News on Netflix: Is this South Korean sci-fi series the platform’s new hit?

What is it about?

In 2071, extreme air pollution turned most of the Korean peninsula into a desert, wiping out all but 1%.

Survivors must wear respirators and rely on transporters, specialized suppliers, to get them the supplies (especially fresh oxygen) needed to sustain life.

One day, a legendary transporter named 5-8 meets a boy named Sa-wol who wants to become a transporter like him and decides to train to fulfill his dream in the dark and dangerous world they live in.

The carrier in Mad Max

With hit series like Squid Game, All Of Us Are Dead, Money Heist Korea and most recently The Glory, South Korea has recently become the new fictional country the world is turning to. With The Black Knight, a series that has been heralded as a blockbuster, we may have the next success that will spark the coffee machine debate.

The Black Knight tells the story of 5-8, which is a kind of “vigilante”. Behind her mask – which she is forced to wear like most people when she goes out to give birth – she is actually a vigilante trying to change the dystopian world in which she lives.

Based on Webton delivery knightThe science fiction series takes place in a metamorphosed Korea, where the air is unbreathable and people suffer from a lack of oxygen every day.

A former refugee, 5-8 (played by Woo-bin Kim) is a carrier whose reputation has become legendary. Because of its driving and fighting skills, carriers are often attacked by “hunters”.

It provides oxygen and other necessary things to the population during the day. But at night, he leads another group of vigilante providers called Black Night, who help other refugees living in dire conditions.

In an increasingly hostile environment – where the desert has invaded the entire space – and a brutal and unequal social hierarchy, a small revolutionary group opposes the firm Cheonmyeong, a private company at the head of this dystopia, and its ruthless heir, Seok Ryu (Sing Seung-heon), of humanity. to save.

“In the series, 5-8 dreams of utopia despite living in dystopia. Like the character, I hope that everyone in the world lives an equal and happy life, and the show builds on that hope.,” explains Cho Woo-seok, creator and director of the six episodes, in the column. Korea Times.

“When I first discovered the webtoon, I loved the concept of oxygen and supply couriers and its cinematic world. I discussed some changes with the original author and with his permission I was able to write this interesting story“- he adds.

Comedian Woo-bin Kim says he was drawn to the compelling portrayal of a dystopian future. “Until recently, we were in a situation where we had to wear masks. When I read the scripts, I thought that this could happen in real life“, he says.

“So I was interested in how the story would unfold and the variety of characters made me even more interested, especially my character 5-8.”

The actor said he asked his own questions about happiness while playing his character. “For each project, I study the mindset of the character and the reasons for their actions. And with this character in particular, I’m trying to understand what it feels like to be abandoned and suffer just because you were born a refugee. While shooting the series, I tried to paint what the world would be like, where everyone would be happy“.

With its post-apocalyptic world – with a meteorite falling on Earth completely disrupting the climate – The Black Knight takes its inspiration from Mad Max. Very obviously for its setting, the unequal and particularly cruel society in which the characters develop.

But there’s also the influence of The Hunger Games, always with this political dimension around inequality between people. It is characterized by the same difficult and tragic competition as in the films worn by Jennifer Lawrence.

In short, it seems that all the ingredients are in place to make The Dark Knight a new global success for Netflix.