Goodbye Earth – Netflix Series Review

GOODBYE EARTH on Netflix is an apocalyptic series from South Korea (org. title: Jongmalui Babo). The story plays out during the countdown to doomsday due to an asteroid. Read our Goodbye Earth series review here!

GOODBYE EARTH is a new Netflix series from South Korea (org. title: Jongmalui Babo). It’s an apocalyptic story that explores life amidst the countdown to doomsday because of an asteroid. Impact will be the South Korean peninsula, where it gets bad and violent fast.

With 12 hour-long episodes, there’s plenty of time to explore this dark apocalyptic world. However, be warned that there are also many, many characters to keep track of. And many different periods as we keep jumping back and forth to see where people are when doomsday is revealed versus later.

Continue reading our Goodbye Earth series review below. Find it on Netflix from April 26, 2024.

Ground zero is in South Korea

Unlike Hollywood-produced apocalyptic movies, Ground Zero is not in the United States. Instead, the asteroid will hit directly on the South Korean peninsula as this is a production and story from South Korea.

Just like the Danish Netflix series The Rain happened in Denmark. Write what you know, I suppose, and it makes sense.

In Goodbye Earth, we’re in the once-peaceful city of Woongcheon, South Korea. The city has been sent into chaos by a chilling emergency siren followed by the news that an asteroid will strike Earth in just 300 days.

So while we have a few centuries to find a solution in the Netflix series 3 Body Problem, the apocalypse is a lot closer in Goodbye Earth.

With the Korean peninsula as ground zero, immigration plans to countries far away come fast. So do protests and violence in South Korea. After all, there’s no real hope of any kind, so what can you do?

Hope in a hopeless world

Well, you can start recruiting – and have an easy time of it – if you’re running one of the various cults promising eternal life. It’s a good time for them to get new members. Even if it’s only for 300 days until impact. But hey, what’s 300 days compared to eternal life?

Also, prisons are taken over by the prisoners who escape and have a field trip with the outside world. No real consequences for anything as even the army is running out of ammunition fast.

Yeah, it’s all pretty brutal.

Unfortunately, so is keeping up with the many characters introduced in episode 1 alone. We’re jumping from one set of characters to another. Also, going back and forth in time we see these characters sometimes interact with each other across various timelines.

It’s a lot to keep track of!

Three key characters

While there are many characters and various storylines to keep track of, you will get there. I just found episode 1 alone to be a big mouthful. However, amid the chaos, we follow three key characters.

First, there’s Se-kyung (Ahn Eun-jin), who we follow the most during episode 1. She’s a middle school teacher, who is ready to do whatever it takes to protect children. Unfortunately, the impending doomsday means the kids have become targets of heinous crimes.

All while facing the very harsh reality that they will never become adults.

Then there’s Sung-jae (Jeon Seong-woo), who we also see in the first episode, but in a somewhat smaller role. He’s a priest, who offers comfort to his understandably shaken community, who need their faith more than ever.

Finally, In-a (Kim Yoon-hye) is a battalion commander. She works tirelessly to keep some form of peace. Always doing her part to safeguard people during these extreme and chaotic times leading up to doomsday.

Watch the GoodBye Earth series on Netflix now!

Goodbye Earth is based on the novel of the same name written by respected Japanese author, Kotaro Isaka. He has long been known for his insightful social commentary, which this Netflix series has a lot of. In the nuanced ways, we’ve come to know from especially South Korean productions.

The episodes of the series are directed by Kim Jin-min (Extracurricular, My Name) and written by Jeong Seong-joo (Secret Affair, Heard It Through the Grapevine).

While you may not recognize the names, I can promise you many familiar faces if you’ve watched some of the amazing South Korean movies or series from recent years. Productions like Burning, #Alive, Kingdom (2019-), Hellbound (2021-), The Silent Sea, and Extracurricular.

GoodBye Earth (org. title: Jongmalui Babo) premieres on Netflix on April 26, 2024.

Details

Director: Kim Jin-min
Writer: Jung Sung-joo
Cast: Ahn Eun-jin, Yoo Ah-in, Kim Yoon-hye, Jeon Seong-woo, Yoo Ah-in