The disappointment of Yeon Sang-ho’s World, which found the wrong location.

[Reporter Kim Jun-mo]

▲ <Seonsan> Still cut

ⓒ Netflix

The success of

is a drama that makes you feel the pros and cons of the meeting between Netflix and Yeon Sang-ho. First of all, the advantage is the stimulation of interest that genre works have. The work deals with the mysterious events surrounding the inheritance of a deceased child. Seo-ha (played by Kim Hyun-joo), who became the heir to Seonsan after the death of her uncle, whom she did not even know existed, becomes embroiled in a sinister incident when she becomes involved with her half-brother Yeong-ho (played by Ryu Kyung-soo), who shows up at her funeral. The source of this ominousness is related to Seo-ha’s situation.

Seo-ha, who suffered the pain of seeing her father leave home and start a new home when she was young, lives a life unable to settle down anywhere. At university, she is a lecturer who is exploited by a full professor, and at home, she is a wife who is neglected by her cheating husband. Her half-brother, with his rather unpleasant appearance and slurred speech, approaches her Seo-ha like an evil that has taken away everything from her, rather than an object of communication to solve her problems. Because of this, she becomes more and more aggressive to protect her ancestors.

▲ <Seonsan> Still cut

ⓒ Netflix

The mysterious deaths and mysterious events that occur in this process remind us of Yeon Sang-ho’s representative occult drama

The horror and suspense based on the occult, and the mystery and reasoning surrounding prenatal care are strengths that elicit curiosity. In addition to the trust given by Yeon Sang-ho’s name, which has produced solid results such as <Method> and <Hell>, it faithfully follows the trends of the OTT market, where genre works are popular. It is clear why Netflix teamed up with Yeon Sang-ho. This is because he has the advantage of being a creator who quickly creates works that stimulate interest.

2020 <Peninsula> and <Method>, 2021 <Method: Again> and <Hell>, 2022 <Ghost>, 2023 <Jeong-i> Yeon Sang-ho produces blockbuster works every year at an astonishing rate. However, some say that it is a material that is different from its popularity and that the level of completion is disappointing. As with all artists, there are limits to the capabilities an individual can show.

The shorter the duration of your work, the more you focus on what you have. <Seonsan> feels like a deteriorated version of <Method>. Both horror and mystery were captured in a simple way, setting a simple tableau. The art of horror relies too much on Youngho’s personal skills, and the reasoning remains at the boring puzzle-solving stage where the whole truth is told through the mouths of others. Here, the pessimism and humanism that are characteristic of Yeon Sang-ho’s work are repeated in an all too familiar form.

▲ <Seonsan> Still cut

ⓒ Netflix

Also, following

As Netflix values ​​the freedom of creators, there are concerns that this point will become more prominent in the future. Yeon Sang-ho’s ability to quickly provide content in the OTT market, where original content is receiving a lot of attention, clearly seems like a perfect match for Netflix. In addition, the existence of a platform where creators who present works that are at odds with the public can introduce their worldviews with less interference makes their meeting feel like a win-win.

However, the disappointment shown in succession by the two works, following

Additional post | This article is also published in Kino Lights Magazine and citizen reporter Kim Jun-mo’s brunch.