Mad Concrete Dreams (HBO Max)
12 episodes; starring Ha Jung Woo, Im Soo Jung, Kim Jun Han, Jung Soo Jung, Shim Eun Kyung, Park Seo Kyung
Given how K-dramas are often globally known as unabashedly sentimental melodramas and romances—while Korean films that tend to make waves on the international festival circuit typically provide grittier social commentary—it’s always interesting to see the darker storytelling of Korean cinema translated to the longer format of network television. This is what the tvN drama Mad Concrete Dreams attempts in its story of a debt-ridden landlord reluctantly becoming involved in the kidnapping of a wealthy real estate mogul’s daughter.
Over the course of its 12 episodes, this black-comedy thriller gradually reveals the layers of its class dynamics through a series of effective twists, supported by a cast of capable performers. But as interesting a picture as it ends up painting by the end, the series has difficulty moving from one idea to another, leading to a plot that spends much of its time spinning its wheels and stretching the limits of its believability.
Mad Concrete Dreams has no trouble establishing intrigue at the beginning. The show has all the visual polish you would expect from something that can also be streamed on HBO Max, with muted colors reflecting its more cynical world and occasional bursts of action that make these domestic interiors just feel tainted with violence. Editing also constantly builds a sense of a bigger picture beyond the protagonists’ control, as the series moves between various points of view. And whenever new, damning information comes to light, or whenever another innocent person gets dragged into the mess, director Yim Pil Sung knows how to ratchet up the tension.
But even as each new reveal raises the stakes considerably, it becomes clear about halfway through that the show depends so much on escalating the drama—to the point that it seems to have little else up its sleeve. What initially comes across as high-intensity, polished filmmaking begins to appear frustratingly limited, too. So much of the storytelling here is just too literal, its scenes often limited to talking heads. And for a show about real estate development, it isn’t nearly as expressive or ambitious as it could be with the role its setting plays in the narrative.
That Mad Concrete Dreams gets stuck in the same increasingly predictable pattern eventually affects the performances, as well. As the landlord Ki Su Jong, Ha Jung Woo evokes plenty of pathos, especially when the character is made to face his complicity and cowardice. But between big reveals, the actor also doesn’t give a clear sense of internal progression, or of the corruption of Su Jong’s soul. The same can be said for Im Soo Jung (as Su Jong’s wife, Kim Seon), Kim Jun Han (as Su Jong’s friend, Min Hwal Seong, the mastermind of the kidnapping), and Shim Eun Kyung (as mysterious criminal operative Yo Na)—strong in moments of crisis but opaque in terms of rendering their characters’ inner lives.
That the series gets stuck in the same increasingly predictable pattern eventually affects the performances
There are a couple of exceptions to this, however. As Su Jong and Seon’s mute daughter, Da Rae, teenage actress Park Seo Kyung manages to convey a whole range of troubled, conflicting emotion, all without dialogue. And as Jeon Yi Kyung, Hwal Seong’s wife and the victim of the kidnapping, Jung Soo Jung is easily the series’ MVP. Even when the character begins to make highly unconvincing decisions, the actress’ growing horror at the situation she’s in has no trace of vanity to it.
There’s a lot of thematic richness to Oh Han Ki’s script that these actors can draw from; it’s just that it tends to be restricted by the rigidity of its plot. The story’s insistence on one-upping itself (at times, setting up suspenseful situations that are resolved far too easily) doesn’t give the characters space to convince us how their decisions are being shaped amid all this. This leads to a wholly unnecessary ending that teases even more outlandish situations rather than allowing these characters to come to a definitive understanding of everything they’ve been through.
Behind these choices, Mad Concrete Dreams really does offer up ideas worth exploring. The seemingly random misfortunes that befall Su Jong and his family are ultimately revealed to be consequences of the whims of the richer, more powerful people around them. And the subsequent challenges to their morality—how far would they go to pay their debts and guarantee their family’s safety?—also expose how the dreams of success of the middle class are woven into the corrupt interests of the ruling class. They’re forced to play according to broken rules. If only the show had more trust in these themes than in moments of shock and awe.
‘Mad Concrete Dreams’ is streaming on HBO Max.
