Light Shop series review: Kang Ful’s new show is packed with intrigue and chills

Joo Ji-hoon and Kim Ki-hee in ‘Light Shop’

For large parts of the first three episodes of lighting shopYou will be left wondering what this show is about. Is it a horror-thriller? Or is it just plain existential dread? You really wonder who these people are, what they’re doing, and why they all seem to have no connection to each other.

It’s only in Episode 4 that clarity comes in and things fall into place in this mystery-horror television show. Written by Kang Ful who created the complex and detailed superhero K-drama of 2023 going on, light shop is also adapted from his webtoon of the same name. The writing choices for this show are risky and daring. Will viewers have the patience to stick around for a few episodes to really understand what’s going on?

However, a true testament to Kang Ful’s writing is that the intrigue works and keeps you invested in the proceedings. The show begins with a man (Uhm Tae-gu) on a bus encountering a mysterious woman (Seolhyun) at a bus stop on a cold rainy night. Elsewhere, a high school student (Kim Ki-hee) sprints down a rainy street after hearing eerie footsteps behind her. A writer (Kim Min-ha) moves into a secret house where the lights turn on and off at a particular time, and where a tall, sinister figure lurks in the shadows. Meanwhile, a detective (Bae Seong-woo) is looking for a suspect in a case that is being written off as an accidental death. There’s also a nurse (Park Bo-young) who works as part of a cheery team of nurses in a pristine white ICU, caring for her patients while encountering some supernatural beings on the side.

At its center is a brightly lit shop filled with bulbs and lamps of all imaginable shapes and sizes, run by a single man (Joo Ji-hoon). Despite all these characters and other worldly creatures coming in from time to time, the incandescent shop seems to be the only safe place in a show that is otherwise filled with dark alleys, rainy bus stops, and scary houses. The atmospheric set-up here ensures a constant feeling of unease – you’re never unprepared for the upcoming jump scare. And the scares are also done well; This is not a cheap horror film. The build-up is really disturbing and episode 2 in particular stands out. Since there is little or no clarity about what is actually happening, this unpredictability works. lighting shop Do yourself a favor by making the most of its scary inclinations.

after going onIt’s no surprise lighting shop It also has a fantastic ensemble cast. While Park Bo-young and Joo Ji-hoon are scene stealers with their screen presence, Seol-hyun deserves a special mention because she appears to have less to do and yet she’s one of the most volatile in a show like this. Come out in a form in which there is already a lot out there.

Park Bo – Youth in ‘Light Shop’

At the midpoint, although episode 4 resolves many of the questions that have been raised in earlier episodes, there is still a lot of mystery and intrigue left to unravel. As an eight-episode K-drama (two episodes will be released weekly going forward), light shop It has potential and promise, especially because the mid-season K-drama won’t have the proverbial meltdown. The answers are just beginning to come.

Light Shop is currently streaming on Disney+Hotstar