Bullet Point Review: Strangers from Hell

Spoilers Ahead…

• When Yoon Jong Woo (Im Siwan) moves to Seoul to join work at his (university) senior’s company, the one advice his mom constantly gives is to not trust strangers, as humans are the most frightening beings. This piece of advice turns into a ten-episode long character study when Jong Woo takes residence in an unbelievably cheap boarding studio, with some extremely suspicious occupants. The storyline then traces Jong Woo’s slow but sure descent into paranoia, uncontrollable rage, and madness, as he unearths the true intent of the studio, while also attempting to provide an answer to the age-old dilemma of whether monsters are born or created?
• The drama doesn’t have much going on in terms of a plot per se, with each episode chronicling every single day in Jong Woo’s life after he moves into the boarding studio, with respect to his deteriorating relationship with his boss, co-workers, his girlfriend and his increasing involvement with his studio neighbours. Is it because of the studio’s innate nightmarish atmosphere (amplified by a talented supporting cast of Park Jong Hwan as Byeon Deuk Jong, the stuttering twin with a hair-raising giggle and Lee Joong Ok as the pervert Hong Nam Bok) which causes Jong Woo to have nightmares every single night? Or is it because of his job, where he is constantly (verbally) harassed by his mentor (Kim Han Jong) and looked down upon by his boss (Chae Rae Hyoung)? Or is it because his girlfriend (Kim Ji Eun) refuses to hear out any of his suspicions and fear about the place? Were these the factors that pushed Jong Woo into madness or was the rage and violence already a part of him, and just had to be awoken? There is a recurring nightmare from his military days that seems to suggest this, but the contents and nature of the incident go unexplained.
• From the time we meet Jong Woo, there are moments that seem to suggest him harbouring some sort of resentment, even before he starts rubbing shoulders with the studio’s occupants. He is forced to take up a job he doesn’t want to do, in order to support his family (he wants to become a writer) and he definitely isn’t proud of his living circumstances which is directly indicative of his monetary situation. He becomes more frustrated by living and working in a system that encourages bullying and harassment just because of one’s seniority and is then excepted to bottle everything in and continue working. That is why when he meets Kang Sun Woon (played by Noh Jong Hyun), all the things that bother him, largely about the studio and it’s occupants, all come pouring out. There is also a poignant scene where when drunk, Jong Woo contemplates how life would have been different if he didn’t stay at the studio, and how he would have actually enjoyed his work, enjoyed his team dinners, and gotten more time to spend with his girlfriend. In his eyes, the boarding studio’s ominous presence and it’s sinister residents, are the cause of all his troubles.

• Siwan as Jong Woo is an excellent choice. He is constantly described as handsome and looking younger than his age, and with a girlfriend and now a job, there are many who come to envy him. His small stature also presents him as someone unlikely to snap or launch into a full rage-fueled attack.
  Siwan plays Jong Woo with a touch of vulnerability, even when he doesn’t seem like a character to root for. Watch the scene where he dreads to return to the studio, by refusing to tell the taxi driver his address and choosing to sleep in the police patrol station instead.
• The boarding studio is named Eden Studio with a purpose. It’s run by Eom Bok Soon (the brilliant Lee Jung Eun, who recently starred in Parasite), a Christian, so there is the religious connotation, but more importantly, it represents the paradise which Seo Moon Jo (a deliciously chilling Lee Dong Wook) in his own twisted way, feels the studio represents. He repeatedly probes Jong Woo on how in Eden Hostel you can be whatever you want to be, speak whatever you want, and not hide your true thoughts as that is the meaning of true freedom, hence, a paradise. You can be a serial killer, with a side job as a dentist, you can be a frequent sexual offender but no one will judge you.
  But the irony remains that it is, after all, a prison. Jong Woo can never escape it because he simply can’t afford another place. Bok Soo and the other residents can’t leave until Moon Jo believes that his work is done. Also, we never hear the occupants' names, as they only refer to each other as Unit 301, Unit 303, and so on, echoing the cell numbers in a prison.
• Scenes often transition seamlessly from one character to another, both performing the same action or with backgrounds blending into one another. This continuous flow of scenes gives the impression that all the characters, not only Jong Woo, are stuck in some kind of a rut, run on jealousy, anger, inferiority complex, which everyone is constantly trying to escape. Min Ji Eun, Jong Woo’s girlfriend, also has to work with a difficult boss, who seems to derive joy from taunting her constantly and giving her more and more work. Jong Woo’s boss who seems to support him actually is jealous of him being younger and having a beautiful girlfriend. Jong Woo’s mentor too takes out his anger stemming from his own lack of confidence, onto Jong Woo, and keeps misleading his false cool demeanor as indifference. These characters then seem no different from the studio’s residents.
• There are two fabulously staged scenes with Moon Jo, Jong Woo, Sun Woo and in all probability some human meat, that really makes you shuffle uncomfortably in your seat. Another such scene, wonderfully acted by Lee Jung Eun, involves singing in a karaoke bar. Such scenes were more effective in delivering the chills, as compared to all the blood and gore, which tire you out in repeated viewings.
• The twist at the end left me more perplexed than shocked, as I had to rack my brains a bit to understand the choice of it, but in hindsight, it works and is definitely an ending that stays with you even after the show ends.