User reviews

This drama is so stressful. Watching it, I was thinking about myself as being a student. I have never gone through this much. Maybe this drama is exaggerating much yet this practice is done someplaces. Like I watched a documentry where I got to know Korean students actually reads 12-14 hours.

However, I loved this drama. It has so many leyers, you can't but wandering around. Everyone is hiding something, everyone is trying to reach the top of the pyramid by any means. It also shows the bad side of Korean education system or can say harsh education system and misuse of power so amazingly. What happend in end, clarifies what actually education,moral, happiness actually means. Power doesn't buy happiness and peace of mind.

Honestly, one of main reason why Korean dramas aren't my cup of tea, is due to their big love of romantic comedy flick across so many cliches and plots. Sky Castle, being told as story about college entrance drama among residents of so-called Sky Castle, an exclusive housing complex for renowned scholars and doctors in the country.

Sky Castle begin with so much things to be explored. The nature of parent-child communication, the Asian perspective on college, the hardships and its system, and the high-class and low-class perspective (while it's too cliche to be true). The story feel so original for me, along with the characters that aren't so blatantly evil, so as the episodes go, I feel a sense of empathy for them. With the nature of conflict that getting more complex, each subplot also begin to develop nicely during each episode,to make the tension between the plot more shifted. The news of Korean being crazily into cram school and college depicted here with interesting ways, so that we got insights to what's (probably) happening to the country beside their Kpop.

As many fans pointed out, the additional four episodes due its popularity bring the prolonged closure that feels too different than the early episodes that feature many dark topics. While it's a shame to be a letdown, Sky Castle still makes me mesmerized and cried in the penultimate episode. The biggest award should be addressed to Yum-jung Ah who played the complex character Han seo-jin. Her heavy character backstory in the series provide much insights about her and how it affects the action.

What's turning me from giving the perfect score is the highly unreal characters in Lee-so im family. Like being a hero and angel and playing the opposites of Han family, makes me annoyed. The acting is okay, but the logic behind their action are so questionable (forgiving so many bad people around them easily) it's so dull.

However, being a Korean drama, we got many cliches like comedic subplot with exaggerating acting. I think it's best to overlook those kind of things because as a whole, Sky Castle provide an original story with many touching/deep subjects that maybe we can't have for a long time.

SKY Castle is a satirical drama that criticizes practices from corrupt business hierarchy to extreme parenting environments. The drama has impeccable directing, story is full of plot twists, comedy is subtle and melds well, and the cliffhangers are absolutely wild. The drama tends to often be dramatized, especially as it is a satirical work, but the underlying themes are never truly lost. Brilliant directing and production, engaging plot, convincing acting with a powerfully befitting soundtrack to boot. This drama is very well worth your time.

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who co-created the most powerful and influential K-drama I've ever seen.

Like many extremely stressed out and struggling students in Korea (and other parts of this world), my younger, Korean cousin committed suicide while in high school, due to the ruthless, Korean education system.

I was so angry about this for the longest time (like many others), and I even shared my own expressions regarding this subject.

But since I seemed to have an invisible and silent voice in this world, I was so grateful that this K-drama has had one of the highest views, ratings, and popularity, which means it has reached many within humanity, and hopefully touched many Souls with deeply heartfelt Life lessons.

The story seems to get better with each episode, and is multi-faceted with an abundance of relatable Life themes, to include (but not limited to):

facade vs authenticity, dishonesty vs honesty, back-stabbing vs loyalty, sympathy (from the logical mind) vs empathy (from the feeling Heart), mental intelligence vs emotional intelligence, shallowness vs deep character, superficial success vs true/Soul success, control vs freedom, conditional love vs Unconditional Love (for the self/others/interconnected Life), and much more.

Like other highly creative, well-made K-dramas, this one also includes:

a very well integrated web of stories (even with some exaggerations that enhances the moments)

outstanding and convincing actors/actresses /

raw emotions and heartfelt feelings /

intriguing, interesting, and even refreshingly BOLD characters that grow on you, especially most of the female characters (and some male characters) who reminded me of the authentic, wild, raw, courageous, confident, assertive, BOLD, and/or expressive, lioness-like female characters from the popular Netflix TV show, Ozark

engaging dialogues where verbal expressions and non-verbal cues perfectly matched

as well as drama, hilarious comedy, suspense, action, romance, friendships, Soul connections, dark/shadow/unknown aspects of humans, unexpected twists, hardship, tragedy, and more (to include effective contrasts).

This K-drama also shared a great reminder of why it's so important and highly beneficial to Be Inner Wealth (Prosperity Consciousness) FIRST AND FOREMOST, that includes personal values, deep character, Heart-centered intentions, Life interests/passions/dreams, positive beliefs, etc.; and especially Unconditional/True Love (for the self), which helps us to fully, truly, and UNconditionally love others as well, since we cannot give to others what we don't believe we have from within.

Unconditional Love is the most powerful force within this world and beyond.

I trust that this invaluable story has encouraged, supported, uplifted, empowered, and inspired many within humanity, especially students of this world, who can truly benefit from major changes/transformations.

This is what I call a amazing dorama.

Sky Castle is a dorama when you thing is going really high, they climb higher and make you be more than surprised. I remember when I watched it was at least one plot twist by episode.

I really recommend you to give a try. Sky Castle is a type of drama that every single character you need to keep an eye open because they could turn your hope into angry. This was a nonstop watching dorama, once you start you get addicted to the point you only think about what will happen and with who.

All of the families and his stories are really interesting. Each of one have your own feeling but make us rethink about how we should treat our family.

The OST was also amazing. I'm not the type of person that keep listening to the soundtrack once I finished the dorama but "We all lie" keeps in my mind everytime I remember of Sky Castle. The best OST I ever heard.

Wow, every episode just keeps get better as the story unfolds. It really brings awareness on the social issues concerning the education system and also how the high class members of society desperately tries to make sure their child succeed in every way. It also brings to light the stuffs students have to go through in dealing with pressure at home and at school.

I enjoyed watching this show. The story depicts the realities of a highly competitive society and complexities in the family. The struggle to be the best in one's environment in order to survive is a crucial point. This challenge apparently drives people to edges.

I noticed how forgiveness and reconciliation is quite easy for everyone.

I like the diversity of characters and roles in the plot. Each one deals with his own thing. For instance, the hilarious pyramid-obsessed dad was very traditional and authoritative yet lovable since he tried to adjust his restrictive character to preserve his love to his family.

Dr. Kang's wife is a typical mom who struggled to accommodate her in-laws' expectations as well as her social community by denying her flawed past. Maybe she was under the impression that her pretense will serve as a survival tool in order to co-exist against societal biases. However it eventually caught up on her. One can run but can't hide forever. She wants to protect her family at all cost even if entails resorting to drastic measures.

On a different note, coach Kim's dark tones and manipulations went overboard by taking advantage of desperate people's weaknesses at the same time gratifying her own. Although she may be evil on one side, but her soft spot surfaces when her daughter is involved. Also, when she got caught, she attempted to spare her men.

Hyena's tragic fate was undeserving. Her flaws could have been dealt with differently considering her existing circumstances. It's true that she had a perplexing personality that displayed a devious character in the making. Her struggle for love and acceptance went wayward. This is quite disturbing in the real sense. However, her other side also showed a loving daughter and strength of character. She wasn't given the chance to prove her worth thou.

In general, at least each one's unique battle shares a moral lesson for viewers.

This one is a surprise. The plot had so many layers, with comedy, drama, tragedy, even crime and especially mystery, taking over and keeping the interest high throughout the whole drama. The tension was just right as well as the thrill that it provided to be entertaining. The characters, moreover, where unique and dynamic, each one different from one another and helped built a nice story. So, unsurprisingly, the performances were top notch from everyone, but I should give special credit to the kids, that were remarkable. Finally, the cinematography had an odd shooting way, but it was okay overall. So, 9 out of 10.

All this chaos because everyone wants their kids to become doctors. Wonderfully acted and the story line is engaging compared to the plethora of rom-coms littered on my Netflix home screen. A tad too long, the final act last a couple episodes more than necessary. I can't say I enjoyed it on a personal level because holy ... 90% of the cast is sooo unlikable. Most of the time I was going ... eff these rich ass people ... Which goes to show you how well acted the families are.

Exaggerated and very narrow in its scope. There was no need for 20 episodes. Was also wondering how the overall rating adds up to 8.7 when most episodes are not even that highly rated?

This series .. Not only demonstrate the family relationships and how much parents can do for their child or to make it clear , they are ready to killf or their own greed using their children.. But it also state the cruelty of the world we are living in and how even money and power can't bring the joy , a human is looking for , 'cause simply a person can never be only satisfied with only the things he has .. But he must necessarily be on the top of the PYRAMID .... I think every single person should watch this .. From the children to the parent .. 'Cause the kids need to stand up for themselves and never give up their happiness for their parents and the parents never use their children to make the dreams they couldn't reach by pushing them . Love .. Is the only way to happiness

Outstanding drama with superb acting from the entire cast and great cinematography. The couples in an exclusive gated housing complex (Sky Castle) have ambitions for their children's education to make them the best whatever the cost. It is apparently a reflection of how some Korean parents put so much onus on their Children's ability to excel in their chosen career path (hopefully exaggerated) The various families all have differing ideas of what a parents role is and the acting certainly makes you believe they are real families. Suicide, conflict and murder will eventually make people appraise what is important in their life's.

A masterpiece, and not just the brilliant acting but also the writing, direction, OST, sound effects, camera work-all of it in perfect sync, perfect timing as each scene weaves its tragi-comic spell. The satire on these parents is spot on and very satisfying, but the effects of such obsessive behavior are wrenching for their kids. The series is relentless from the beginning in exposing the narcissism and danger of parental intrusion in their children's lives for their own self-glory.

Apart from it being well-directed and well-written, I love how intellectual it is-dealing with cryptic philosophy books such as "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" written by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and even Richard Dawkin's revolutionary evolution idea found on his book "The Selfish Gene".

As I finished it, I remembered this memorable and enlightening quote from the film Dead Poets Society:

"Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."

And I couldn't agree more...

For me this work was perfection in all kinds of ways, I wish many people around the world be able to understand the great message that this drama is trying to deliver. I highly recommend watching it you'll never regret it.

Let me explain, the show is very emotional, intense and deep. Not in the beginning so much so, but towards the end. I cried a lot in the last four episodes.

So, it's odd that such a serious and intense show with very emotional aspects to it also seemed very fake and silly on purpose?

Some of the characters came off as unreal, too unrealistic to seem serious. It made the show look like a joke in a way.

It didn't jive or mesh with the very serious and emotional aspect to the show.

But, in a way, it added comedic relief for the characters at times to seem so silly in an unrealistic way.

Many of the main characters weren't likeable at all. They were so cringe you'd hope they'd fail. But, a character that's normal, sane and likable comes along and is like the voice of reason amongst the other crazies. It adds a nice contrast. That one serious, realistic and normal character against the unrealistic nutty people. Many improve by the end of the show.

Sometimes, the plot circled over petty stuff, especially in the beginning. It dragged. But, that maybe were in only two episodes. Overall, the show was very interesting and engaging and left with many cliffhangers at the end of each episode.

The show was very strongly trying to teach you something. I'm not sure what that it. It's so obvious what they were trying to teach. But, at the same time it's confusing because are they saying you don't need to try so hard and force others to?

Personally, what I learned from this show is to not be so focused on your goals that you don't notice who you can help, and don't notice your friends, your family. Don't be so focused on your goals because of pride and prestige. Don't be so focused on your goals to the point that you are willing to harm others.

Don't use other people and your children as a trophy or a way to gain self esteem or clout. Don't have an inferiority complex motivating you to succeed.

That spending time with family is important.

Sky Castle was just phenomenal. As a teacher, I'd heard about the Korean educational system and what it was doing to the kids. And, while I think this rendition was a little exaggerated, I'm not sure it was that far off the mark.

All the actors were amazing. But two deserve special mention. Yum Jung-ah commanded every scene she was in. This talented woman can convey a world of emotion with the subtlest expressions. Equally good was Kim Seo-hyeong whose ominous presence provided just the right touch of mystery and menace. I kept thinking the plot would give the audience a slick, easy conclusion, but it didn't.

I watched this show because it is rated #1 as well as in viewership. This show only caught my interest and attention starting from Episode 14....The show is too boring and dragging from the beginning and I almost gave up because I fall asleep...the story and plot does seem going anywhere....the first part of story telling is too long...you could probable delete 5 to 6 episodes without affecting the story...My definition of a 10 score is excitement and interest from beginning to end...I still consider Crash Landing on You as my #1 and Kingdom as my #2...this won't be in my top 5 list...I've got to watch the other K-dramas..

It somehow managed to get more and more stupid each ep, I'm still in awe I wasted my time, you don't have to, go do something nice for yourself. It's another Kdrama about rich ahjummas, what did i expect anyway? (As a matter of fact I expected nothing but ok I do agree that Kim Seohyung is hot) One star for idk trying?

The first episode is seemingly quite mundane to begin with - however it suddenly goes from 0-100 and you're hooked. The acting is amazing, it's unlike any Korean drama I've ever seen before thus making it unique for its genre. The script is very well written, the acting is amazing and the way that it has been filmed is in many scenes very well thought of and artistic. There are details and symbols within each episode which are of importance for the storyline - it's a very well made show. It's worth noting that it satirically portrays a real life mindset reflected in the life's of many individuals and is surely an eye opener if observed from a certain perspective hence the pressure many parents put on their children when it comes to education and studying.

Its not about love story drama,between lovers.its about us-humans.its drama about human's greedy,pride,power and mindless crimes.