Cheese in the Trap (2018)

Incoherent, dull and bland like unseasoned chicken. It really feels like they strung a few different scenes together - there's hardly any plot and characterisation, if any at all. I didn't find the acting bad, but in the end it didn't amount to anything, since the film only scratches the surface of the characters' thoughts and motives. I doubt anyone who hasn't read the webtoon and/or watched the drama would make any sense of what they were watching and wouldn't drop it after half an hour of random images. As for the music, apart from a song towards the end, the rest was rather unmemorable.

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“Soft” psychological thriller/university melodrama

A brilliant, arrogant student with crazy-low empathy skills manipulates things around him to suit his whims. He has zero patience for suffering fools and never directly goes after anyone, but…he’s always the one pulling strings, and it usually ends badly for whoever crosses him. Like, sometimes “badly” on a scary level.

A fellow student who notices his manipulations jumps to conclusions about him and calls him out on something, making her the next target of his machinations. Although after he observes her a while (while tormenting her), he realizes she’s actually a fun and fascinating person, he decides he likes her (instead of viewing her as human trash or disposable pawns like he seems to see everyone else), and he starts to pursue her…which then follows that he starts manipulating things in and around her life, as well. Always for her own good, of course. Always to help or support her. Regardless of who else it might hurt.

There are difficult family relationships, societal expectations’ commentary, etc., and not many super-healthy relationships, but the show always keeps you wanting to watch more. Psychological suspense, but I liked that it wasn’t a VERY tense psych thriller, just mildly tense. The happy ending is there, but only just barely—you have to watch carefully in the last few seconds to catch it.

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A good movie as long as you completely disassociated it from the series.

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this is a “liked/loved”.

Things I liked:

I liked the way the movie was put together; I get impatient with long backgrounds or set ups and I like that they just jumped right in and then made judicious use of flashbacks to give the appropriate background. I liked most of the way the characters were portrayed.

The ML and FL were two socially awkward introverts (one of which with some childhood issues he still needs to work out) who found each other. I felt that their interactions were believable and that FL stood up to the ML when she needed to. I liked the always-supportive friends in the background. The first time I watched it, the beginning did not make a lot of sense, but it all wraps up nicely by the end. I also liked how they explained how the ML started to notice the FL and how he planned to get closer to her after learning about her personality.

I did not get SMLS (thank heavens, it’s practically pathological with me) but I liked the brother and sister duo—and that they started to get their lives on track by the end.


Things I did not like so much:

I wish this was truly a stand-alone movie without any relationship to the show. I’ve not watched the show, but from what I’ve read in the reviews here on MDL, it’s quite different in terms of character development and portrayal (and I’m really wishing I never read the reviews of the show…). To me, it kind of puts a shadow over the movie because the movie ML seems to be a much more sympathetic character than the show version and the FL much less of a pushover. In the movie version, I don’t see the ML being so much manipulative as a ‘mastermind’ who uses the resources at his disposal to protect those he cares about.

I do wish the ML would have acknowledged his childhood issues and agreed to therapy or something—he may have been angry at the kids who moved to his house when he was little, but it was not their fault. And if they had been reporting on him to his dad—what else could they have done? The guy was paying for their room, board, and education.

I was not too sure about the believability of stalker-guy’s character. He was so extreme. One moment he was violent and full of rage, the next cowering and horrified by all the attention. That character did not appear stable enough to maintain a university enrollment long enough to stick around and cause trouble—unless put there by the screenwriter/director/etc.

Final thoughts: I liked this and have re-watched it at least three times. I’ve never watched the drama. Just pretend it’s a stand-alone movie, not associated with any drama and I hope you enjoy. ?

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5/10 But I Recommend Watching the Drama

If it wasn't for the fact that I watched the drama for the first time right before this, I would have almost no idea what was going on, to be honest. Or maybe because I just watched the drama, it made me feel like there was so much missing. I liked some things better in the movie and some things better in the drama.

Overall, I'll pick a drama over movie any day. One thing K-Dramas or any Asian Dramas have over any other type of media, is how fleshed out dramas are. You're able to truly connect and know the characters in 16+ hour long episodes. This movie, without knowing the story from either webtoons or the drama, feels so bare bones and lacks the feeling of a drama.

I thought it would be interesting to compare actors because there were some I liked better than others, drama vs movie.

Hong Seol - I liked both but I think the movie actress Oh Yeon Seo was a better choice. I think Kim Go Eun did well enough, but it missing something.

Yoo Jung - Obviously this was easy as Park Hae Jin played him both in the drama and movie. He was the perfect choice for this role and I'm glad they didn't recast for it. My only problem is in the drama he had much more emotion, and that may only be because he had more time to develop the character in the drama than in the movie. Either way, excellent choice.

Baek In Ho - Seo Kang Joon was made for this role. He was perfect in it and I love him in this role so much. He was my favorite character in the drama and after watching the movie, about 70% of the reason was his portrayal of In Ho. No offense to the movie actor who played In Ho, but no one could do a better job than Kang Joon.

Baek In Ha - I think Lee Sung Kyung and Yoo In Young were a close call for who I liked better, but I think Sung Kyung just made it to #1 for her crazy. The way she portrayed In Ha and her breakdowns and tantrums was diabolical and the acting was phenomenal. I think In Young was great but she acts a better mental warfare over physical warfare.

Moon Ji Yoon of course was back as the sunbae who used Seol to the end and he is such a good actor. I felt for him, even when I hated his character and what he did. Excellent acting on his part and glad to have seen him reprise his role.

Other supporting cast... Nam Joo Hyuk is incredible in everything he is in. I will watch him in anything. But both actors played his character great, though I love how much more of a role he and Seol's best friend had in the drama. They couldn't fit everything and everyone into the 2 hours the movie had but I do feel sad we didn't get to know Seol's family, nor did we have some of the supporting cast and plot lines the drama had.

Overall 5/10 but I don't hate the movie.

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quite confusing... (at least for me)

i never watch the drama and read the webtoon, even read spoilers or fansites. so i judge only this movie. first of all, i'm quite confused with how the story goes.. i can feel, somehow, it's a movie of combining hundreds chapters into a 2 hrs long movie. so there are some points that, at least for me, are confusing. i know it's too much to explain each characters, but it's quite weird for me how they suddenly show some characters without giving some hints or impactful scenes, though they (might be) some important characters, or even worse they suddenly give some impactful scenes but they actually are not important character. idk how to explain it, but i feel quite confused with the characters that makes me to look for the character chart from google. and somehow i feel like watching a movie that's a continuation of the previous movie/drama. like watching the next-week episode of a drama. sometimes i feel like missing something when watching this, like maybe the movie is edited because i watch it on illegal streaming site, but i doubt that.... maybe people who have read the webtoon can understand this movie fully because they know the stories, but for me it's just some romcom movie i watch because of the actors (well i don't really know if i can called it a romcom)

i appreciate this movie only because of the actors and actresses. i know all leads are great actors, oc park hae jin is the daesang awardee. i especially like oh yeon seo too. when i read some comments about this movie (on another site) who thinks kim go eun is better choice for Hong Seol, i never take that critics.

so maybe, it's back to people's preferences. first of all, i rarely watch romcom movie so... it's 7 for me for Park Hae jin and Oh Yeon Seo great acting. and the ending is quite nice

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