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Ju Ji-hoon and Kim Ki-hae in ‘Light Shop’
For a large part of the first three episodes of Light Shop, you are left wondering what the show is about. Is it a horror-thriller? Or is it just plain existential dread? You truly wonder who these people are, what they are doing, and why they all seem to have no relation to each other.
It is only in episode 4 that clarity dawns, and things seemingly fall into place in this mystery-horror television show. Written by Kang Full who made 2023’s complex and expansive superhero K-Drama Moving, Light Shop has also been adapted from his webtoon of the same name. The writing choices for this show are risky and brave. Will viewers have the patience to stick around for a couple of episodes to actually make sense of what is happening?
A true testament to Kang Full’s writing though is that the intrigue works and keeps you invested in the proceedings. The show begins with a man on a bus (Uhm Tae-goo) who encounters a mysterious woman (Seolhyun) at a bus stop on a cold rainy night. Elsewhere, a high school student(Kim Ki-hae) hurries down a rainy alley after hearing sinister footsteps following her. A writer (Kim Min-ha) moves into a seemingly decrypt house where the lights flicker on and off at a particular time, and where a tall, sinister figure lurks in the shadows. A detective (Bae Seong-woo) meanwhile, is hot on the trail of a suspect in a case which is being written off as an accidental death. There’s also a nurse (Park Bo-young) who works as a part of a cheery team of nurses in a pristine white ICU, tending to her patients while encountering some supernatural beings on the side.
Light Shop (Korean)
Episodes: 4 of 8
Director: Kim Hee-won
Writer: Kang Full
Cast: Ju Ji-hoon, Park Bo-young. Kim Seol-hyun, Bae Seong-woo
Storyline: A group of strangers is mysteriously drawn to a light shop where eerie and unsettling occurrences unfold. What is the connection between the shop and their past?
In the centre of it all is a brightly lit light shop with bulbs and lamps of all imaginable shapes and sizes, manned by a lone individual (Ju Ji-hoon). The incandescent shop, despite having all these characters and otherworldly beings troop in from time to time, is seemingly the only safe space on the show that is otherwise full of dark alleys, rainy bus stops, and creepy houses. The atmospheric set-up here ensures a constant sense of unease – you’re never quite prepared for an upcoming jump scare. And the scares too are done well; this is no cheesy horror film. The build-up is truly unsettling and episode 2 in particular stands out. Since there’s little to no clarity about what exactly is happening, this unpredictability works in Light Shop’s favour to make the most of its horror slant.
After Moving, it comes as no surprise that Light Shop too has a terrific ensemble cast. While Park Bo-young and Ju Ji-hoon are scene stealers with their screen presence, Seol-hyun deserves a special mention for having seemingly less to do and yet coming off as the most unsettling on a show that already has a lot to be creeped out by.
Park Bo -young in ‘Light Shop’
At the midway point, although episode 4 resolves many of the questions that have been building throughout the earlier episodes, it leaves plenty of mystery and intrigue still to be unravelled. As an eight-episode K-Drama (with two episodes releasing weekly going forward), Light Shop holds potential and promise, especially since there won’t be a proverbial mid-season K-Drama slump. The answers have just about begun to come in.
Light Shop is currently streaming on Disney+Hotstar
Published – December 06, 2024 12:36 pm IST
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Light Shop series review: Intrigue and chills aplenty in Kang Full’s new show
