Mueang Laplae (2024)

Laplae: The Town of Misogyny and Misandry

TL;DR: A story with a unique idea that doesn't quite live up to its potential in any way but is interesting enough to keep you engaged so long as you can accept the mediocre quality.

Whump meter: ▲▲◭△△

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SHORT VERSION:

┊┊WHAT I LIKED:
► Mostly women cast (refreshing).
► Interesting and engaging theatrics and melodrama.
► Unusual setting (matriarchy, time period, and location).
► Culty vibes.

┊┊WHAT I DISLIKED:
► Shallow characters.
► Mid to bad acting.
► Low production quality.
► The ending.
► The direction the story took (I was expecting something different).
► Lack of depth in the story.
► How it handled the matriarchy.

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LONG VERSION:

►CHARACTERS:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ The story follows a pretty big main cast consisting of the two POV FLs Sompo and Kala, both their mothers Bua and Angkab, and the two love interests Chan and Min. The story focuses rather equally on each pair of main characters, with the youngsters sticking together for the most part and the older generation having a somewhat parallel but separate story that ends up being tied together around the half-way point.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ To say the characters were shallow would be an understatement. Maybe it's the writing, maybe it's the acting, maybe it's the direction, or perhaps, it's all three, but regardless, none of the characters felt quite as deep or engaging as they could've been. Their dynamics were more interesting but not by much either. Everything just felt so 'eh' when it came to the characters. Definitely the is that the cast is mostly female and the story is female-led and female-focused.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ As for the supporting characters, most are just there. Despite the long runtime (about 15 hours), supporting characters get very little development and there aren't a whole lot of them. About six or so that were to any degree relevant.

►ACTING:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ One of the worst aspects of this drama. Save for the two older actresses and one of the MLs, for all others lead actors, this was their first acting job... and it shows. There's definitely worse out there, and for a first gig, it's not awful, but it does take away from the watching experience. Even the more seasoned actors weren't giving great performances.

►STORY:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Of course, the most lacking. It has the feel of a soap opera with the theatrics and drama but with enough thriller and thrilling elements to be more engaging. Despite the mediocre writing and overall production, I still found myself surprisingly engaged, and it delivered on a lot of the story beats I was looking forward to, even if it kinda fumbled the ending. I won't say that the plot twists were particularly shocking, but I still think they were interesting in a campy and dramatic kind of way. It's the kind of story you just need to watch and not think about. Take it for what it is kinda deal.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ The matriarchy. My expectations were that of an Amazon-like society with maybe less focus on fighting, but what I got instead was a cult-like community that isn't only misandrist but also misogynistic and extremely classist. Some themes and arcs explored through the lens of the matriarchy were entertaining and refreshing from the usual misogynistic approach, arguably the only saving grace from an otherwise very lackluster execution. I just couldn't help but feel like it was lacking; I was hoping that in a matriarchy we could have women be comfortable with themselves, but that still somehow wasn't the case :/

►PRODUCTION:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Not great. I'm admittedly not very familiar with the overall quality of lakorns, so maybe this is very passable, but generally speaking, it wasn't good. Not bad either, especially if you're used to minidramas and the sort, but just overall lacking. Despite being a full-on town, everything feels very small. I've seen mini cdramas with better production quality. The sets are few and not impressive, the outfits are very simple but fine, I suppose, and the props basically don't exist. The cinematography is also basically nonexistent.

►MUSIC:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ I remember the main theme being nice, but other than that, it was just okay. I honestly don't even remember it, but it didn't take away from the experience either.

►ANYTHING ELSE:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ If you're here for the matriarchy, it offers the perspective of a group of women forming a women-only community as a haven. Despite existing for several generations already, Laplae holds a lot of patriarchal values, just with also an overwhelming amount of misandry (discrimination against men). If you're here for the role reversal, by default there is some due to the setting, and both lead couples have some elements with both women pursuing their love interests and not being shy about their desires (the secondary couple (Kala and Min) more than the first (Som Po and Chan)), but generally speaking both were very lacking even though they were the most interesting aspect of the drama.

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◇ Was it what I was expecting? Yes and no.
◆ Did it live up to its potential? No.
◇ Would I watch it again? No.
◆ Would I recommend it to others? Possibly but probably not.

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