I feel a little like a broken record, but honestly, I start each teaser for OCN’s upcoming cult thriller Rescue Me with some apprehension, and end them all feeling like I need a long, hot shower. They’re just so creepy and disturbing, and I do wonder whether the show will be able to maintain that sinister undertone without having it overwhelm the audience. ‘Cause these trailers are really treading that line very well, and it would be awesome to have the actual show follow suit.
The teaser begins with Seo Ye-ji’s (Hwarang) family first moving into the cult’s compound. A cheery voice greets them, saying that he really likes the people here, whom he describes as innocent and hard-working. How deceptively innocuous; his pleasantries sound more ominous than they should. The family of “new believers” settle in, and one of the first things they do is go to a group prayer with the cult leader, played by Jo Sung-ha (The K2). Eugh, do they really have to show that disgusting thigh-grab so often?
Needless to say, Seo Ye-ji finds the cult members strange, and yells offscreen that they disgust her, just as she catches Jo Jae-yoon (Defendant) creepily staring at her from just outside a car window. Taecyeon (Bring It On, Ghost) hangs out with his buddies on their motorbikes, and wonders whether they’ve had anyone ask them to rescue them, sure that Seo Ye-ji did so. In fact, he’s not the only one she’s approached, since she’s seen in a taxi begging the driver to save her. Poor thing.
Aw yeah, I’m pretty glad to see more of the four boys that will fight to free Seo Ye-ji’s character from the cult’s grips, as well as aid her in rescuing her family. I can also tell Woo Do-hwan (The Man Living in Our House) is going to steal the spotlight as a gruff troublemaker type, with the motorcycle and lone-wolf-esque attitude to match. Lee David (Bring It On, Ghost) plays a bit of a dork who has an online streaming channel where he does stupid male high school things, like filling his mouth with Mentos and drinking some Coke. Lol, and eww at his spit-take all over his mother.
Newcomer Ha Hwe-jung looks like he’s in bliss as he stuffs his face with barbeque (I can relate), even while he gets smacked for gorging on so much food. Taecyeon’s character, on the other hand, is the only son of a widely-loved governor, and it looks like no one at school messes with him because of his father. Unfortunately, Jang Yoo-sang (The Magician), who plays Seo Ye-ji’s older twin brother, doesn’t get such preferential treatment, and is quite roughly bullied with no one intervening on his behalf. It’s sad to see just why everyone in Seo Ye-ji’s family found such refuge in this cult. It comes quite close to the end of the line for the twin brother as we see him stand on the ledge of the high school building, and only then does Taecyeon make a move to help, having rebuffed Seo Ye-ji’s earlier pleas for her brother’s sake.
Jo Sung-ha leads a fevered service as he yells that this world is overrun by evil, while Seo Ye-ji calls them the devils and Satan. Oh dear, this “service” is so disturbing, with people contorting and screaming; if I hadn’t known any better, I would’ve thought this was the beginning of some zombie film. We see flashes of the boys running, and Seo Ye-ji and her family bawling, though for probably very different reasons.
Run, boys, run! Get her out of there! Those will probably be my dominant thoughts while watching the show. Rescue Me will premiere on August 5, in OCN’s Saturday-Sunday slot.
