In an apocalyptic world where games of wit and alliances are the only way of survival, Sweet Home offers a new angle on who monsters really are, writes Zarina Ahmed
Greed, arrogance and secrecy bring out the worst in people, making the apocalyptic takeover of monsters in the universe of Sweet Home pale in comparison. The dystopian horror series delivers a gripping series of events that questions how morality fares in the face of doom.
Our main protagonist, Hyun-soo (Song Kang), is a recently orphaned and depressed loner who finds himself trapped in an apartment complex as people turn into monsters all round.
Fellow residents fighting to survive include a mean ballerina (Go Min-si) and a gangster with more to him than meets the eye (Lee Jin-wook). The show’s complex and carefully crafted characterisation is one of the reasons in which the show thrives: we resonate and we root for these characters through the unknown as we learn and watch them grow. The cliche narrative of characters making us care is an understatement to the author, Kim Carnby.
The ragtag group of survivors that Hyun-soo collects grows as he takes in young children, older veterans and even antisocial reluctants like himself. Not only is a make-do safehouse created but a home for them all – in which monsters are not the only antagonists but the people, too. Not only do avarice and envy in the survivors threaten the welfare of each other but they culminate in the monsters; one of the show’s points of novelty is the lore of the monsters and how people succumbing to their true desires is what makes them turn.
Its perspective of morality is key to making the series such an enthralling watch as well as the basis of horror itself. This is prevalent again in the example of half-monsters also being able to exist: people who almost succumb to desires but are immune to its inhumane effect, rendering them as neither fully human nor a monster.
Originating from Webtoon, Sweet Home is also the predecessor to the global phenomenon Korean series, Squid Game (2021), but promises something much more impactful than greed and stereotypes in a killing game. Instead, the show offers heightened intensity in cleverly created monsters and details that hold more significance, like the survivors turning an empty room into a graveyard for the dead.
The show delivers something with more nuance and promise than most dystopian takes on impending doom, leaving you with questions about yourself, about other people and the show itself. It becomes an itch to scratch to know what happens and to learn who would win the ultimate battle of good versus bad – of morality versus immorality. After all, is being a monster with claws and multiple eyes any different to those who are heartless, cruel and committing heinous acts?
