Save Me is about Im Sang Mi and her family who has fallen into a cult, and 4 highschool friends of hers who try to save her from the cult.
I picked this up because I needed to watch more Seo Yeji, and this is definitely her most acclaimed role prior to IOTNBO. And she does not disappoint. The show's premise is about saving Sang Mi from the cult, but that eventually evolved into Sang Mi wanting to save people from the cult. I loved her character - so strong and resilient despite the endless adversity and trials, especially at the end when she knew how to pick her battles and wasn't just jumping at every chance to run away.
Apparently Sang Hwan (Taecyeon) is the official male lead, but to me both guys felt like the male leads. In fact, as Dong Chul (Woo Do Hwan) spent so much time with our female lead in the cult, towards the second half of the show, it felt like he was the male lead. This was of course also largely due to Woo Do Hwan's outstanding performance. He definitely has screen presence, and I look forward to more of his future works. Sang Hwan spent a lot of the show outside the cult while the other 2 leads were inside the cult so it felt like he was not as involved in the thick of action. It also didn't help that Taecyeon's acting is...not the best and he doesn't have as much on screen charisma. Which is strange, because I enjoy watching him perform as part of 2PM.
Also, Jeon Yeo Bin (my queen from Be Melodramatic) plays a supporting character in the show! (Shameless plug to watch her in her breakout role as a high school student in indie film After My Death. She is sublime)
The veteran actors all brought their A game, especially the awful "Spiritual Father" Bae (Jo Sung Ha) and Apostle Jo (Jo Jae Yoon) who were excellent at being slimy and gross.
I really liked that the show focused on a cult - which is definitely not a commonly covered topic in media, and is surprisingly prevalent in Korean society. OCN specialises in dark gritty shows, but those are usually focused on serial killers and murders, so a cult is something different yet equally bloodcurdling.
The music and directing were both solid and very effective at making me even more anxious. There were many action scenes as well, that I thought were pretty well executed, though I did wonder at the relevance of the gangster characters. The part involving Sang Hwan's father and his machinations to become provincial governor were definitely my least favourite.
Not for the faint hearted, especially with the extremely depressing first half of the show, but worth it to watch the excellent performances by Seo Yeji and Woo Do Hwan.
