Karma – Series Review | Netflix

KARMA on Netflix is a new South Korean thriller series with 6 amazing episodes and a character-driven story full of surprises. For me, this hits all the right notes. Read our Karma series review here and start watching on Netflix now!

KARMA is a new Netflix series from South Korea (org. title: Akyeon). This crime thriller series has six hour-long (sometimes a little shorter) episodes that you’ll want to keep watching. It’s all connected, and the title almost gives away the main plot: What comes around goes around.

As a huge fan of South Korean genre productions, I expected to enjoy this. However, I was still surprised by just how well this works. And I am very happy it’s a series rather than a long movie. This story needs time to unfold so we can get to know the six main characters.

Continue reading our Karma series review below. Start watching on Netflix now.

Enjoy it and avoid spoilers

Karma is a character-driven story that is all about how our actions affect not only our own lives but the lives of everyone around us. As such, you really want to avoid spoilers, so I’ll stick with the minimum of details here.

In fact, let’s just focus on the main characters, who are often not known by their names but by their roles in life. And in the story of this Netflix Karma series in particular, of course.

We have Lee He-jun (Badland Hunters) as the Debtor, Lee Kwang-soo as Glasses, and Park Hae-soo (Squid Game) as the Witness.

Apart from those three, we also have Kim Sung-kyun as Gil-ryong, who is unfairly fired. Shin Min-a as the doctor Ju-yeon, and Gong Seung-yeon as Yu-jeong. The latter is the girlfriend of Glasses, and she tends to be up to no good. But usually in a charming way. Usually!

The lives of these people will intertwine (again, the red thread, of twine, if you will) in the intro is very intentional. Unfortunately, it seems this story will be one of life and death. Karma is about destiny and consequence, but most of the characters won’t realize this until it’s too late.

It’s all connected

The tagline of this South Korean Netflix series is “Twisted by Fate. Doomed by Destiny”. With a title like “Karma”, this does seem to both highlight and go a little against the concept of karma. If fate and destiny play in, then your own actions aren’t entirely responsible for the outcome.

However, it’s times like these that we need to remember the Terminator 2: Judgment Day message: There’s no fate but what we make. So, really, it is all about karma.

Even the intro of this Netflix series highlights how one person’s action affects another. Someone who then, in turn, affects a third and fourth and so on. It’s the butterfly effect but with humans. And who started it all, if any one particular person can be assigned this role?!

The red thread used certainly isn’t accidental, as it is all clearly tied together and connected.

Watch the Karma series on Netflix now!

The South Korean Karma series (org. title: Akyeon) was written and directed by Lee Il-hyung (A Violent Prosecutor) and marks his debut as a series director. This crime thriller series on Netflix has everything I want (and frankly, expect) from a South Korean production.

It’s character-driven and tends to throw a few surprises your way. Just when you think you’ve got something figured out, it does something unexpected. Not every time, but enough that you can’t ever feel too certain about where the story is heading.

The Netflix series is based on the webcomic “Akyeon” by Choi Hee-Sun. It was published via Kakao from April 2019 to January 2020. Now, we’re getting what Disney would call a live-action adaptation. Only when the South Koreans do this, it usually work extremely well.

The Netflix adaptation of Karma is no exception. Enjoy, and remember to avoid spoilers.

Karma premieres exclusively on Netflix on April 4, 2025.

Details

Director: Lee Il-hyung
Writer: Lee Il-hyung
Cast: Park Hae-soo, Shin Min-a, Lee Hee-jun, Kim Sung-kyun, Lee Kwang-soo, Gong Seung-yeon