Somebody – Netflix Series Review

SOMEBODY on Netflix is a new thriller series from South Korea. It’s a serial killer story and wonderfully character-driven. The season has eight episodes with a less than hour-long runtime. Read our full Somebody season 1 review here!

SOMEBODY is a new Netflix thriller series with a serial killer plot. This is a South Korean production, which you’ll know means extremely high quality in both production and storytelling. Well, you’ll know this if you’ve ever watched any productions from South Korea anyway.

This latest South Korean Netflix series is a serial killer story. It has all the things you know and love from South Korean productions, so you can look forward to a character-driven plot. Also, the characters are flawed and real, just like the pace might be slow-burn, but the story never gets boring.

Continue reading our Somebody season 1 review below. Find all 8 episodes on Netflix from November 18, 2022.

A different kind of serial killer

By the end of Somebody episode 1, you’ll know who the serial killer is. From episode 2, we’ll even follow this character for a little while. Now, I realize that revealing the serial killer’s identity isn’t extremely innovative in itself (The Fall did the same thing).

Still, this South Korean Netflix thriller series does feel different. Both because of the nature of this serial killer and due to the many other characters, we get to follow. During the first two episodes, we are introduced to quite a lot of characters, while episode 3 is where it really comes together.

Again, this was exactly the case with 1899 as well – though the core plot of these two series is nothing alike. Somebody is a serial killer story, while 1899 is a sci-fi horror thriller mystery hybrid. And yet, the two have quite a lot in common when it comes to being character-driven and set in worlds you can’t quite place.

Don’t worry, I’ll stick with focusing on Somebody now. In this new series, we begin by following a young woman who ends up creating the core code for what becomes a very popular dating app. It’s this very dating app the serial killer uses to get in touch with his victims.

A simple and clean plot that becomes fascinating via the many intriguing characters!

An actual South Korean Netflix production

Here at Heaven of Horror, we’re big fans of South Korean productions, which Netflix has plenty of. Still, there is (usually) a big difference between productions made by Netflix and the ones made for South Korean television and released internationally on Netflix later.

The latter tend to have very long seasons with episodes that are over one hour long – and sometimes even a somewhat “soap opera”-feel. Those produced by Netflix, on the other hand, tend to be closer in production style to the South Korean movies that have (finally!) become popular internationally.

Somebody is very much a Netflix production – just as the mega-successful Kingdom and Squid Game series are – and it shows. You’ll get plenty of twists and turns along the case, but – to me, anyway – the storytelling in Somebody is stronger than in 1899. A new series that also has a lot of characters.

Watch season 1 of Somebody on Netflix now!

Jung Ji-Woo is the director of this new Netflix series. Previously, Jung Ji-Woo has worked mostly on feature films. He directed and co-wrote the crime thriller Heart Blackened (2017), which stars Choi Min-sik. An actor you’ll more than likely recognize since he’s been in movies like Oldboy and I Saw the Devil.

The series was written by Han Ji-Wan who also wrote the series The Ghost Detective, which is also a horror-thriller series (but not a Netflix production).

There are 8 episodes in this season and each is around 50 minutes long, so you can easily binge-watch this if you feel like it. Admittedly, I find this story very binge-worthy. Especially since the first two are really setting the stage and the remaining episodes dig into catching the serial killer.

Somebody season 1 is out on Netflix from November 18, 2022.

Details

Director: Jung Ji-Woo
Writer: Han Ji-Wan
Stars: Kim Young-Kwang, Kang Hae-Lim, Kim Yong-Ji, Kim Soo-Yeon