It's Night (2023)

"Night Has Come" definitely had potential, but it missed the mark in so many ways. I'm a huge fan of stories like the "Jinrou Game" series, which always manage to captivate me despite not being masterpieces. So, when I heard about a K-drama taking on a similar concept, I was pumped. Sadly, the execution fell flat, and it ended up being a wasted opportunity.

Let's talk about the acting:

•First off, Lee Jae In as Yoonseo? Ah, man, I hate to say it, but her performance just didn't cut it for me. Her acting felt flat, like she was stuck on one expression—mouth open, eyes wide. I couldn't connect with her character at all, which made me pretty indifferent to what happened to her. Her whole vibe came off more cringey than anything heroic or compassionate.

•Then there's Kim Wooseok playing Junhee. Sure, he's easy on the eyes, but his acting? Yeah, not so much. I was expecting more depth from the male lead, but his performance just didn't hit the mark.

•Now, on the bright side, Cha Woomin as Kyungjun? Now that guy could act. He nailed the role of the tough, survival-driven class bully. Every scene with him was intense, and you could really feel the desperation and cunning in his character. Props to him for standing out among the cast.

•Ahn Jiho as Dabeom—now that guy knows how to steal the show. He flawlessly shifted between timid and straight-up psycho Dabeom throughout the series. I mean, the Dabeom we saw in episodes 1-7 versus 8-12? It was like watching two completely different characters, but Jiho pulled it off without missing a beat. It's like he devoured every scene he was in, leaving nothing behind.

•And then there's Jung Sori as Somi. Man, she really knew how to play the mean pick megirl, didn't she? Somi's character was so intense and in-your-face, and Jung Sori nailed it perfectly. You remember those scenes with her because she left this lasting impression of a character you love to hate.

•And let's not forget Choi Yebin as Jungwon. She's got talent, no doubt about it. We've seen her skills way back in her debut series "The Penthouse," and here, despite her character's robotic demeanor and limited emotional range, she still managed to leave an impression. You could tell she was holding back, though. I wish they had given her more to work with because she's capable of so much more.

The casting of the main leads was a letdown, to say the least. You've got supporting actors like Yeonwoo, Hyunhoo, Mina, and even those with less screen time like Heo Yool and Jooyoung delivering more engaging performances than the main leads. Like, what gives? You'd think the director would prioritize solid acting chops over popularity, right? But nope, they went and cast Kim Wooseok probably just because he's a K-pop idol. Sure, he's got the looks and all, but acting-wise? Meh. It feels like they played it safe, not fully committing to the story's potential. Can you blame them? Reading that script, I might've had doubts too. It's a trend that's becoming way too common in K-dramas these days. If they'd focused solely on acting skills during casting, they could've easily found lesser-known actors who would've knocked it out of the park. Maybe Kim Wooseok could've started with smaller parts to get the hang of acting before going for a lead. Because let's be real, the difference in acting ability between Kim Wooseok and legit actors like Cha Woo Min and Ahn Jiho? It's like night and day It's frustrating how easily K-pop idols slide into acting gigs while genuine, talented actors have to fight tooth and nail for their shot. I mean, no shade to Kim Wooseok—he's doing his thing—but directors should prioritize skill over fame.


Characters:

Let's talk about the female lead. Initially, I was thrilled at the prospect of a strong, badass female lead but Yoonseo’s character ended up in the trash can. At first glance, she appears as a quiet and unpopular figure among her peers but the writers try to make her stand out by giving her asthma and hallucinations, which are meant to make her seem more unique and significant in the group. As a main character who is an avid reader of mystery novels, she's supposed to be the smart one—calmer and more insightful because she has a mental framework for what's happening. However, this potential is never fully realized. Instead, she often seems helpless and lacks the sharpness expected of her character. She is not the brightest in the group, despite the writers' efforts to portray her as such. Yoonseo is portrayed as weirdly and stupidly kind, allowing the bully Somi to do as she pleases and forgiving her no matter what. It’s painfully obvious that Somi hates her for being too close to Junhee and is trying to kill her. Yoonseo's always tries to save the day but consistently makes poor choices.

Moving on to the male lead, Junhee the class president, he started off as popular and seemingly important, but his character's relevance dwindled as the series progressed. His sole purpose seemed to revolve around becoming Yoonseo's love interest. Junhee is initially portrayed as a risk-taker, but after being accused of being the mafia in the first two episodes, he stops taking risks and becomes passive. Failing to use his leadership skills expected from a class president.

I disliked the characters I was supposed to like and couldn’t find any reason to root for the 'good guys'. Junhee and Yoonseo, the male and female leads, don’t seem to have any purpose other than being shown more frequently and being forced upon the viewer as important. There’s nothing substantial to their characters. We never get a full backstory for either Junhee or Yoonseo. Both lack depth and a detailed history. There’s a flashback hinting at some trauma for Junhee, but it’s never explored. How are we, as viewers, supposed to empathize with and support the main characters if we know nothing about them? Essentially, there’s no real reason for why these two should be our protagonists other than their superficial "holier-than-thou" attitudes. On the other hand, Dabeom would have made a much more interesting main character. He’s a nerdy loser who gets bullied and seeks revenge, offering a fresh perspective as the mafia instead of the typical "good guy" citizen perspective.

Its seems I'm blah blah so much so I just gonna say The story is just poorly written. The whole game should been controlled by their ghost/dead classmate like the story hinting for the whole time. Kinda fresher than there some how mastermind group like the jinrou game who find it entertainment to watch student killing each other. . Just it being the Se Eun parents forcing them into a simulation loop thing kinda made it seem meeeh

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Wasted potential mixed with bingable story in a show

Disclaimer: THE REVIEW INCLUDES MAJOR SPOILERS!! IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED IT DON'T READ IT. | It's my first time ever writing a review and english isn't even my first language so i aplogize for my mistakes/poor grammar/overusing same words and all of it. Hope you enjoy the reivew.

You guys are probably going to think that i rated the show too high. I think the same too by the way, but i just want to tell y'all even if i thought i would rate it too low than 8.0 at first episode, as the show was contiuning, i changed my mind. Well, first of all let's start with the main thing, story. The story is a VERY good idea and it could have been a literaly masterpiece. The plot was starting avarage and basic for a survival show like this, the executions, story of the reason of the mafia game, and all the stuff etc. were enjoyable. But as the show went, there were so many unanswered questions and really confusing parts.

I wanna mention that there were NO character development in this show. Literal 0 character development. The ML and FL + Jungwon were hypocrites. They were acting like "omg i'm so innocent", they failed to show it to us. Junhee, the ML literally were being biased on yoon seo and blaming others when they were just basically trying to survive like others. He said that he wouldn't vote for her even if he knew that she was mafia. He tried to save Woo ram without any evidence of him being innocent or citizen/police/doctor. He wanted to help him and talk others just because he is his friend. When he said that he wouldn't vote for Yoonseo, i got ick. If i was yoonseo, i wouldn't even have believed in it.

The FL was dumb. Sorry not sorry, Somi literally threw her to a pool, she was going to drown here because of a ghost (that didn't have a big impact in the show but just tortured FL mainly and only), she (somi) made her look like a mafia in 2 seconds, made her gain votes just like kyungjun. And you know what was the main reason somi did it?

Junhee. In a place that they're forced to play a mafia game that kills each of them every night, getting executed horribly, completely helpless, they care about romance. I have no idea why it happens in kdramas, makes zero sense to me. Hey! You're going to die there if you do something a little suspicious. And you care about your crush that probably says siuuu after gaining a goal at futboll.

Just remembered the scene that kyungjun and his team's "siuu" after winning A BASKETBALL GAME. Let's not talk about, even the flashbacks of that scene haunts me to this day.

Let's go back to the story, i think people blaming others for just simply trying to survive was the most unrealistic part of the show. I mean.. of course everyone is going to defend themselves. No, you would do the same thing. Just like how you don't choose to be a citizen, they don't choose to be a mafia. Why are you even blaming them for that?

Friendships were weak and just not loyal. I mean i know they are trying to survive, but lying was stupid. Kyungjun not caring about his yellow-head friend made sense to me, but lying about helping him (his friend w blue tshirt) in private but suspecting him in the public was stupid. Just tell him that you're not on his side and thats it. Mina and Somi, won't even talk about them, the amount of switch ups were too much.

The acting was.. meh. Could've been so much better. I don't know why but the acting made me think of a reason to drop the show. I really thought i was going to, but as i said in the headline, it was really easy to binge mainly because of short time of episodes / things happening fast. I finished the show in a day without even getting bored.

Characters were dumb. Really dumb. The main trio were smart compared to others and for their age, me, myself would get panicked in all of the situations and probably just pass out while everything happened.

Why are they not paying attention to something after they just found out about it? For an example; Kyungjun blamed his friend jinha with the proof which was the brick, they caught him with that because they never mentioned brick. But that was it. He had no answers for that, they quickly moved on to jinha and accusing him of killing the doctor in the game and never stayed on him too much.

Why are they all trusting each other? It's not like they have no choice, they just can try to survive by themselves (talking about the rest of the students) They know how evil they are. I would just go solo tbh, no one is trustable there even a little bit. As i said, characters were dumb and very unlikable.

Students not believing in a line being dangerous while the game says that it is and rest of it, but they are witnessing their friends' death in a supernatural way. Sounds ridiculous to me. I don't think most of them even tried to survive.

The voting.. there are so many things about it but i'll keep my mouth shut. Just one thing. Why the hell are they not voting for kyungjun?? Even if i was one of his friends i would betray him the second everyone votes for him, idc. He would cause all the trouble and surviving chance would lower 80% because of him. Not just him bullying everyone, but trying to make people vote for someone the second he sees them being "suspicious". Okay, i get it. He's trying to survive like everyone here, but it's different and at least i would have made everyone convince that he needs to be voted in a minute. Stupid, too stupid.

I wanna mention one thing, Nam Yeon Woo's death was so fatphobic. He didn't jump off of somewhere or something like that like the other students did, but why couldn't he just hit his head or use knife etc. to die?? Why did he have to choke because of foods? I don't think if he wasn't fat he would have choose that metod to die, idk. Seems fatphobic to me.

There were a ghost in the show and it had 0 impact in the show i can say. They can just mention Park Se-eun and not the ghost that only makes FL frustrated.

Heh, i talked too much and yapped. Coming to the ending, i guess i'm the only one who liked it. No seriously, everyone broke a point for the ending but its the main thing that made it more interesting and rewatchable to me. At least made me hope for a season 2. Her parents were crazy.. I don't think it even was a revenge. It was straight up another dimension. Also the students who weren't even involved in bullying being tortured so bad.. ugh.

As the ending scene is contiuning, a question pops up; Where are their parents? 2 people managed to create a mind game that tortures people, okay. But they also managed to kidnap almost 30 people or a number near to that, are none of their contacting them? Trying to find them? Where even they were at the ending scene..? Like the dark place, where is it? Some secret place that's harder to get in than North Korea? Some another universe? Their own house? I guess unless a new season comes, we will never know the answer.

So, after yapping a lot, as a result... I loved the show. Yes, it was filled with stupid things and kinda mid acting, dumb decisions with an unsatisying ending and all of that, but hear me out. I loved it so much and finsihed in a day. It had so much potential and wasted it. I blame it on the editing mostly by the way, idk something was just off. But, rewatchable and thriller filled for me. So, maybe i rated too high in your guys' opinion, but i think it deserves it. Thanks for reading the dumb review(⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

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omg

omg the plot was amazing. i didn’t expect this game being planned by the parents!!!! I want to watch a second season to see how this game goes on because she remembers everything! I’m asking myself if the mafia changes each game and if they are playing the same game every time they go back into the game. I’m also questioning how it is possible that the parents got all of the classmates together and unconscious without anyone noticing. Is nobody looking for them? I mean it’s a whole class that is gone?!?!?? I need answers pls hahahha. The last episode changed the whole view on this drama.

p.s. the whole acters were well-casted and low-key very hot :)

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ENDING EXPLAINED

Okay, so it was indeed a game as suspected and it was Se Eun's parents who programmid it and the "AI" Jung Won who learned how to hack it.

I think episode showing Jung Won creating the game was her learning the harsh fate of everyone, and she's continually trying to end the game.

Also, Jung Won seems to be making sure Jae In remembers bits and pieces of the previous games. And in the finale episode, Jae In remembers everything from the previous one, including when she was awakened by Se Eun's parents.

The real question here is this: Did See Eun's mother reprogrammed Jung Won?

When the game reset, Jung Won was sitting far from Jae In. Also, Jung Won looks at Jae In with contempt.

I'm highly suspecting Se Eun's mother changed Jung Won (the AI) and now Jae In will be the one who will suffer the most since she volunteered to take responsibility.

I think that's what She Eun's mother did, she reprogrammed Jung Won to "think" that Jae In is the primary person responsible. Hence, Jung Won was looking at Jae In with contempt.

Even moreso, Jae In remembering everything is an additional layer of "punishment". She will be the only one who will remember the pain, as Se Eun's mother wanted.

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perfect binge worthy for weekends

the story was surprisingly very good ..... you should must watch it without a fail if you fan of thriller.
the way every students try to survive protect themselves and even their loved ones . i was really amazed by their acting tbh i was really not sure that they'll do a really good job . i times when students were executed were really crazy .
the way there was the glimpse of something ghost was very exciting , like how the story will unfold .
i really like the chemistry of the leads .
End of every episode was like what'll happen next how could be this possible who are the mafia . but i must say the ending was something i really not hoped for something like that , but again that'll only expain everything cause it was not fantasy genre or anything .

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Perfect Binge

This is a fun watch.

It is exciting, enjoyable mystery, with some violence ;)

No need to play captain hindsight and point out what everyone should have done or plot holes.

Episodes are only 35mins, so no time for character depth (6 mains + 22 sides) etc.

Quick notes on main characters / acting:

ML = Just a blithering idiot.

FL = She trys, but just a mess.

Da Beom = Steals the show. Depth with limited screen time.

So Mi = Very good, the bitch you love to hate.

Kyung Jun = Very good, the bully who deserves death.

Jung Won = Good enough.

Bottom line, if you liked The Werewolf Game movies / style you like this!

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Enjoyable

The suspense and thrill is very enjoyable but story wise its senseless killing imo. Very few smart and witty deaths but there are far too many idiotic civillians, and majority of the “smart” students became mafia.

The plot twist at the end revealing that it was all just a game created by grieving parents whose child were bullied to death from a rumour the students created does answer some questions story wise but it just feels incomplete. The integration of se eun’s story in a mafia game is just her parents wanting revenge and justice for their child but what is the point when the students dont learn any of this and no reflection of morals is done? Its just a cycle of inflicting psychological pain over and over again, except yunseo now has her memories.

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An amazing thriller drama but the ending brings more questions than answers

If you like analyzing and observing , even if you don't, this is an amazing drama in the sense that it keeps you on your feet. The episodes are only 30-35 minutes but you'll probably feel 20 different emotions in the duration of one. What i didn't like was the ending? it was extremely stupid to me, yes i know that they're stuck in a loop and it restarts and yes i know who created the game and why they created it blah blah blah. i know all of that but the problem from the very beginning was that they were stuck in the mafia game? that has not been resolved whatsoever! is there going to be a season 2 for this or is this the end? There were a lot of plot twists and i genuinely liked this drama but kidnapping the WHOLE class?? yes time moves differently in the game but regardless where are their parents exactly? The beginning? immaculate, showstopping, had me waiting at the edge of my seat but the ending of the drama brings more questions than answers and that brings it down for me.

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It is hard to review this show without giving spoilers so I will try my best to be fairly generic. First I am very glad I did not read reviews before going into this show purely because the mystery of it would have been ruined. After having read a few and agreed with several points I will note that I do not feel the same about this show being fresh or new. I felt the entire time while watching this that it kept reminding me of something. Being sucked into a deadly game can be seen in several shows as well as having to turn on your own friends to survive. I do not mind this trope as I find it interesting to watch as survival instincts play out differently depending on personalities and this show did have that mystery/thriller thing going for it that kept me interested till the end to try and understand why they were forced to do this. What this show ends up doing is focusing on the gore and shock factor instead of filling plot holes and creating dynamic characters.

That being said there are major flaws in the execution of this show most notably in the story writing and the character development. First, you have the ML and FL that do not seem to have any purpose of being the mains. You are just shown them more frequently and forced to care about them as the viewer. But as characters there really was nothing to them. The FL was made to be weak with asthma and have hallucinations and seem to be fairly well liked or tolerated by everyone in the class. For whatever reason even the bullies seemed to back down to her several times for no real reason because it is never shown that she has a connection with any of them or a large presence within the class. She comes off as a quiet background character but the writers gave her hallucinations to make her seem more interesting and important in the group. The ML was at least the class president and popular but even his character seemed useless as the show continued and the strife among the class carried on for too long.

Then you have the bullies that continue to bully other students but for whatever reason everyone just lets them get away with it. While Kung Jun had very good stage presence and was loud and demanding and was able to get into people's heads, while watching the interactions I could not understand why as a group the others did not think of stopping the violent ones first. In a game that kills wouldn't a first instinct be to get rid of actual threats? The show even reveals fairly early on who the mafia are but then later it seems to forget that they already showed you and tries to hide the identity of the last one for some reason.

The biggest let down of the whole show though is the conclusion. Everything was building up to this huge mystery of why they are there, who is forcing them to follow the rules, and how to get out alive. But the momentum of that buildup was a complete letdown with a mediocre reason behind the suicide and not a believable enough excuse for the game especially when they reveal that the stakes do not seem that high anymore.

Is it worth a watch? Sure. The episodes are not long and it only took a few hours to get through this show and the mystery will carry your curiosity through the finish line. But the ending will leave you unsatisfied.

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nope

I don't mean to be negative or hateful... but that was probably the WORST plot twist I've ever seen.

I was watching the series thinking, "Why didn't I see much of this series shared online?" Maybe because the ending was so unsatisfying, I feel I wasted my time.

It would have been better if they all just died. Not some girls' parents acting like two idiots, collectively punishing a class of high schoolers because a group of them are assholes.

Also, if they wanted to go on and say she killed herself because of the bullying, then maybe they should have done and shown something more believable. They should have done The Glory level bullying or at least something way worse than a very badly done deepfake. Anyone with eyesight could see that it was fake.

Almost everything else was great but the story makes a series and this one was so disappointing.

Honestly, 95% chance I'll skip season 2, if there ever is one.

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Don't even waste your time with this.

I expected something scary and fun, but this turned out to be so much dumber and unnecessarily gory and grotesque than I could have ever guessed. Doing things only for shock value is the trademark of a crappy plot. You don't bash someone's skull in unless you're a psycho who enjoys killing. It literally makes no sense to have an average high school kid do those types of things when there are so many other much less violent and bloody ways to kill a person (particularly if they're ASLEEP!).

So the parents of a girl bullied to death created a whole ass game, kidnapped a class full of kids, and have been keeping them hostage and unconscious (for goodness knows how long), so they can be killed again and again inside a simulation? The "they were trapped inside a game" trope has to be even worse than the "it was all just a dream" one. Oh, my god, I rolled my eyes so hard at that revelation, I may have permanent damage. Even the "ghost and other supernatural crap" would have been a much more preferable explanation.

Kudos for the actors for actually doing a super solid job, particularly the main girl. But someone come scrub my brain clean of this lame-ass show. I want my seven hours of watchtime back.

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