Gyeongseong Creature: Part 1 – Netflix Series Review

GYEONGSEONG CREATURE on Netflix is a South Korean series that takes place in a historic WWII setting but has a supernatural element. The episodes are long as it’s character-driven. Read our Gyeongseong Creature Part One series review here!

GYEONGSEONG CREATURE is a new Netflix series from South Korea. As you can imagine, the episodes are rather long and the series has quite a few episodes. Maybe that’s why Netflix has divided its release into two parts.

The series has 10 episodes in total. We’re getting Part One with the first seven episodes now while the remaining three episodes come out on January 5, 2024. If you’re intrigued by episode 1, you’ll want to keep going. With the ending of the first episode, I suspect most will keep watching.

Continue reading our Gyeongseong Creature Part One series review below. Find the first seven episodes on Netflix on December 22, 2023.

Before it was Seoul, it was Gyeongseong

Gyeongseong Creature is set in early 1945. In other words, towards the end of World World II, when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule. This setting makes for a gorgeous production that shows the city of Gyeongseong – now known as Seoul – and how people lived during this time.

Obviously, the WWII setting in a country under the rule of a neighboring nation makes for brutal scenes and moments. This is the perfect backdrop for the real horrors of this series; The human experiments that turn humans into creatures. Well, sort of. I don’t want to give away too much.

The Netflix series focuses on two young adults, who discover the creatures as well as other dangers in Gyeongseong. The mix of historical drama and genre elements isn’t foreign to Netflix, as the zombie period piece The Kingdom is another one of their South Korean hits. Including a spin-off.

More genre production than its K-Drama label

These days, the K-Drama label is slapped on anything from South Korea. Do not let it fool you into missing out on amazing South Korean genre productions. Watch the opening scene which has an extreme amount of deaths (wartime execution style) and shows a human-like creature!

If I was to compare it to anything, it would probably be a mix of The Handmaiden and Overlord. It’s nothing like either, but set during WWII in South Korea under Japanese rule (like in The Handmaiden) and with a monster story in the middle of it (like zombies in Overlord).

Also, if you like the creature feature element of Gyeongseong Creature, be sure to check out Project Wolf Hunting. A wild action-packed slasher with a human-based monster at the heart of it.

Watch Part One of Gyeongseong Creature on Netflix now!

Gyeongseong Creature was written by Kang Eun-kyung (Dr. Romantic) and directed by Chung Dong-yoon (Hot Stove League). The cast includes a few familiar faces as there are actors from Parasite and The Handmaiden, to name just some of the biggest South Korean hits.

Also, there’s Claudia Kim who has been in huge productions such as Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Dark Tower (2017), and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018).

However, it isn’t the cast that will attract you to this South Korean series. Instead, it’s the intriguing characters (portrayed wonderfully by the cast, obviously) and the fascinating story that is rooted in real-life events of World War II.

Also, there’s a creature feature element to the series, which genre fans will surely love. For me, this is a much better release than the huge Zack Snyder production it shares its release date with.

Interestingly, both have a Part One coming out now and Part Two releasing in 2024. That’s about all they have in common. And Gyeongseong Creature is the victor on every other parameter. Well, except for name recognition in cast members, but you won’t care. Watch both and see for yourself.

Gyeongseong Creature Part 1 premieres Dec. 22, and Part 2 debuts Jan. 5, 2024.

Details

Director: Chung Dong-yoon
Writer: Kang Eun-kyung
Cast: Park Seo-joon, Han So-hee, Claudia Kim, Wi Ha-jun, Cho Han-cheul, Kim Hae-sook