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Hometown: A South Korean TV series which includes a few tropes, serial killers, cults, noir, police procedural, but taken together with all of the violence and death involved it elides into the slipstream of Horror. Set in 2000, 1999, 1987 with shorter flashbacks to other years. In 1987 members of a cult launch a gas attack at a railway station killing hundreds. In 1999, detective Choi Hyung-in who lost his wife in the 1987 attack sees a pattern in seemingly random killings and suspects that the cult is back. Only one person was ever convicted of involvement in the attack, Jo Kyung-ho; his sister Jo Jung-hyun becomes involved in the case after her niece goes missing, The timelines cut back and forth, often in a confusing manner so keep off your phone when you're watching this. Killer cults may have milder cults as fronts but paradoxically this makes it even more difficult to infiltrate them. The use of mind control through mixtapes and video tapes is portrayed in a convincing yet horrific manner. The violence isn't just that of the mass killings, individual deaths are also shown in a traumatic way. There are 12 hour long episodes, the strands gradually weave together as the series reaches a conclusion. It all fits together in the final episode. At least i think it does! Stick with this one and you'll find it rewarding. Directed by Park Hyun Suk,Written by Joo Jin. On Netflix. 8/10.

It is quite strange to say this but this series really has some similarities with the Indian series " Sacred Games" specially in the part of that cult and what they wanted to achieve, their plan to recreate that gas attack again and kill people of that whole town, the police officer who was connected and the mastermind's father part where the police officer was giving him water and most importantly this " Guru" thing who's the mastermind of all. Though this series doesn't have the same storyline as that Indian one but it is somehow similar if you try to think about only the major parts. Though I think it can be coincidence that these similarities are there but deep down I'm still in dilemma whether it's really a coincidence or this series is inspired from Sacred Games!!

I'm giving Hometown two stars because the talent onscreen is not terrible and because it's competently shot. Everything else is an exercise in what NOT to do when approaching a police procedural thriller. I'm starting to think that the flavor of this show is irrelevant because you have a female lead who has uncovered critical evidence that could greatly impact the investigation of her missing niece, yet she says NOTHING when the lead detective comes over for tea. Instead, she reflects on her life struggles while he literally tells her the case is stumping him. Not to mention the police fail multiple times to follow up on the most obvious of leads.

When you watch the main characters literally do the opposite of what normal people would do in their situation over and over again just to prolong the "drama", it becomes abundantly clear that the writers are not suited for TV of this caliber. The plot progression couldn't be written worse. Solving the case is not the point here, it's obviously all about getting to know the selfish characters who care so little for the victims of the crimes that brought us here to begin with.

At first I just chalked it up to poor editing combined with localization issues, but after approaching episode four, I know this is not the case. Hometown is an exercise that wallows in pitiful and mind-numbingly drawn out rubbish. If that's your cup of tea, more power to you.

Anyone leaving a high rating for this show is either not paying attention, getting inebriated when watching, or has little to no comprehension of how a clock works let alone a competent storyline about solving crimes.

Hometown impresses with its atmosphere, character depth, and suspenseful pacing. But the similarities to the Japanese film Cure (1997) are hard to ignore: hypnotic suggestion, memory lapses, senseless murders, and a mysterious man behind bars pulling the strings. Even the overall mood and slow-burn storytelling feel very much alike. Watching Cure after Hometown is like realizing you've seen this story before-just told in a different country, in a different style. It's surprising that this connection hasn't been widely acknowledged. Still, for fans of dark, psychological thrillers, both are absolutely worth watching-maybe even more so together.

Can't keep track of the characters and timelines!

Korean series are a challenge for a lot of Anglos because of the characters' names being hard to recognize and remember. This series adds flash forwards and flash backs and having different actors play the same characters in the different timelines and that all adds to the problem of keeping track of who is whom.

I had to just stop watching in the middle of episode 2-I just could not figure out who was missing, who was murdered, when did things happen and how were these people related?

I was up for putting in effort and paying close attention and still I just couldn't figure out what was going on!

Im basically a fan of Korean detective series, but couldn't watch this one.

Bummers.