Les Silences de la forêt

This 8-episode series made my weekend fly by. I was gripping my seat trying to figure out what was going to happen next or yelling at the screen the whole time. The direction, writing and acting were all top notch. If you're looking for something to watch while multitasking, this is not it. You will need to pay attention if you want to understand what's going on. There are great performances by great actors in this show. They agreed to act in a production when they weren't even main characters. I believe that shows you what a quality mystery/thriller this is. I plan to watch again just to make sure I didn't miss any interesting tidbits.

Plot just doesn't make sense, it assumes everyone around Ko Min-Si is moron to make a great thriller queen character strong.

I think the plot of this drama is like Japanese Isekai anime, where characters say "Is this the 'Table'? Incredible idea!"

Characters other than Ko just doesn't know things as easy as Table. I would say it is an insult to the viewers just like another review says.

The acting and mise en scene is great. Ko is portrayed really pretty and gives another reason to watch the drama till the end.

In conclusion, I would say there are better series to watch on Netflix if you don't understand Korean without subtitles or have special interest in Korean dramas.

As far in as episode 3 and what can I say, this is a good thriller, suspense crime series and it is quite the watch, acting is superb. Nevertheless, in all general point of interest, 6/10.

The suspense and mystery has been way more than the movie itself. I keep questioning the screenwriter or Netflix itself, what are we writing here? What's the point? Where is the head? Where's the tail? Where are we going? Finished episode 3 for an 8 episode series and I still don't know the point or the destination. They keep dragging it and I hope my movie taste doesn't become sour. I do hope it is worth the drag.

After bing-watching the whole series today... It is true, it is slow paced (at least the first 3 episodes) However I find that necessary to build the tension, exactly the way it does.

Go Minsi's acting is formidable, which by the way, it is not a surprise. Her voice, visuals, acting skills... She nailed the role.

The series is really well written and you can feel the heavy atmosphere, I ran out of air a few times while watching it. It feels like a live action of a Stephen King's book. Everything is on point: from the actors and actresses to the story, from the photograpy to the music.

Give it a try, you won't regret it!

Plot

A man's life unravels when a mysterious woman arrives at his motel one summer, forcing him to grasp tightly to what he cherishes most.

Cast

Everyone is great but Kim Yoon-seok and Go Min-si deliver standout performances.

Verdict

I'll be honest I'm at the stage now where I see a South Korean movie or tv show and I don't hesitate, they've been consistently knocking it out the park lately. Seeing The Frog released and seeing it be a limited series so no risk of a premature cancellation I leapt in excited but did it live up to my high Korean expectations? Not really, no.

You see The Frog tells quite the captivating tale and delivers fantastic performances but it's an extremely slow burn that suffers with one major glaring flaw. That the leading mans behavior is so illogical, so baffling, so unbelievable that it irreparably damages the whole thing. I spent each episode scratching my head, struggling to empathize with this gentleman as what he was doing was counter productive, he was bringing it all on himself stage after stage after stage and at no point did he do any of the things that could have brought his woes to an immediate halt.

Top that off with the analogies, the reason it's called The Frog is explained and touched upon lightly and it's positively awful. And don't even get me started with the line that the narrator opens with in every single episode, what was that all about? No I get it don't get me wrong, but it's such a wafer this metaphor it simply didn't work.

The Frog has its strengths and is worth a watch, but you must suspend a lot of disbelief and forgive it for some truly baffling writing decisions.

Rants

No spoilers here but really? Really!? How did he let it get to that stage. I can think off many ways to have cut that down straight out of the gate, I mean okay that wouldn't have allowed the show to happen but still! How weak do you need to be to allow people to behave like that with you? How far would you allow it to go? It baffles me. It's like bullying, I've never understood it on either side. I don't get the mentality of the bully and why they think their behavior is acceptable and I don't understand why the victim allows it. I just, don't get any of it.

The Good

Kim Yoon-seok and Go Min-si are excellent Some decent moments Slow burns well for the most part Great cinematography

The Bad

The writing is often deeply confusing Unbelievable in places The slow burn fumbles in places.