Belonging to the black comedy genre, "Mad concrete dreams" (Vietnamese title: Giấc mộng bê tông) is a success follow-up to "Investigator Hong".
The film revolves around Ki Soo Jong (Ha Jung Woo) - the owner of a small building that is pushed to the brink of bankruptcy due to debt. After putting in all his effort to keep his precious assets, he gets involved in a fake kidnapping, while struggling to protect his family and his investment.
Airing in the first 2 episodes last weekend, "Concrete Dream" quickly attracted attention thanks to its dramatic plot and the real acting of the cast.
According to Nielsen Korea, the first episode of the film achieved a rating of 4.1% - higher than the opening rating of 3.5% that the previous film "Investigator Hong" achieved in January. In episode 2, "Concrete Dream" recorded a figure of 4.5%.
The developments in the first 2 episodes of the work focus on introducing the context, building character, and character motives. Among them, the financial pressure and family life are pushing the male lead into a dead end.
At the end of episode 1, he witnesses a heartbreaking scene when his wife's younger brother Kim Kyun (Kim Nam Gi) has an unexpected accident, along with the scene of his best friend Min Hwal Seong (Kim Jun Han) kidnapping his own wife - Jeon Yi Kyung (Krystal) and taking her to the basement in Soo Jong's building.
Initially, Soo Jong tried his best to stop him, but with the offer to receive 500 million won from Hwal Seong after the deal was successful, he decided to participate, in order to extort money from the rich mother-in-law of his best friend.
The episode ends with the scene of mother-in-law Hwal Seong asking the police to intervene, and trying to pursue and find the identity of the kidnapper of her daughter.
The film's story is interesting to viewers as it reflects social reality, but also carries a satirical color about the desire to own private real estate.
As with the male lead in the movie, to repay the bank loan and borrow more than 2.2 billion won, every month he struggles, doing all kinds of jobs to cover expenses, even though the building still has tenants. Even the money he and his wife saved for their daughter to study abroad is running out, because interest is increasing day by day.
On screen, the cast performs well and impressively. Actor Ha Jung Woo is a bright spot when transforming into a man who wholeheartedly loves his family, but also because of this, he has wrong actions.
Previously, sharing about the work, the actor commented that buying real estate is great, but the really important thing is whether people can manage it or not. The film shows that if we pursue something with vain hope, even if we achieve it, we will eventually pay the price.
Ha Jung Woo hopes "Concrete Dream" will be a useful reference material for those who dream of having their own home.
