Beyond Evil: Season 1 – Netflix Review

BEYOND EVIL on Netflix is a South Korean thriller series (org. title Gwimul). This series is on the level of the most intriguing thriller and horror movies from South Korea. Watch all 16 episodes about a sadistic serial killer now. Read our Beyond Evil season 1 review here!

BEYOND EVIL on Netflix is a thriller series from South Korea (org. title Gwimul) about a serial killer. From the opening scene to the entire first episode, the production quality is very impressive. The storyline, characters, and casting are perfect as well. It’s only the somewhat guitar-heavy score that might seem a bit dated. The score itself is quite catchy though.

Honestly, all you really need to know about this new thriller series from South Korea is this; It’s about a serial killer, and it might just be the best series in the genre from South Korea so far. Ever!

Continue reading our Beyond Evil season 1 review below. All 16 episodes of the series are out on Netflix now.

Familiar faces for fans of South Korean movies

If you – like us here at Heaven of Horror – are a fan of South Korean movies, then you should recognize quite a few faces in this Netflix series. Especially the two main characters Lee Dong-shik and Han Ju-won.

As the veteran police officer, Lee Dong-shik, who seems to be a hero to everyone in the little town, we have Shin Ha-kyun. If you’ve watched the Park Chan-wook movies Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) or Thirst (2009), then his face will definitely be familiar.

Across from him, as the younger police officer, Han Ju-won, heading for the top, we see Yeo Jin-gu. He does (quite frankly) come across as just another pretty face, but he has immense depth. If you’ve seen Yeo Jun-gu in the title role in Hwayi: A Monster Boy (2013) you’ll know this. His pretty face is the perfect decoy though, in this series, his character has many layers.

Beyond Evil might be the best South Korean series made

Also, the storyline and the intriguing and well-rounded characters are enough to get you hooked. The actual serial killer case should keep you hooked. The final scene of episode 1 is enough to remind me of the most excellent thriller and horror movies from South Korea.

It’s pretty f*cked up and I loved it!

This series really is in a league of its own. Beyond Evil sounds like something you’ve seen before, but you really haven’t. Not quite like this in a series. We’re more along the line of Bong Joon Ho’s Memories of Murder (2003) or I Saw the Devil (2010). Seriously, make sure you watch this!

Watch the Beyond Evil series on Netflix now!

The director of season 1 of Beyond Evil is Shim Na-yeon and I’m not familiar with any of the previous work by this director. The writer is Kim Su-jin and I’m afraid I don’t know anything about their previous work either. It doesn’t matter one bit though because this is absolutely amazing! What a way to break onto the international stage for these two South Korean creators.

While Beyond Evil could easily be written off as just another “murder mystery” or “serial killer story”, it has a lot more to offer. Mostly thanks to the amazing characters and brilliant, unapologetic, acting of its core cast. Yes, this may just be the best thriller series from South Korea so far.

Okay, I know the Netflix-produced zombie-period piece Kingdom is brilliant as well, but that’s in a league of its own. Read our season 1 review of Kingdom here >

You can watch all 16 episodes of the Beyond Evil series on Netflix now. When it originally aired in South Korea (under the title Gwimul), only one episode was released per week. Since each episode is around the one-hour mark in runtime, it’ll take a while to get through. Fortunately, it’s very intriguing, so go ahead and start watching!

Season 1 of Beyond Evil is coming to Netflix in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and several other countries on June 15, 2021.

Details

Creators: Shim Na-yeon, Kim Soo-jin
Stars: Shin Ha-kyun, Yeo Jin-goo, Choi Dae-hoon, Choi Sung-eun, Cheon Ho-jin, Choi Jin-ho, Gyu-hoe Lee