Sweet Home (Korean: 스위트홈) is a South Korean apocalyptic horror action fantasy television series starring Song Kang, Lee Jin-wook, and Lee Si-young. It is based on the Naver webtoon of the same name by Kim Carnby and Hwang Young-chan, which recorded over 2.1 billion net views. The first season was released on Netflix on December 18, 2020.[6][7] The second season was released on December 1, 2023.[8] A third season is scheduled for release in the summer of 2024.[9]
Sweet Home | |
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Also known as | Sweet Home 2 |
Hangul | 스위트홈 |
Revised Romanization | Seuwiteuhom |
McCune–Reischauer | Sŭwit'ŭhom |
Genre | |
Based on | Sweet Home by Kim Carnby and Hwang Young-chan |
Developed by | Studio Dragon (planning) |
Written by |
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Directed by |
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Creative director | Kim Seol-jin |
Starring | |
Music by |
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Country of origin | South Korea |
Original language | Korean |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 18 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Editor | Kim Woo-seok |
Camera setup | Single camera |
Running time | 44–60 minutes |
Production companies | |
Budget | ₩30 billion[5] |
Original release | |
Network | Netflix |
Release | December 18, 2020 present | –
After an unexpected tragedy kills his entire family and leaves him as the only survivor, Cha Hyun-su (Song Kang) leaves his family home and relocates into the run down apartment complex known as Green Home. One night, horrific monsters begin appearing and ravage the city. Hyun-su and his fellow residents band together within the confines of the complex and must fight for their survival against the new, otherworldly threat.
The survivors of Green Home venture out into the ruined world beyond its walls. Meanwhile, governmental bodies and scientific institutions continue in their efforts to study the monsters, hoping to find a cure.
Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
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1 | 10 | December 18, 2020 | ||
2 | 8 | December 1, 2023 |
No. overall | Episode | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | ||||||||
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Season 1 | ||||||||||||
1 | 1 | Lee Eung-bok, Jang Young-woo & Park So-hyun | Hong So-ri, Kim Hyung-min & Park So-jung | December 18, 2020 | ||||||||
In September 2020, Cha Hyun-su is a soldiers' target in what appears to be a no-man's land. A month earlier, he moved into Green Home, an apartment complex inhabited by a diverse group of residents. Depressed and suicidal, Hyun-su rarely leaves his apartment and depends on food deliveries. One night, he realizes that his ramyeon delivery was opened by his next door neighbor and witnesses her eating her pet cat. Horrified, he rushes back to his apartment, but she follows, transforming into a ravenous "glutton" monster. The monster attacks another resident, Yoon Ji-su, before leaping out a window. Meanwhile, a blood-sucking "vampire" monster attacks a group of residents on the ground floor, killing one of them. Lee Eun-hyuk and Seo Yi-kyung, a former firefighter, successfully force the monster outside and close the entrance shutters. Much to the residents' horror, they discover that the city outside them has been devastated by similar monstrous beings. | ||||||||||||
2 | 2 | Lee Eung-bok, Jang Young-woo & Park So-hyun | Hong So-ri, Kim Hyung-min & Park So-jung | December 18, 2020 | ||||||||
Flashbacks reveal Hyun-su's family's last moments before a fatal car crash which left him as the only survivor. In the present, Hyun-su learns online that certain symptoms like nosebleeds and auditory hallucinations indicate the onset of turning into a monster. Meanwhile, Ji-su and fellow resident Jung Jae-heon evade a blind "lotus root" monster and rescue Choi Yoon-jae, a resident who was attacked and tied up in his apartment by a burglar. Pyeon Sang-wook, the burglar, kills the "glutton" monster but is bit in the process. The residents on the ground floor shock and restrain him, fearing he might be infected. However, he escapes and goes back upstairs. Hyun-su rescues two young orphaned siblings, Kim Su-yeong and Kim Yeong-su, from an "eyeball" monster, and three are saved by Hyun-su's neighbor, Han Du-sik. Hyun-su begins to experience symptoms. | ||||||||||||
3 | 3 | Lee Eung-bok, Jang Young-woo & Park So-hyun | Hong So-ri, Kim Hyung-min & Park So-jung | December 18, 2020 | ||||||||
A power outage plunges the apartment complex into darkness. Hyun-su's monster urges begin to emerge, but he regains control and realizes he has acquired regenerative abilities. Meanwhile, a hulking "protein" monster chases and traps the orphans, but resident Im Myung-sook unexpectedly transforms into a monster and briefly subdues it, allowing the children to escape, before reverting back to human form. Jae-heon leads the "protein" monster on a chase towards a window, narrowly escaping as it jumps out. He, Ji-su, Myung-sook, Hyun-su, and the orphans settle in Du-sik's apartment for the night. In the basement, Yi-kyung restores the building's power but is ambushed and ensnared by a spider-like monster. The residents on the ground floor watch in shock as a national broadcast reveals the president turning into a monster. Yoon-jae joins the group, bringing food from his apartment. The next morning, Cha Jin-ok sees her daughter's location marked outside and opens the shutters to let her in. Lee Su-ung rushes outside to help the daughter; however, both are tragically killed by the "vampire" monster. | ||||||||||||
4 | 4 | Lee Eung-bok, Jang Young-woo & Park So-hyun | Hong So-ri, Kim Hyung-min & Park So-jung | December 18, 2020 | ||||||||
Yi-kyung escapes the basement and returns to the ground floor. A military broadcast debunks infection beliefs, revealing instead that humans transform into monsters when feeling intense desires. Hyun-su, Ji-su, and Jae-heon search outside Du-sik's apartment for other survivors, while Myung-sook and the orphans stay with Du-sik. An unseen force suddenly attacks Hyun-su, causing him to fall from the ninth floor to the ground. However, he survives the fall and is merely knocked unconscious for a few hours. Realizing he is a monster, the ground floor residents debate over whether to oust Hyun-su. Kim Suk-hyun, the complex's convenience store owner, demands that he be kicked out. However, he too starts to show symptoms, and is confined in a room along with Hyun-su. Sang-wook returns downstairs and beats Yoon-jae, who feigns symptoms to avoid him. Upstairs, Myung-sook has fully transformed into a dormant fetus-like monster in Du-sik's bathroom. | ||||||||||||
5 | 5 | Lee Eung-bok, Jang Young-woo & Park So-hyun | Hong So-ri, Kim Hyung-min & Park So-jung | December 18, 2020 | ||||||||
Noticing Jae-heon's shield made by Du-sik, Eun-hyuk orders Hyun-su to bring Du-sik downstairs. Sang-wook, having Yoon-jae's keys and pursuing his own agenda, also goes upstairs, occasionally beating Hyun-su back to consciousness whenever his monster side surfaces. However, monsters suddenly attack them, forcing the two to seek refuge with residents An Gil-seob and Park Yu-ri in their apartment. Sang-wook continues independently upstairs and unlocks a secured room using Yoon-jae's keys, where he discovers incriminating evidence and disturbing photographs of abused children, revealing Yoon-jae to be a child predator. Confronting Yoon-jae downstairs, Sang-wook goes all out and finally beats him to death. He drags Yoon-jae's body outside and retrieves Su-ung's and Jin-ok's daughter's bodies. Hyun-su also returns downstairs with Gil-seob, Yu-ri, Du-sik, and the children, and the group holds a funeral for the deceased. Yi-kyung discovers she is pregnant after taking a pregnancy test. As days pass, Hyun-su continues undertaking dangerous missions for Eun-hyuk and the group. | ||||||||||||
6 | 6 | Lee Eung-bok, Jang Young-woo & Park So-hyun | Hong So-ri, Kim Hyung-min & Park So-jung | December 18, 2020 | ||||||||
Flashbacks reveal that an intentional fire killed Sang-wook's father and left Sang-wook with burn scars when he was young. Seeking revenge, he murdered the arsonist responsible and has since established himself professionally as a contract killer. In the present, Suk-hyun finally transforms into a monster and is killed by his wife, An Seon-yeong, who endured his abuse for years. As food and water start to run low, Eun-hyuk realizes they must leave the complex soon and tasks Hyun-su with finding a functional car in the underground lot. Eun-hyuk, Sang-wook, Ji-su, and Jae-heon leave their posts to help Hyun-su after he is ambushed by various monsters. However, this enables the spider monster to break into the ground floor and attack the rest of the residents. More flashbacks delve into Yi-kyung's past and the mysterious disappearance of her fiancé, Nam Sang-won, days before their wedding. Yi-kyung leaves the complex in search of answers and finds crucial information in Sang-won's office: the monster transformations are believed to be curses, the government has been conducting experiments on people, including Sang-won, to combat the curse. Her discovery leads to capture by the military. | ||||||||||||
7 | 7 | Lee Eung-bok, Jang Young-woo & Park So-hyun | Hong So-ri, Kim Hyung-min & Park So-jung | December 18, 2020 | ||||||||
Under pressure from the military's interrogation, Yi-kyung reveals Hyun-su's ability to resist the curse. The military gives her a tracker and orders her to return to the complex, promising specifics on Sang-won in exchange for any information she can provide about Hyun-su. Meanwhile, the underground lot group returns to the ground floor just in time to kill the spider monster and save Du-sik. However, Ji-su suddenly falls ill from appendicitis and requires urgent medical attention. Despite his lack of experience, Eun-hyuk decides to perform surgery on her and sends out a team of Hyun-su, Sang-wook, Gil-seob, and Yu-ri to retrieve food, medicine, and medical tools. As soon as they leave, however, they are attacked by the "protein" monster, now much stronger and larger. Flashbacks reveal that Hyun-su was bullied in school, which resulted in his depression and a failed attempt at suicide. | ||||||||||||
8 | 8 | Lee Eung-bok, Jang Young-woo & Park So-hyun | Hong So-ri, Kim Hyung-min & Park So-jung | December 18, 2020 | ||||||||
Yi-kyung returns and drives a firetruck into the "protein" monster, impaling it on metal bars. Returning with supplies, Ji-su's surgery is successful, and she regains consciousness. Jae-heon promises to teach her how to use his jingum once she fully recovers. Seon-yeong reveals her symptoms to the group and suggests leaving the building, but they decide to have her remain in a separate room instead. Later that night, a military deserter infiltrates the complex and attempts to kill Yi-kyung, but she easily overpowers him, and the group holds him captive. She tells Hyun-su about the government's experiments and admits to revealing him to the military. The next day, the transformed monster janitor suddenly attacks the group with a weed trimmer and severs Jae-heon's arm. Realizing that he is losing too much blood to survive, Jae-heon sacrifices himself to divert the monster away from the group, allowing Eun-hyuk to throw a molotov cocktail, killing both Jae-heon and the monster. | ||||||||||||
9 | 9 | Lee Eung-bok, Jang Young-woo & Park So-hyun | Hong So-ri, Kim Hyung-min & Park So-jung | December 18, 2020 | ||||||||
Ji-su mourns Jae-heon's death; flashbacks reveal that he had confessed his feelings to her before fighting the monster. Suddenly, a gang of bandits storms in the complex, killing the deserter and holding the residents captive. Kim Ji-eun is killed by their leader, Shin Jung-seop. Seon-yeong (later on we find out it was actually Ui-myeong) transforms into a monster and intervenes, killing one of the bandits. Hyun-su kills her before she turns on the residents, but is heavily wounded in the process. Noticing his wounds healing, Jung-seop and Jung Ui-myeong take Hyun-su to the rooftop to torture him. Ui-myeong suddenly kills Jung-seop and reveals himself to Hyun-su as a shapeshifting half-monster due to a government experiment gone wrong. He believes that humans will never accept them and explains joining the bandits to hide his monster nature. Meanwhile, downstairs, Yu-ri kills a bandit, and the rest of the gang are killed by Yi-kyung and Sang-wook. Du-sik starts to show signs of transformation. Ui-myeong presses Hyun-su whether the survivors will stand by him, even as he remains a monster. | ||||||||||||
10 | 10 | Lee Eung-bok, Jang Young-woo & Park So-hyun | Hong So-ri, Kim Hyung-min & Park So-jung | December 18, 2020 | ||||||||
After witnessing the survivors kill a friendly goo monster, Hyun-su is convinced that society will not accept monsters like him. Ui-myeong reveals the military's plans to kill both monsters and humans. Later when Sang-wook and Yu-ri tries to leave Ui-myeong opens fire on the group, killing Sang-wook, Yu-ri, and No Byeong-il. To stop Ui-myeong, Hyun-su unleashes his true monster form and seemingly manages to defeat him. Du-sik calms Hyun-su down, reverting him back to human, but is killed in the process. Gil-seob also dies in his sleep from a preexisting illness. The residents discover a hatchway leading into an underground tunnel, which Gil-seob had been digging towards. That night, the military arrives and opens fire at the building, causing it to start collapsing. Hyun-su leaves to surrender himself while the others escape underground, except Eun-hyuk, who remains in the complex and seemingly dies in its collapse just as his nose begins to bleed. The surviving residents—Yi-kyung, Ji-su, Jin-ok, Eun-hyuk's younger sister Lee Eun-yu, Ryu Jae-hwan, Kang Seung-wan, and the orphans—exit the tunnel and are rescued, with Yi-kyung immediately enlisting in the military. Hyun-su wakes up in an armored vehicle and is greeted by Sang-wook, who is actually Ui-myeong in disguise. | ||||||||||||
Season 2 | ||||||||||||
11 | 1 | Unknown | Unknown | December 1, 2023 | ||||||||
12 | 2 | Unknown | Unknown | December 1, 2023 | ||||||||
13 | 3 | Unknown | Unknown | December 1, 2023 | ||||||||
14 | 4 | Unknown | Unknown | December 1, 2023 | ||||||||
15 | 5 | Unknown | Unknown | December 1, 2023 | ||||||||
16 | 6 | Unknown | Unknown | December 1, 2023 | ||||||||
17 | 7 | Unknown | Unknown | December 1, 2023 | ||||||||
18 | 8 | Unknown | Unknown | December 1, 2023 |
Director Lee Eung-bok "roughly" knew the ending of the Line Webtoon on which the series is based before the webtoon's finale in July 2020, though he decided to "differ a bit from the webtoon because [they're] showing on different platforms."[22] Ultimately, the live-action adaptation deviates dramatically from the original.
The series spent most of its budget, with each episode costing ₩3 billion.[5] Choreographer Kim Seol-jin and contortionist Troy James were chosen to record the monsters' movements through motion capture.[23]
Although filming had already started, Netflix officially announced the series' lineup on December 18, 2019, with Song Kang, Lee Jin-wook and Lee Si-young in lead roles, and Lee Do-hyun, Kim Nam-hee, Go Min-si, Park Gyu-young, Go Youn-jung, Kim Kap-soo and Kim Sang-ho as part of the ensemble cast.[24][25]
Lee Eung-bok revealed that, during Song Kang's audition, the actor reminded him of Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands: "an image of someone who has a pure and innocent soul but is holding a spear in his hand."[23] The actor was recommended to Lee Eung-bok by the director of Netflix's Love Alarm which propelled him to fame in August 2019.[26] Lee Si-young's character does not appear in the original webtoon but the director "wanted to add a female character who can pull off really cool action scenes"; the actress being a former amateur boxer. She trained for six months prior to filming the series.[23] Park Gyu-young admitted that she did not have high hopes about being picked for the series but "as soon as [she] left the audition set, the director called [her] and said to leave with a script."[23]
In September 2022, actress Bibi withdrew from filming due to timing and filming schedules, and an actress replaced her role.[27]
Principal photography began in September 2019 and filming was completed in February 2020.[28]
Designers from Legacy Effects, VFX Studio Westworld and Spectral Motion, who worked on films such as the Avengers and Avatar as well as the television series Game of Thrones and Stranger Things, were recruited for Sweet Home.[29][30]
On November 18, 2020, Netflix released a trailer for the series announcing that Sweet Home would premiere on December 18.[31] In June 2022, the series was picked up for two additional seasons.[32]
Sweet Home was the first South Korean series to enter Netflix's Top 10 in the United States,[22] reaching as high as third.[1] Three days after its release, the series ranked first in 8 regions and was within the Top 10 in 42 regions.[33] The show was viewed by 22 million paid subscribers worldwide in the first 4 weeks of its release and appeared in the Netflix top 10 in more than 70 countries.[34]
It was praised by viewers for its "high-quality visual effects" and "the deep human connections among the characters." However, many criticized the soundtrack which they believe did not fit with the story, as well as the lack of monsters in the latter episodes of the season. On this, director Lee Eung-bok said that "[he] know[s] some of the viewers were anticipating more gore, but [he] hope[s] they will understand why monsters were absent from some parts of our drama."[35]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 83% based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10.[36] The second season has an approval rating of 80% based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10.[37]
Kavya Christopher of The Times of India gave a rating of 4/5 and said, "One does not need to be a lover of the horror genre to enjoy this series, thanks to the many underlying plots of the various characters – both big and small. The action is superb, to say the least, and the drama is endearing at various levels."[38]
Joel Keller of Decider said that "despite its flaws and a premise we've seen before, Sweet Home distinguishes itself by its setting and its monsters. We will see if the drama between the survivors will keep us watching."[39]
Pierce Conran of South China Morning Post gave a rating of 3/5, saying that "despite a breathless opening episode and some grisly fun throughout, Sweet Home does not provide much of a story for viewers to get hooked on."[40]
In another mixed review, Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting said that "what sprints out of the gate and sets up an exciting creature-filled horror series quickly comes to a slow crawl zombie apocalypse that we've seen many times before. It just swaps out the zombies for monsters."[41]
Award ceremony | Year | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref. |
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Asian Academy Creative Awards | 2021 | Best Actress | Lee Si-young | Nominated | [42][43] |
Best Supporting Actor | Lee Do-hyun | Won | |||
Best Supporting Actress | Go Min-si | Nominated | |||
Best Direction | Lee Eung-bok | Won | |||
Best Visual OR Special in TV Series OR Feature Film | Sweet Home | Nominated | |||
Asia Contents Awards | ACA Excellence Award | Song Kang | Won | [44][45][46] | |
Best OTT Original | Sweet Home | Nominated | |||
Technical Achievement Award | Won | ||||
Creative Beyond Border | Nominated | ||||
Best Actress | Lee Si-young | Nominated | |||
Best Newcomer Actress | Go Min-si | Won | |||
Baeksang Arts Awards | 2021 | Best New Actor – Television | Song Kang | Nominated | [47] |
Best New Actress – Television | Park Gyu-young | Nominated | |||
Technical Award (Visual effects) | Lee Byung-joo | Nominated | |||
Seoul International Drama Awards | 2021 | Outstanding Korean Actor | Song Kang | Nominated | [48][49][50] |
Lee Do-hyun | Nominated | ||||
Character of the year | Song Kang | Won | |||
Outstanding Korean Drama | Sweet Home | Nominated |