‘Sweet Home’: Here Is What Causes Monsterization

Share:

The events of ‘Sweet Home’ allow us to see that people and monsters aren’t really different from one another because this post-apocalyptic storyline involves people turning into monsters in a hellish world. As such, the survivors have to work hard to protect themselves from the monsters and even from their own selves so that they don’t turn into monsters. But what causes monsterization in ‘Sweet Home?’

  • Article Breakdown:
  • According to Nam Sang-Won, the fiancé of Seo Yi-Kyung, monsterization is not a virus or a disease but is similar to a curse that turns people into monsters whenever they give in to their desires.
  • In season 2, Dr. Lim believes that the monsterization process is a natural phenomenon that could be part of the further evolution of humanity.

Monsterization is caused by desire

The early portion of ‘Sweet Home’ allowed us to see the entire premise of the series as the residents of the Green Home apartment building quickly locked themselves inside the building after realizing that the entire country had gone to hell due to the outbreak of monsters. Of course, the first episode was quick to allow us to see that the people themselves were the ones who were turning into monsters.

Unlike most post-apocalyptic storylines involving zombies and monsters, the creatures in ‘Sweet Home’ are not caused by a virus or outbreak that infects people and turns them into horrific beings. Instead, there is something deeper regarding the phenomenon called monsterization. In season 1, Lee Eun-Hyeok quickly learned more about the outbreak when he read a blog that says that people turn into monsters not because of a virus or an infection but because of a curse.

The blog was written by a scientist named Nam Sang-Won, the fiancé of Seo Yi-Kyung. However, he kept everything he knew about monsterization from his fiancé because he was also becoming a monster. Likely, he didn’t want her to worry about him as he was cursed to become a monster.

RELATED:

Netflix’s ‘Sweet Home’: All 2 Known Filming Locations

In short, people are “cursed” to turn into monsters. But the curse is related to the inner desires of people as these deep desires are what eventually cause people to become horrific creatures that may or may not be dangerous to other humans.

The infection usually starts with a nosebleed. Eventually, the person will steadily lose control over their emotions and actions before succumbing to the monsterization infection. In most cases, the monsters are unique to the desires of the person, and that means that different people tend to become different types of monsters. But as seen in season 2, that isn’t always the case because there were actually monsters that were similar to one another.

However, those who are infected by the monsterization curse aren’t doomed to become monsters. In Cha Hyun-Su’s case, he is able to fight off the monsterization and can somewhat control when he turns into a monster by fighting his own inner desires. After a person is able to fight off the symptoms of monsterization, they turn into a special infectee, who has the abilities of a monster but is still able to control their human side and emotions.

So, basically, the monsterization phenomenon in ‘Sweet Home’ is still quite mysterious as it is yet to be revealed what truly causes people to turn into monsters and why this is a “curse” that feeds off the desire of people. That means that all of the answers are not yet on the table, and it is likely that season 3 will reveal more information regarding why people turn into monsters.

People turning into monsters is “natural”

The different scientists of ‘Sweet Home’ have their own unique takes on what the monsterization process is and why it is happening. While Sang-Won believed that this was a curse that fed off the desires of people, Dr. Lim, in season 2 believes that the monsterization process is actually completely natural and is part of the natural order of things in the world.

RELATED:

‘Sweet Home’: Who Is Ah-Yi? Is She a Monster?

Lim opened up season 2 by saying that humanity is a virus to the planet and that the planet is trying to cure the virus by allowing the monsters to rise up as the vaccine that would eventually wipe humanity off the face of the Earth. Of course, Dr. Lim was the researcher who was hired by the military to conduct studies regarding the monsters and to eventually create a vaccine using the data from the special infectees.

So, for Lim, monsterization is actually part of the evolutionary process of human beings as they eventually turn into monsters by giving in to their desires. He also believes that monsterization is completely natural and will eventually cause everyone in the world to become monsters. It was Lim’s hypothesis regarding the nature of monsterization that forced the military to bomb and kill all of the survivors in the stadium so as to limit the number of people turning into monsters.

Of course, as shown in the latter portion of season 2, Dr. Lim sort of admires the monsters and is even envious of how certain people are able to turn into monsters. He was even waiting eagerly for one of the monster cocoons to burst open and give birth to a new kind of humanlike monster.

Eventually, Lee Eun-Hyeok emerged from a cocoon and was “reborn” as a new being with human and monster qualities. Season 3 is likely to give us more answers in relation to why this is happening.

Regardless of what Dr. Lim believes, the fact of the matter is that we still don’t know the real truth behind the monsterization process and why it is happening. As such, the verdict as to whether or not this is a natural part of humanity’s evolution is still up in the air.

‘Shotgun Boy,’ the prequel webtoon to the ‘Sweet Home’ webtoon, revealed that a young child nicknamed Zero was the primary monster. His murderer, named 01, killed him and caused the monster apocalypse to happen. However, we are not sure whether or not the live-action ‘Sweet Home’ series will follow the same story. All we know is that the third season will surely shed some light on this.

Got something more to add? Let us know in the comment section below.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments