"What makes us human?" is one of the biggest questions in any art medium and the zombie genre has made exploring this question one its most consistent themes. While "Sweet Home" is not a true zombie production, it shares enough characteristics to fall somewhere in that corner of horror entertainment. One of the common threads that pops up here is that sometimes the most evil beings are the ones that are still unaffected-on-the-outside humans. The twist, and it's a good one, is that not all the creatures that look like monsters are monsters.

It's particularly poignant with Song Kang's Hyun Soo who alternates between struggling with wanting to live and a battle to retain his humanity. Although there are some exceptional human vs. monster melee's, the high points of "Sweet Home" are unquestionably the quiet exchanges between Hyun Soon and Go Min Si's Eun Yoo. The quality of Song Kang's work tends to peak and valley and this is definitely among his finest performances. It does falter and the show does in general in the final two episodes as the first primary arc pushes to a resolution while setting up the next act.

The crew has put together a mostly excellent package of special effects, sound and camera work. There's a couple of instances of less convincing cgi that detract but it's a minor distraction.

It's a fairly solid cast although only a few stand out with notable performances. Kim Gab Soo is one of them who exudes optimism balanced with knowledge of the grim reality. Lee Shi Young and Park Gyu Young both shine as strong women battling both personal emotional loss and deadly creatures.

A few holes emerge too. Although the setting is an apartment building in Seoul, there's not just a massive amount of people that never appear, but there's no attempt to explain their absence. Dozens (possibly?) of creatures appear outside the building in moments, but that still leaves millions in the city unaccounted for and scores within the building. Two mutants appear, one early and one late, that fall right on the human/monster line and seem ideal for additional attention, but don't receive it. Overall, the coherence of the narrative is uneven but the spotlight is focused enough for the most of the series. But when the plot has to expand to incorporate new introductions and beyond the group's struggle survive within the apartment building, the tension subsides and the flaws begin to protrude.

Some entries in this genre are must-watch even for viewers who aren't hardcore horror buffs. "Sweet Home" falls short of that bar, but it is an entertaining and, at times, compelling series. Whether it remains so in a follow-up season will require more disciplined storytelling as it appears multiple arcs will splinter off. And it may need more range and intensity from Song Kang than his body of work has shown he's capable of providing.