Midnight Museum (2023)

Midnight Mess

I am going to start out by saying this drama is a hot mess in almost every way. Going into it, I overall enjoyed it. Searching for the missing artifacts was fun and interesting and I enjoyed the cameos from other GMMTV actors. But the sudden departure from that into some weird religious/sci-fi/fantasy combo really didn't work for me. The ending was rushed and I would say unsatisfying in some ways. The farther I got into it, the more obvious the plot holes, underdeveloped or abandoned plotlines, repetitiveness, lack of world building and character development became. I really wanted to like this drama. The trailer made it seem so entertaining, but I found myself disappointed in it. It's one saving grace is its actors who clearly gave their all and managed to keep me invested.

For me, Midnight Museum felt like two stories that were smashed together and nominally linked. The first part, as shown in the trailer, revolves around stolen cursed artifacts and the search for them. This was the most entertaining part of the drama for me. It wasn't perfect, the main story didn't seem to progress much due the episodic nature focusing on a single cursed object each episode, but for the most part, it worked well. The second part is where it lost me as it takes a sudden religious/sci-fi turn introducing gods, the four horsemen, the concept of a multiverse, the ability to communicate with people from the past, and more. These episodes also have a weird combination of excess dialogue with characters monologuing to try to explain the unexplainable and a fair amount of action. It's like the writers decided to suddenly make this a much deeper drama than it was initially and failed completely. In the end, none of it was properly explored or explained.

Besides the story itself, the pacing was also a mess. The pacing with the first half or so of the drama was okay. A bit slow at times, but not awful. It kept moving and I was still invested in the story. The second half is, again, where the issue was for me with another weird combination of being simultaneously too fast and too slow. As a whole, it felt rushed, but there were numerous scenes that felt incredibly slow. There was also the issue of repetitiveness, namely in that Dome ended up unconscious every single episode and Khatha repeatedly got his ass handed to him, and the predictability of the characters who all acted exactly as one would expect them to.

And speaking of characters, the lack of character development in this drama was shocking. The only character with any kind of progression I felt was Anthika and even hers was pretty nominal. Frankly, some of the side characters early on were better developed than the main ones. I did enjoy the bromance between Dome and Khatha which stayed just this side of romance. It definitely had the potential to go there and if there's a season 2, I could see them going that route. However, as the main characters, they just weren't particularly strong. The side characters just existed. They didn't add to the story in a meaningful way and the lack of background and opportunity to really get to know them meant that I wasn't invested in them and didn't feel much of anything regardless of what happened to them. That being said, I did like them, I just needed and wanted more.

While the characters were a bit of disappointment, the actors were not. This was a strong cast that was unfortunately underutilized. Gun is an incredible actor and his ability to portray multiple characters, while not surprising in the slightest, was fantastic to watch. I was not familiar with Tor prior to Midnight Museum, but I was also impressed with his acting. He absolutely held his own alongside Gun, he was expressive in all the right ways and I overall enjoyed his performance. He and Gun had great chemistry. The supporting cast also performed well aside from Tay whose performance I found underwhelming. Of the guest actors, Nanon stood out far above everyone else. I know he's a talented actor, but I haven't seen him portray multiple characters within a single drama before and he absolutely nailed it.

The production value was hit or miss. The museum was huge, but we only get to see a very small portion of it, and it felt far too empty. The CGI was good at times and painfully fake at others. It didn't help that a few of the actors didn't seem either familiar or comfortable acting with nothing which made the CGI for those scenes that much more awkward. I don't normally mention costuming, but leaving Dome wearing the grey tracksuit for a large part of the drama was just weird. And the women were often dressed in completely unpractical clothing for what they were doing. That being said, Anthika's dress at the auction was gorgeous and both Khathka's and Triphob's clothing were generally hits. I enjoyed the soundtrack for the most part. Other than a few moments, I didn't find it distracting but rather complementary, appropriate for what was going on in each scene.

Midnight Museum had the potential to be an absolute masterpiece. It's a true shame that it failed so hard to live up to that potential. Frankly, I should rate it lower than I did, but it was just entertaining enough to keep it at a 7. It's worth watching once, but no more and even then just for the first half and the acting. The ending, leaving it open to a second season, was disappointing and unnecessary. I honestly cannot picture a positive outcome for a second season.

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My mind went hollow

How do i feel about this series in the end ? ---- > Down in the dumps.

I really liked the initial few episodes which kept me going but the the last 2 to 3 episodes did not really make much sense to me.
Like ok i understand that they are trying to wrap up, but where is the connection . I had quite a few questions unanswered even at the end.

The whole idea of the series , the story, the acting was just amazing but there was no feeling of fulfillment. To be honest i am confused , not sure if this is because of the poor plot development or my inability to understand it. It was when they started introducing divine , Cult , good and evil , presence of other world - went downhill.
But not to disdain the initial 7 episodes , must say i truly enjoyed them and just could'nt stop my curiosity . They cameup with a unique plot and the actors Nailed their characters , you can really feel the pain , disgust , anger and cruelty only because of their amazing acting skills.

If you are into suspense thrillers , you can give it a watch. This has a new concept and interesting plot but the only thing is dont search for links just accept everything they show only then will it turn out a "good watch" for you. If you are familiar with GMMTV series then you might enjoy the special appearances of their actors in each episode.

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Good, but could have been better.

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

I love supernatural storyline but even this series took a drastic turn to the bizarre for me. The execution of the original story concept was not quite there. The script was good but not fully developed. There were many details that were not fleshed out which made many of the episodes seemed rushed, especially the last two. Episode 5 is when it started to crossover to the bizarre zone. Don’t get me started with the ending. See the spoiler alert at the end of this review if you want more information. This has an awesome cast in which the actors did an excellent job portraying their characters. My only critique is there are a lot of guest stars in this series. They all did a great job, but it felt like a GMMTV artist showcase at times. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it shifted the focus away from the main cast at times. I love the cinematograph and they did an awesome job with the special effects.




******Spoiler Alert******

I appreciate that they wanted to keep this interesting, but I wished they stuck with the lost/finding artifacts concept instead. Maybe it’s because I’m not religious but I found the overly religious tones in the series somewhat annoying at times.

I have mixed feelings about the ending. It hints to the possibility of a second season. This would be nice but I’m not going to hold my breath.

Regardless of another season, I wish this series had at least two more episodes so we could have received a fully develop script.

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A complete mess

I don't even know what I've just watched. I started it not knowing bout the plot but I liked the cast, it turns out that was the only thing worth it.
Full of plot holes.
Like, June? What/Who is her? She was introduced as a worker in the museum, but then it turns out she is a cursed object? She was related to the typewriter, they most likely appear at the same time and no one noticed. Suddenly nor Katha nor Triphob knew her, even though they had seemingly been working tgt. So what is with her?

And the boys with the crystal ball? Like, how did the second guy resurrect?

Nanon's character? First, he was a crippled boy who turned out to be a cursed object. But then, he is one of the Four Horsemen of the apocalypse. Call that character development.

And the queer-coded relationship between Dome and Katha. Was that intentional? Or does GMM simply not know how to write a proper friendship between two boys?

And the end is simply a rushed nonsensical mess, not even gonna talk about that, and the multiple different universes/realities or whatever.

All in all, I pushed myself to the end because I liked the acting but I feel like I've just wasted my time.

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This is a BL and no one can change my mind

First of all I loved that we had so many gmmtv guest actors and actresses. Second of all the main characters are gay and this was a romance. They kept saying they were like brothers, but the chemistry was there. I don't care if you disagree with me, I shipped them from beggining to end. The story was very interesting since we don't get to watch thrillers often (because they are not made frequently). The acting was on point, Gun was amazing as usual. Bright and Nanon were so good as psychos, too. The special effects were very poor and terrible, so it was kind of funny to watch. But overall I really liked the show and hope they make more like these.

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i loved midnight museum, i need more! (only slight spoiler at the end of review)

first off, this series was amazing! i cannot fault any of the actors in this series, they were all truly incredible. however, tor and gun were exceptional, their chemistry was INSANE! i was absolutely living for their bromance, i would love to see tor and gun act together again in the future.

i also loved how each episode featured other gmmtv actors, especially the 2nd episode! (i am biased bc i love mike and winny). but this was such a fun and creative way to show off their talent, i would love to see more series/episodes like this in the future.

the only reason why this is not 10 stars is because some parts i found a little confusing or hard to link up, although maybe i am just not that smart.. but it did not detract from my enjoyment of this series, i just had to have a friend help explain some parts to me lol.. the ending felt a little bit rushed as they spent more time at the start focusing on the artifacts and not so much the story telling that was told towards the end, however, overall i really enjoyed this series and will be watching it again sometime soon!

I NEED A SECOND SEASON, I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THEY WOULD SHOW US THAT SCENE WITH TAY AT THE END FOR NO REASON?!

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Bromance over Romance?

Not going to lie, this was one of the few series that I actually started while it was still airing. With the community & fans sharing constant clips, images, quotes etc, it was a hard series not to pickup.

The chemistry between the cast was great and can definitely be considered borderline BL. The overall story for the drama was good. You got the idea of the roles of the cursed objects throughout the series and these objects actually had a role in the outcome of the end of the drama. It wasn't just useless side stories. For example the Moths were used to determine that Dome had no memory.

Could it have been done better? Definitely! There were a lot of plot holes with both the main story line, side characters, character development and more. There was also a lot of useless scenes. I will admit I started to get bored / annoyed with dome "Sleeping" for 1/2 the series. Yes it did make sense in a way, but I would've preferred to see some more side stories leading up to the main event. Even a major time skip would've been better.

On the other hand, if you are a major fan of hurt scenes like myself (Guilty Pleasure Teehee), then definitely watch this drama. Each episodes contains one of the following: Fainting, Stabbing, Mind Control, Kidnapping, Fights etc. Needless to say you won't get bored.

One of the downsides of this drama was the wasted potential of the female characters. I fell in love with the character June since her original appearance. She was a strong minded & supportive character that had so much potential. The actress was extremely talented and it would've been great to see the character utilized more throughout the story as a key support pillar between dome & Khatha. This was also the same with Bam, except her character development & role in the drama became essentially useless in my eyes. With no real reason for her to be there, they might as well have left the character out completely. With little to no character development & backstory, what was the point.

The ending of the drama to me was lackluster. The opening for a second season was ok, but not executed in a way that excited me to finish season 1. If the drama doesn't get a season 2 then I'd definitely add it to the "Bad Endings" list. I'll have hope for now and wish for a second season.

Overall I will be adding this drama to my favorite's list. The chemistry between Gun & Tor is definitely a duo I'd like to see again. The overall story was great & the cast who played dome, khatha and june were amazing to the point that I believe they carried the series.

If you are a fan of hurt / comfort / borderline BL then it's definitely a must watch!

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CHCI DRUHOU SERII, NEZÁJEM

jak jako co to bylo za konec proste. ono melo byt 15 dilu, najednou to skoncilo na 10. dilu a jako co, OC3KAVAM DRUHOU SERII PROSTE.

katha a dome byli krasne duo

a jako ten vyvoj, ldy zacatek serialu byl proste ze jednotlive ty predmety, bylo to takove hororové a pak BUM, uplne jako velkejj pribeh

je uzasny, jak gun dokáže proste zahrat vlastne 3 ruzny odrudy postav. ja to nechápu, ty jeho facial expressions v průběhu the one oproti dome? no jako uz v not m3 jsem to videla zejo, ale aj tak!!
to same nanon, taky skvele portrayed ty 3 ruzny jako role nebo jak to rict

NO A JAKO BAM JAKTO ZE SI KURNIK NEPAMATUJE, KDO JE TRIPHOB! on se pro nu nejak obetoval, ale moc nevim jak jako. ale achjo, to je smutne:(

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Folger's 2009 Home for Christmas Commercial

From premise alone, Midnight Museum looks like a show that should be good by default. I finally decided to watch it after someone told me it was actually shit. After finishing it I can see why they said that. 8.3/10 is definitely generous.

From looking at the comments I can see everyone is thinking the same thing. Midnight Museum's storytelling is messy and poorly done. Each plot is interesting, but perhaps too ambitious to execute. Questions that should be answered or at least teased are left with the audience for too long, to the point that a "reveal" loses impact because you've already forgotten which element it connects to or what happened in a previous episode. Some questions are never answered. Some things that don't need explaining are given unnecessary exposition, like the snake dagger. A good storyteller should have a grasp on what the audience needs to be told, what can be hinted, and what the audience is smart enough to understand on their own. Midnight Museum failed miserably with this. It's actually unfortunate that the storytelling is the worst aspect of this show when the premise has so much potential to be good. So many shows have proven that an episodic formula can impact the audience: one episode is enough to emotionally connect the characters with the audience. Hotel Del Luna did it, and on the lesser budget side, Nightmare Teacher did it too. Every once in a while, Midnight Museum had a standout scene or the right setup for an impactful episode. But for some reason, the storytelling fell apart so dramatically throughout the entire show.

But even those who finished the show and came to MDL to write confused comments still seem to want a season 2. Part of it probably has to do with the acting. Now I have to give a full disclaimer, all the actors in Midnight Museum are by no means great actors. Some of them aren't even good actors. Some aren't even decent. What I really have to give immense credit to is the vision the casting director had when selecting an actor for each role. Know an actor's strengths, and stay away from their weaknesses, and even someone like Bright can stand beside a powerhouse actor like Pat and give a memorable performance. That honestly shocked me a bit.

Of course it was the talented actors who left the best impressions. As one would expect, it's a contracted actor giving a standout performance. Tor is undoubtable, and the scene where Khatha smashes the charred corpse and then holds Chan as he dies a second time is probably the best scene in the show (although the fight in the middle was pretty bad). There's not much to say, actors like him, Fah, and Gun elevated the show to a unique level whenever they were giving their best performance. Although I am disappointed that Gun spent so much time playing Dome or Chan. Very uninteresting characters. The short amount of time he spent as The One reminded me that he is a great actor after all, since I was beginning to doubt him. Unfortunately the role passed over to Nanon, who I think suited Ton the mannequin more appropriately. Having him play Dome and The One, and just three characters in general, feels like a bit much. His long monologue in the final episode was decent, and although I really had no fucking clue what he was saying (because the storytelling was so shit), I was able to sit through it without skipping. But I saw the scene get praised for his outstanding talent before I watched the show. Personally I think "outstanding" is a bit of an overshot. Obviously there are plenty of actors in Midnight Museum who did much worse, but their roles were more minor. As Ton the mannequin, he was good. For The One, I give him decent. Foei, by the way, can go straight to hell. Replace him with literally anyone.

On the topic of visuals, personally, bad CGI doesn't bother me. But this also has to be possibly the worst CGI I've ever seen in my entire life. It was so bad that I was laughing multiple times throughout the show, I couldn't appreciate things like character deaths that should have been impactful, and after the scene where Chan dies a second time, my tears dried up instantly and I had to try not to laugh too hard watching Nanon's Dome shoot fireballs at the meteors. I know we're on a budget, but oh my god.

Still, the good idea behind the show, even if the execution was bad, is why people want a season 2. I'm not sure if I'd watch a season 2; I watch bad shows all the time, so I'm impartial. Something a season 2 could improve on is a better use of budget. Some scenes looked expensive simply because a talented actor was on screen, or because there was no CGI being used. This honestly goes for every GMMTV show, but we need more talent on-screen. Whether that means contracting more independent actors, or actually signing more talented actors to be part of the agency. Also, my friend Reinee Seezinz is right. A little more ethnic representation wouldn't kill anyone. And as far as the terrible storytelling, I have no idea what went wrong. Was the premise of Midnight Museum just too ambitious? I don't know. Good luck next time though.

On a final note, I can't say I've ever seen two bros done the same way as in Midnight Museum. That was interesting for sure.

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BEST MYSTERY SHOW!

I am scif-fi geek and a sucker for mystery genre. So, of course I loved Midnight Museum.

I understand that many people didn't get many of the scenes and story(me included), but that's the fun! I love to interpret on my own because that leads to endless possibilities.

Tor and Gun had an intense chemistry. Call it whatever you want but I will call it love. Let me be delusional...

The rest of the main cast also did well...

Please give it a go - I can guarantee your jaw will drop in shock in every episode. If you don't understand something, check out my review where I have explained everything: https://medium.com/@purple3dazzle/haunted-and-mysterious-midnight-museum-thai-series-review-key-observations-only-1beb44a7a01b

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