Want more ‘Descendants of the Sun’? The new K-drama you need to watch

Director Lee Eung-bok, the force behind the sweeping romance of Descendants of the Sun, shifted gears with Sweet Home. The Studio Dragon production landed on Netflix as a horror series built around survival inside a monster-filled apartment block. The adaptation drew from a Naver webtoon and expanded far past its original run, eventually reaching three seasons and a conclusive end in 2024.

Sweet Home

Sweet Home follows Cha Hyun-su, a withdrawn teenager who moves into Green Home apartments after a family tragedy. What begins as quiet isolation turns into a fight for survival when residents start transforming into grotesque creatures. The story starts small, confined to hallways and stairwells, then widens across later seasons to include neohumans and larger conflicts beyond the building. Netflix premiered the first season on December 18, 2020. The series ultimately delivered 26 episodes across three seasons.

Cast

Song Kang leads as Cha Hyun-su, carrying the role through the entire run. Lee Jin-wook returns as the hardened Pyeon Sang-wook and Lee Si-young plays Seo Yi-kyung, a character created specifically for the series. Additions in later seasons include Go Min-si, Yoo Oh-seong, Jinyoung, Oh Jung-se, and Kim Moo-yeol, expanding the ensemble as the scope grows. Lee Do-hyun also appears among the original announced cast members.

Changes

The drama began with a ten-episode plan before renewal extended the story. Writers Hong So-ri, Kim Hyung-min, and Park So-jung adapted the material, adding Seo Yi-kyung to heighten tension and fit the serialized format. Netflix renewed the show for Seasons 2 and 3 in 2022, allowing the narrative to continue past the webtoon’s conclusion. Director Lee Eung-bok stayed involved across the full run, shifting from romantic and action-driven projects to sustained horror storytelling.

Trailer

The November 2020 teaser opened with growls and frantic movement through dark corridors, spotlighting Cha Hyun-su bloodied and on edge. Later trailers for Seasons 2 and 3 built on the same visual language, leaning into CGI creature work and layered sound design to signal larger stakes. The emphasis on practical effects mixed with digital monsters remained consistent from the first promotion through the finale.

Seasons Overview

Season 1 dropped ten episodes in December 2020, locking viewers inside Green Home during the initial outbreak. Season 2 arrived in December 2023 with eight episodes that broadened the battlefield. Season 3 closed the series in July 2024 with another eight episodes, moving the action outside the apartment and resolving the larger conflict. The progression shifted from contained survival horror to wider confrontations involving evolved creatures and human factions.

Reception and Legacy

The series earned a 7.2 rating on IMDb from more than 42,000 user reviews, holding steady as one of Netflix’s longer-running Korean horror titles. Renewal announcements in 2022 confirmed Seasons 2 and 3, and the final season arrived in 2024 with no further extensions planned. Viewers noted the show’s willingness to escalate beyond the original apartment setting while keeping core character arcs intact.

Webtoon vs. Adaptation

The source webtoon by Carnby Kim and Hwang Young-chan ran from 2017 to July 2020 across more than 140 chapters. The drama introduced Seo Yi-kyung, absent from the comic, to create additional tension and fit the live-action pacing. Director Lee Eung-bok noted early on that platform differences required adjustments in tone and structure, allowing the series to stretch past the webtoon’s ending and conclude on its own terms.

Director's Vision Across Projects

Lee Eung-bok built his reputation on Descendants of the Sun, Goblin, and Mr. Sunshine before moving into horror with Sweet Home. He directed Season 1 and returned for Seasons 2 and 3 alongside co-directors, maintaining oversight through the expanded run. The shift from sweeping romance to claustrophobic monster stories marked a deliberate change in scale while preserving his focus on character-driven spectacle.

The completed series stands as a clear example of how a single-season premise grew into a multi-year Netflix commitment. Fans who first tuned in for the Descendants of the Sun connection found a very different tone, yet the same attention to ensemble dynamics and escalating stakes carried through to the final episode.