The latest K-drama Revenant or The Devil debuted with impressive numbers, but how does the story of the devil fare in popular opinion? Check out our first-week review below. Revenant debuted on June 23 with 9.9 per cent national ratings. Kim Tae Ri, Oh Jung Se, and Hong Kyung play the lead roles. The twelve-episode mystery-horror thriller drama directed by Lee Jung Rim and Kim Jae Hong and written by Kim Eun Hee, the show airs on SBS and Disney+ Hotstar every Friday and Saturday at 6.30 PM [10.00 PM (KST)]
Revenant Storyline
The mystery horror follows Gu San Yeong (Kim Tae Ri), a young girl who has been typing hard to make ends meet. While living with her trouble-making mother, she discovers the truths about her late father’s life as unexpected deaths occur all around her. She encounters Yeom Hae Sang (Oh Jung Se), a folklorist and university professor who believes she has been possessed by the same bad spirit that killed his mother and that he can see it. The two link hands, confused and desperate to get to the bottom of this.
Initial opinion on Revenant
The show, sometimes known as The Devil or Demon, stars Kim Tae Ri from Twenty-Five, Twenty-One in a new role as a young girl named Gu San Yeong. She is bound by the chains of a strained family dynamic, with a father she thought was dead for 15 years and a mother who invites trouble wherever she goes. Things change when her father dies as a result of a ‘demonic act,’ and she runs upon a former acquaintance during the wake.
Oh Jung Se plays Yeom Hae Sang, a Korean folklore university professor who investigates buried artefacts for their connection to the dead. He argues that a dangerous demonic spirit has clung to Gu San Yeong and is endangering those around her by killing people who have harmed her or for whom she harbours resentment. While the setup is nothing new, what has kept us interested from the start has been the show’s sheer eerieness, as well as the duality in Kim Tae Ri’s acting. The young actress swiftly transforms from a hardworking breadwinner for her family to a clumsy and exuberant person in the presence of her friend. She is not scared to face anything that comes her way, but she has a difficult time accepting anything she cannot see for herself. She believes in the law of cause and effect, but she is also determined to help others around her. We’re expecting another hit run from the “100% success rate K-drama star.”
Revenant: Oh Jung Se and Hong Kyung
Oh Jung Se, best known for his depiction of a character named Moon Sang Tae who is on the autistic spectrum in It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, returns in this drama in yet another hard role as a professor looking for solutions. He has a dark air around him and dismisses Gu San Yeong’s many questions, but the two are supposed to grow closer and aid one other over time. Meanwhile, Hong Kyung portrays Lee Hong Sae, a detective of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Violent Crime Investigation Unit.
At first, he is simply interested in the simmering conflict between the girl who appears to be hiding many secrets and this older man who seems to have some relationship with her. As the plot progresses, the probability of him appearing to assist the two grows.
Overall opinion on Revenant
While it is mostly a horror narrative, there are brief moments of respite as Kim Tae Ri’s character balances her life on the verge of a demonic invasion. We intend to watch the show as it progresses and then return at the conclusion for a binge-watch.
