Revenant is a series about Gu Sanyoung (Kim Taeri) who gets possessed by an evil spirit and a folklore professor, Yeom Haesang (Oh Jungse) who tries to get rid of the evil spirit.
The horror genre of the show means that it wouldn't usually be on my radar, but this had Kim Taeri, plus glowing reviews, so I decided to pick it up after getting Disney plus. It was a great decision because this show was excellent.
The writer was Kim Eunhee of Kingdom fame, and she didn't disappoint this time with intricate weaving of folklore and mystery. Some throwaway line in previous episodes could turn out to be an important plot point in later episodes, which really shows thought in writing. But that means that its a show that demands attention during viewing, otherwise you may lose track of the "rules". While the show is billed as horror, it honestly isn't THAT scary, coming from someone who is a scaredy-cat. There were really only a few jump scare moments, whereas majority of the "horror" comes from the impending doom and atmosphere that the show builds.
The show was pretty short at 12 episodes, with majority of the scenes focused on our main leads, who were amazing and had strong characterisations. However, the supporting characters were lacking in depth. In particular, Haesang's evil grandmother who had zero motives other than wanting to be rich (but all she did was sit in a study and scream at people?), and Sanyoung's mother who was utterly useless throughout the show and only kept giving Sanyoung more trouble.
Acting was strong across the board, but Kim Taeri was undoubtedly the star of the show. The ability to switch from downtrodden and fearful Gu Sanyoung to vicious Sanyoung possessed by the evil spirit, and then sometimes Sanyoung pretending to be possessed and possessed Sanyoung pretending to be normal. Her range of expressions, voice modulations and mannerisms to portray different characters is truly amazing. She allowed us to pity Sanyoung and hate the evil spirit despite being the same body. There were so many scenes I sat there slack jawed at her acting. Some of
the more memorable scenes were the dinner with her newly married
classmate, the WATER scene, and the finger scene...or just the entire
last episode. Her performance should have won all the awards, and its a travesty she wasn't even nominated for Baeksangs. I've watched all 3 of her dramas so far (ofc, in addition to her movies) and she has been nothing short of amazing in each of them. But what really stands out is that all 3 dramas are so vastly different in genre. From a period piece (Mr Sunshine) to a youth coming-of-age drama (2521) to horror, she easily imbues each character with believability. Cannot wait to watch Jeong Nyeon!
Oh Jungse was an unconventional male lead, but I was surprised at how much I liked him. We rarely see Oh Jungse play such a role, but he shows that he's more than capable of leading a show. The character of Yeom Haesang was tragic and Oh Jungse's portrayal really made us feel for him and his unfortunate circumstances. I think this is my first time watching Hong Kyung, our second male lead detective Lee Hongsae, and he did a really solid job, holding his own against two acting heavyweights.
My main quibble with the show was in directing. The shots and cinematography were gorgeous, but the sound OMG. Did anyone else notice that the words did not match the lips of the actors? It was incredibly obvious that alot of the script was ADR. It really distracted me :(
Nevertheless, Revenant is one of the most unique kdramas I've watched so far and the rave reviews are well justified. Taeri's Daesang win at the SBS Awards Show was fully deserved and I think she deserved more accolades. Highly recommended!