This was published 8 months ago
Gory and horrifying, this new Netflix series leaves Squid Game in the dust
Looking for a 10-hour historical monster horror martial arts prison epic with a dash of political intrigue and the odd lingering meaningful gaze between two pretty people under fireworks?
The South Korean drama machine has produced the show of your dreams. It’s also one that threatens to haunt your nightmares.
Gyeongseong Creature is set in the Korean Peninsula in early 1945, as World War II rages towards its conclusion.Credit: Netflix
Gyeongseong Creature is a 10-part Netflix series set in the dying days of Japan’s brutal occupation of the Korean peninsula. It’s a blend of approximately every genre under the sun, but mostly it’s about monsters of supernatural and human varieties slicing through each other in various gory ways.
It’s horrendous, it’s horrifying, and I can’t wait for the final three episodes.
What fresh hell is this?
Set in early 1945, as World War II is raging towards its conclusion, the Korean peninsula has been under Japanese occupation for a generation.
Gyeongseong is what Seoul once was, and the Japanese are subjecting the “Joseon” population to relentless control and oppression. People go missing, entering one of the city’s hospitals without ever coming out.
In the bowels of the hospital, horrific experiments are being conducted on people based on the real war crimes of the notorious Unit 731. One of those experiments, however, is pure fiction: to use a parasite to turn people into unstoppable killing machines that resemble a hybrid between the aliens of Alien and the species from Species.
Our reluctant hero is the city’s king of information and rich pawn shop owner Tae-sang (Park Seo-joon), who is forced to search for the police chief’s missing mistress. He spars against and then joins forces with a feisty sleuth on the hunt for her mother.
Along the way, they fight the power and meet the monsters.
Is this 2024’s answer to Squid Game?
Netflix was certainly hoping so, although the hype hasn’t reached the same fever pitch. It hit number one in South Korea and was in the top 10 for non-English-language shows, but hasn’t broken through the way Squid Game did.
The 2021 hit thriller had a more digestible premise (children’s games become life and death), striking visuals and a catchy name, but overall Gyeongseong Creature is the better show.
Squid Game had terrific twists and a strong central performance from Lee Jung-jae, but in terms of gore and body count, Gyeongseong Creature leaves the mega-hit in the dust. The tension ratchets up and the corpses pile up. And while Gyeongseong Creature has its naff moments and awkward shoehorning of a romantic subplot, its low points aren’t nearly as low as Squid Game’s VIPs.
What’s driving the K-drama phenomenon?
South Korean cinema has been strong for years now, and Bong Joon-ho has led international success with Snowpiercer, Okja and the Oscar-winning Parasite. But the serialised dramas have been popular throughout Asia for decades, and span the gamut from the whimsical and nostalgic (Reply 1988) to the darkly comic hitman legal drama (Vincenzo) to zombie apocalypses (too many to mention).
Gyeongseong Creature was designed to capitalise on Squid Game’s success, and it doesn’t hurt that Hollywood’s writers’ and actors’ strike has meant competition isn’t exactly at its strongest.
Who’s in it?
Our reluctant hero is played by Park Seo-joon, who you may recognise for his role in the Oscar-winning Parasite or as Prince Yan in The Marvels.
Han So-hee, who made a name for herself in Korea’s most successful cable series and has since taken on lead roles, plays the feisty sleuth who can soar across rooftops Crouching Tiger-style while stealing hearts. They each have star power, and while their chemistry could be better, the supporting cast is solid.
How true is it?
Apart from the parasitic murderous creation? The Joseon Dynasty ended with a brutal occupation, and the war years were bad for the subjugated Koreans, and women were forced into sexual servitude.
Japan’s Unit 731 conducted horrendous experiments in the name of improving chemical and biological warfare capabilities, and Korean prisoners were among its victims. Spoiler alert for history: man is the real monster.
Where can I see it?
Netflix. The first seven episodes appeared just before Christmas, and the final three are coming on Friday. Chances are you’ll also see bits of it whenever you close your eyes.
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