I didn’t really get attached to My Engineer for the first two episodes, but it got better and better every passing minute and slowly but surely found its way into my heart.
The story itself is nothing much more than romance, and it’s full of tropes and clichés, but the character building and development was extremely interesting.
I didn’t really expect anything much because it was ‘too many couples’ but gosh did they wing it. No one felt left behind, rushed or badly explored, it was perfect from start to finish.
Of course it has its flaws, and I’m not gonna see past them like they didn’t happen, but they turn to be kinda irrelevant when you look at the bigger picture.

A little about the couples since it's the whole point of the drama:

TharaFrong - They do start to develop later in the game but it still didn't feel forced or rushed at all. Frong was a special flavor of tsundere and Thara being soft but an oddball at the same time made their ship dynamic something to really look forward to. Frong being p'zoned by Thara at the very end really caught everyone, including Frong, off guard and I thought that was fantastic, because we didn't really see much of them and now there's a whole other conflict for the second season - since Frong was rejected at first by Duen, we didn't really get to see his romantic side until Thara entered the scene. But now he has a wide open path to Thara's heart and how he will walk that path is one of the things I'm looking forward the most in S2.
Shane and MD are so absurdly sweet, but I still think there's a biiit of lack of chemistry between them, something I hope it's fixed on the second season since they're really good together off screen.

MekBoss - This was a huge surprise for me. The dubbing was bad and I kinda lost interest halfway because it was painful to watch their scenes, but I toughened up and watched (I just focused very hard on the subs so I wouldn't look at Mek's mouth when he was talking lol), and I honestly don't regret it. They're an absurdly cute couple, and them having the first kiss of the series blew my mind. I really like how they're honest and communicate easily with each other, especially because they were already friends before, so it's basically, they are the same, but as a couple. Their biggest conflict was something more external (Fon) and I was afraid Boss was gonna have kind of a love triangle but no, Boss didn't even blink to reject Fon and choose Mek. I'm also happy that Fon wasn't portrayed as a bad ex and understood Boss couldn't be with her because he was in love with someone else.
Inn and Ryan are ridiculously cute together and after all this, I mourn that Ryan was fired. I will absolutely miss him in the second season, even if I come to like whoever they cast in his place, if that even happens. I wish there was a way to keep him, but what's done is done.

BohnDuen - I see a lot of people criticizing BohnDuen development and honestly I really understand how they can be super annoying... but I can't help but defend them and how they were written, I think the whole point of their relationship was to show how childish and immature they were and how the repetitiveness of their mistakes and behaviors (esp Bohn) peaked with them not trusting each other and having their love actually tested.
Is it a cliche? Absolutely. But it's also HOW the cliche was told that makes it so compelling to me. Despite being annoying (it WAS annoying for me too, believe me), I think that's the intention of their relationship. How this kinda things aren't actually cute or funny or a 'sign of love' like it's usually depicted. It's annoying and tiring and it's bad for the relationship. I also like how they approached the whole top/bottom discourse and how they decided that, in the end, it doesn't matter as long as they are together.
Cooper and Poy? Icons of fluff. I love their chemistry and though Poy can let his 'rookiness' slide at times, he still delivered a sweet but assertive character without turning him into an annoying one. I think the fact Cooper has more experience helped Poy giving his all without it feeling unbalanced.

RamKing - Oh please. Everyone's favorite and for a good reason. I have a LOT to say about them but I'll try keeping it short. Their slow burn was one of the most beautiful and well-done relationship building I've ever seen. They are very complex characters but don't feel like they're trying too hard to seem deep. I think that what makes them such a good couple is that they're also interesting characters individually. It was really devastating to see how much effort King put to tear down Ram’s walls without forcing anything just to reject him when he was already open and vulnerable. I could write a whole essay about every step of their relationship until their kiss because there’s so much to unpack. But their kiss was one of the most beautiful and yet sad moments of their arc. You can see the desperation and relief and doubt and everything weighting down on them. I see a lot of people confused about King’s feelings and behaviors toward Ram especially because it was really obvious that Ram liked him back, but that’s precisely why I think there’s something else entirely bugging King - it’s more complex than just acceptance/denial when it comes to King’s feelings. And I’m pretty sure S2 will be focused on them so oof. Let’s wait and see.
Talay and Perth. Ooooh, Talay and Perth… what a pair. They complement each other so perfectly and their chemistry is chef kiss. Perth being a rookie is mindblowing because Ram has very few lines compared to others yet he delivered a character full of emotion. And Talay knows what he does. I think they’re a match made in heaven and I honestly hope they do more stuff together in the future besides MyEng.

All in all, My Engineer is a simple but effective drama. It relies heavily on character building instead of story to keep us entertained and I think that, even though it’s not a master of it, it still delivers.

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It really depends on what you're looking for

I think the general feeling about this movie for everyone is that it's weird. And it is, and I think that's the charm of it.
The first thing I felt about it is how it has a Let The Right One In vibe, which is very good because it's one of my favorite vampire movies ever - it's quiet and slow but it's so, so creepy.

Not everything is good, of course - I really think this movie could be sooo much more, there are some parts that are a little bit non-intentionally confusing, the pacing for some parts are kind of not in tune with the rest of the movie, it's like it tries to be conceptual but it ends up just being not great.

But I think the best thing in it is the subtle things. How it deals with Wine's emotional dependency on being loved, at the same time he's making Night/Nam dependent on him while manipulating other people for his comfort. How Tee's internalized homophobia led him to be manipulated. How Boy's devotion to Wine was solely based on material stuff and sex.

Of course I can't help but comment on Fluke's acting - I already loved him in Until We Meet Again and the only reason I wanted to watch this movie is precisely seeing him doing something more than a sweet boy. Fluke's capacity to look cute but creepy is amazing, you can see in his eyes everything about Wine's current emotions, be them good or bad.

Wine's slow descend to madness/detachment was one of the highlights throughout the movie - one of the scenes I loved the most was that the spark of sympathy he felt for Tee was actually just because he found another target to get blood from, even though he probably let Tee live because he truly loved him once (which didn't happen to Boy, the difference in treatment from Wine between the two is blatant).

Acting, directing, photography and OST are on point, I just think it really stops on being just 'weird' and not 'good'. You have to be really used to watching weird movies to actually like it. Still, can't take its credit from trying and actually even succeeding in some parts.

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