A Killer Paradox – Netflix Series Review

A KILLER PARADOX on Netflix is a new crime thriller series from South Korea (org. title: Sarinja-ng-Nangam). It features a story including a serial killer and plays out across 8 hour-long episodes. Read our A Killer Paradox series review here!

A KILLER PARADOX is a new Netflix series from South Korea (org. title: Sarinja-ng-Nangam). We’re in crime and thriller territory, but officially “comedy” is also mentioned as a genre, which makes sense. The main character in this series makes so many stupid choices to begin with that you can’t help but laugh.

While this is a serial killer story, it’s a very unconventional one. Especially as the serial killer in question is accidentally murdered (it’s a clear case of self-defense) by our main character in episode 1. With eight hour-long episodes, there’s a lot of story to cover and characters to get familiar with. If you enjoy South Korean productions, you should like this one as well!

Continue reading our A Killer Paradox series review below. Find all 8 episodes on Netflix from February 9, 2024.

Meet Lee Tang…

In A Killer Paradox, we meet Lee Tang, who is not in a good place when the series begins. He was discharged from the army six months ago, and despite being in college, he has no actual goals in life. All day, he looks at videos of a South Korean influencer visiting the Rocky Mountains and dreams of traveling the world.

He wants to go to Canada, but a part-time job working at a convenience store is not a great way to save up money. Clearly, he is still very reliant on his parents for support. His small apartment is a pigsty, and he has no energy or desire to change it for the better.

Yet, as bad as things are, they will get much worse. But maybe that’s what Lee Tang needs to gain some kind of purpose in his life.

A serial killer and his murderer

While going home late at night after work, he is assaulted by one of his customers. As he lies on the ground taking on the beating, we see flashbacks of all the times Lee Tang just took bullying in high school without fighting back. That’s all about to change right now, so Tang fights back.

He fights back with a hammer and ends up killing the guy.

With no witnesses, Tang is shocked but runs away and battles with terrible guilt pangs. Then it comes out in the press that the guy was a brutal serial killer, who has sadistically murdered a lot of innocent people. While most of the police force thinks the case is shut (for reasons you’ll see in the series), one dutiful Detective Jang Nan-gam won’t let it go.

And he has his eye on Lee Tang. The fact that Tang has gotten a taste for avenging doesn’t help the situation. Tang ends up killing again and again, which begs the question: Is Tang now serving justice as he believes – or simply evading it?

The familiar actors in the cast of A Killer Paradox

If you’ve watched some of the biggest South Korean hits in the recent decade or so, you will recognize quite a few faces in A Killer Paradox on Netflix. First, the main character Lee Tang is portrayed by Choi Woo-shik. Previously, Choi Woo-shik was in the Oscar-winning movie Parasite, which he won a SAG for along with the rest of the cast.

Also, he was in the Netflix movie Okja (2017), which is a movie that has stuck with me ever since I first saw it. Another movie I suspect many horror fans will recognize him from is the South Korean zombie mega-hit Train to Busan (2016).

As the homicide detective, Jang Nan-gam, who will not stop going after Lee Tang, we see Son Suk-ku, who has been in the Netflix series Sense8. Also, there’s Hyun Bong-sik, who you might recognize from the Netflix series Gyeongseong Creature is on board as Jang’s co-worker.

Finally, I must mention Nam Jin-bok, who was in Hellbound (org. title: Jiok). Yet another Netflix series from South Korea, which was such a big hit that season 2 is coming later this year!

Watch the A Killer Paradox series on Netflix now!

A Killer Paradox is based on the webtoon of the same name by Kkomabi. This Netflix series adaption comes from director Lee Chang-hee who previously directed the series Strangers from Hell (aka (Hell Is Other People) and the movie The Vanished.

In many ways, the simple way of describing A Killer Paradox would be to say that it’s a coming-of-age story. We follow a young adult man with no purpose in life, who accidentally kills a serial killer and sets out on an unintentional murder spree.

Also, it’s about the cop who starts going after him. After all, just as Dexter knew, you can’t kill people even if they’re bad. Still, it does make a character more likable when they go after bad people. As usual with South Korean productions, this is very character-driven, unpredictable, and quite long. Check it out on Netflix now!

A Killer Paradox (org. title: Sarinja-ng-Nangam) is on Netflix from February 9, 2024.

Details

Director: Lee Chang-hee
Writer: Kim Da-min
Cast: Choi Woo-shik, Son Suk-ku, Lee Hee-jun