"Revenant"/"The Devil" (2023) Kdrama Review: What I Like and Don't Like about It

"Revenant" Kdrama (2023) was an unexpected immersion into breathtaking acting, enthralling storytelling, and nail-biting suspense. Watching Tae Ri and Oh Jung Se perform felt like attending an acting masterclass. Every character has a lot of emotions and depth. This show holds up a mirror to human greed and its damaging aftermath. I think the drama deserves a lot of praise and applause. It’s not an exaggeration; it’s just my honest opinion. 

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Solid acting and more

"The Devil" has 3 Baeksang winners in it. That shows how good the cast's acting and writing are. The writer is from "Signal", one of the best scripts of 2016. I also liked the director’s previous drama "VIP." 

Kim Tae Ri knows how to choose a good script. She has only acted in a few dramas, yet she always tries new roles! Tae Ri and Oh Jung Se both delivered powerful performances throughout, especially in episodes 7 and 8 which were so intense and thrilling. 

In episode 7, Tae Ri showed how her character was overcome by grief and anger, while Oh Jung Se portrayed how his character was shocked and depressed by the truth. They had different reactions, but they were both brilliant. 

Episode 8 saw Tae Ri and Jung Se have a great scene on the cliff where they faced the sunrise. I watched it over and over again. It gave me goosebumps every time.

"I thought I deserved to die. But while I was tormented by that illusion, all I wanted was to live. And that's when you took my hand. Thank you." (Hae Sang to San Young)

The little girl who played Lee Mokdan is also talented. She has been in many dramas lately and she always does a great job. She has a bright future ahead of her. I like her beautiful big black eyes dearly.

I was mesmerized by her eyes~

The dark reality of greed

This drama shows how greed can ruin everything. It all started because of their greed, which brought them no peace or happiness. They proved that humans are the scariest creatures. Some people were willing to be possessed by ghosts for money. 

The most heartbreaking part was that Lee Mokdan’s family didn’t care about her. They tortured her and left her to die. I was so angry and sad when I saw that scene. I hope that grandmother gets what she deserves. She was so cruel and evil.

Intrigue, suspense, and surprises

"Revenant" Kdrama has one of the best plots I’ve ever seen. It’s so original and creative. It satisfies my curiosity for mysteries. The endings are always cliffhangers that make me want more. 

The story gets more interesting as it goes on. There are only 4 episodes left and I’m curious how Sanyeong and Professor Yeom will defeat the evil spirit. But I have a bad feeling that one of them will die in the end.  One of them will have to sacrifice themselves to save the other or everyone else. 

While this series is good, I’m worried about the ending. The writer is Kim Eun Hee, who sometimes leaves open endings for sequels that never happen. On the one hand, I hope that’s not the case this time. But on the other hand, I’m preparing my heart for any possibility :((

Chemistry or mystery?

Sanyeong and Haesang have good chemistry together. But I don’t expect too much romance in "The Devil" as it’s not the main focus. I just hope everyone gets a happy ending. Jung Se is good at playing a cold professor with charisma. He makes me forget his role in "It’s Okay to Not Be Okay" :)

Is it flawless?

We haven’t seen the whole story yet, but I don’t like how the cases are connected to the main mystery. Kim Eun Hee usually uses this pattern: we get a glimpse of the big intrigue in the first episodes and then it is slowly revealed through smaller cases solved by the main characters. But she was always good at making the connections natural. 

Here, maybe because it is the first time that the main leads are not investigators, things seem relatively obvious to the viewer in "Revenant" Kdrama. The female lead sees a map after finding a place and a ghost appears. She touches the first book in her father’s study and it mentions a town; she goes there and more ghosts appear. I expected more subtlety and cleverness from a famous writer. Where are the storytelling and the smart foreshadowing?

Besides the main duo, we have a pair of policemen. The older detective doesn’t believe in ghosts and suspects the female lead, but he is also a close friend of the male lead. That's why there is no conflict between them (a common trope to make the investigation more interesting, well done in Kim Eun Hee’s "Phantom"). 

Both groups do similar things in many aspects. Just in episode 4, both found the same newspaper article and they got pretty much the same information, just from different people. Normally, if there is more than one group investigating, they should start from different places or show the case from different perspectives. Otherwise, what’s their role in the plot? You could cut out the policemen parts for now and it wouldn’t change much except for the younger detective’s crush on the female lead. Is he (somehow) related to the ghost?

And one last thing, probably more related to the director, the horror genre isn't well used. It’s not super scary, maybe because everything is shown too directly and the atmosphere isn't excellently built up. The past scenes of the mystery should be used to create a creepy atmosphere, but everything is shown too quickly.

Final thoughts

"Revenant"/"The Devil" with its web of mystery and deep delve into humanity, has won hearts. The stellar performances by the cast have made it a standout in the realm of Kdramas. The unique portrayal of demons, rooted in Korean folklore, has added a touch of genius. Trust me, you'll want to give it a watch!

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Updated

Usually, I feel super anxious when watching decisive football matches, especially the one between France (my favorite) and Argentina last World Cup. But I felt the same way this time when seeing "Revenant" Kdrama's final episode. 

I had no idea what would happen next. I was scared that one of the trio might die. The episode also made me reflect on being grateful for what we have because someone else may be longing for what we don’t appreciate. It’s hard to survive in this world but let’s not lose hope, let’s live. Nothing is more valuable than your life, and if you lose it, you lose everything else too. Even if you didn’t succeed, you should be proud that you gave your best. That matters a lot. I hope Sanyoung will find joy, will keep hoping, never quit, never let go of her spirit and everything will be okay.

I think the writer wanted to show us how Sanyeong accepts her fate at the end when she closes her eyes and practices moving without seeing. She loses her eyesight in the final scene and says "Okay. I will strive to survive." That made me feel sad and hopeful at the same time. She decides to keep fighting for her life, no matter what challenges she faces, and also to be kind to herself along the way.

Sometimes you're so busy with life, drowning in responsibilities and dealing with problems, that you forget to look after yourself. The writer knows how that feels and wants to tell us something: don’t be too hard on yourself, no matter what life throws at you.

"The Devil" shows us how greed, anger, and revenge can haunt us like ghosts. Being human means we have to face pain and suffering, but if we don’t heal from these emotions and stay stuck in the negative, we weaken our spiritual and energetic defenses. I don’t consider myself a superstitious person, but even if you’re a total rationalist, I think these things can also have a scientific basis.

What you think about your life is important; your outlook can help you or hurt you. You are the one who decides how to react to everything that happens to you and this is something you need to work on constantly. It is not a magic formula. Even though I agree with these ideas, it doesn’t mean I can always use them in my own life. It is a skill that needs to be practiced every day and gets better with time.

Besides, I love how Professor Yeom and her Sunbae stayed by her side and supported her until the end. That’s how humans should help each other. Hyangi never experienced that as a human or as a ghost. She was still obsessed with killing her mother. Once your soul is corrupted, it’s hard to recover. She didn’t change at all and she got what she deserved.

Above all, "Revenant" was MASTERPIECE. Tae Ri showed her brilliant acting skills without relying on fancy clothes or makeup. She did a fantastic job playing 4 different roles (not 2) - Normal Sanyoung, Akwi Sanyoung, normal Sanyoung pretending to be Akwi Sanyoung, and Akwi Sanyoung becoming normal Sanyoung.  

Oh Jeong Se also delivered great performances. The plot twists and the cinematography were amazing too. It’s a shame it only had 12 episodes, but maybe that made it more impactful and memorable.