I'm a huge fan of crime thrillers in general, whether it's books or movies, I love them. But Beyond Evil is a first for me since it's a Korean Drama and I never really delved into them fully before. I wasn't disappointed, in fact I was pleasantly surprised.
Set around a group of people ingrained in their local small town community - the show perfectly depicts how societal norms affects people's lives and the lengths people go to quench their desires - be it for good or evil. I found the setting to be perfect to explore such themes. But all this serves as a backdrop to the real story at hand, a ruthless serial killer, two detectives who will go to extreme lengths, and a local community caught in the middle of a huge political storm - that'll have huge ripple effects on our main characters.
I was immediately gripped from the first episode, there was never a dull moment and each scene served a purpose to the overall story - even the slow burn/set up episodes were enjoyable to watch. I'm not quite sure how Korean Dramas usually operate but I often found myself impressed at the depth the series goes to flesh out the main cast. It was extremely thorough in developing not just the two main characters but every one involved .. it's a true ensemble and I especially loved all the bonding moments between the characters and just how flawed they are with each other.
ACTING:
Again, I have to reiterate I'm not familiar at all with Korean Drama nor the actors. So I really wouldn't know where to start but the acting itself is FANTASTIC.. I was shocked at the level of quality involved. In particular, I have to mention Shin Ha Kyun as Lee Dong Shik.. there was even this one scene that got me crying.. which I never thought would happen nor I would be so invested into his storyline. He was unbelieve in this series and deserves to be singled-out. But this doesn't mean the rest were not. In fact, everyone is truly a master of their crafts and I totally bought into their characters and the roles they were playing. I cant recall all the different emotions I felt watching this..
MUSIC:
I have to mention yet again that I have no idea who made the music for this series or how things are in Korean Dramas, but the OST is also top notch and simply adds to the different moods the show was trying to explore, I loved the music and there are two soundtracks that I wish I could find online. LOVED IT!
REWATCH VALUE:
I could see myself rewatching the series down the line. I am a little exhausted by the end of it. I think the lengths of each episode was the biggest shock.. But i guess this is the case for most dramas.. I think?
ENJOYMENT:
I'm new to all this .. So this is the opinion of someone who isn't well informed into this world, but I'm thrilled to have not only enjoyed this show, but totally love it. I feel like I discovered a new wealth of content in this medium and I can't wait to watch more. Beyond Evil is truly a great show - not without it's flaws of course - that will keep you wanting the next episode till the very end.. I honestly cant recommend it enough
Was this review helpful to you?
Beyond Perfection
Wow. What a beautifully done drama. The story is super interesting and every episode, something interesting happens. None of the episodes are boring. Going through this story, discovering the things that happened with all these plottwists keeping you confused and in the dark until the very end. Wow. The acting is amazing, only knew a few of the actors but I am definitely gonna stay up to date with the others too now because they all did a great job. The music was very on point too. Beautiful OST.Overall, just perfection. There isn't much else to say. 10/10.
Was this review helpful to you?
Part psychological thriller, part crime drama, and almost family drama, Beyond Evil manages an impressive balancing act between cold, disturbing darkness and raw emotion, both of the positive and negative kind. The plot unfolds perfectly over the course of the 16 episodes, leaving no lull in intensity or filler episodes but not rushing into anything either. You get enough time to savor all of the twists and turns of the story, all of the new developments and revelations, without getting bored. Contrarily to other intense crime dramas, Beyond Evil is truly moving and shocking at time, but never uses cheap tricks and haphazardly put together twists to achieve that, each turn of the story is impactful in its own right, and will leave you trying to solve the mystery by yourself.
What I was not expecting from this drama is for it to be so viscerally emotional at times. This comes mostly from the stellar acting from Shin Ha Kyun, who constantly walks the line between protagonist and antagonist, while staying utterly loveable and captivating throughout. The rest of the cast are all really impressive, most notably Yeo Jin Goo, who manages a really great, complex performance, despite his young age. The Korean title (Monster) is particularly fitting: the drama explores the monstrous in the different characters. If it sounds clichéd and a bit on the nose, don't worry, the drama never is. It uses this admittedly a bit overdone idea with impressive subtlety and efficiency, so that it always feels fresh and new.
On top of that, the drama simply looks fantastic, even though a lot of it takes place in dingy police station and old, somewhat decrepit houses, the filmography captures each place's essence and feel in a way that always elevates the story. The cold interrogation room is the perfect backdrop to enhance the ambivalence and mystery surrounding the suspects, while the old butcher shop reinforces the warmth of the long years of friendships between the main group of protagonists, and the old streets surrounded by vast expenses of countryside surrounding the town really drive home the sense of "localness" of a tragedy taking place in a small town.
The music is another great addition to the drama, with pieces that almost sound out of place at first, but work so well overall to build up the atmosphere, without being too distracting.
All in all, Beyond Evil is a remarkably well-rounded drama, that manages to feel amazingly intense while never resorting to cheap twists or being too fast. Each element of the production helps build up the intensity and emotions, leaving you with a really solid contender for best mystery/crime drama/psychological thriller of the year.
Was this review helpful to you?
