Netflix's first major K-drama release of 2024, A Killer Paradox, kicks off with a situation that anyone who's worked in customer service can relate to - a frustrating encounter with a rude customer.
A Frustrating Customer Service Encounter
What was supposed to be a quiet night shift at a local corner store turns into a nightmare for Lee Tang (played by Choi Woo-shik), a regular university student trying to make ends meet. An obnoxious elderly man starts making unreasonable demands, pushing Lee to his limits.
Fortunately, a co-worker shows up and helps defuse the tense situation. But instead of things calming down, a new argument erupts between Lee and the man after the old man leaves. In the heat of this argument, Lee unexpectedly loses his cool and hits his colleague over the head with a hammer, killing him.
While not everyone who's worked in customer service can relate to that extreme reaction, it's easy to understand the frustration that led to Lee's outburst.
A Shocking Revelation
Wracked with guilt over his colleague's death, Lee considers turning himself in or even taking his own life. But then, a news report reveals a shocking truth - his victim was actually a dangerous serial killer who arguably deserved his fate.
Witness Troubles and a Relentless Detective
This revelation is just the beginning of Lee's troubles. A witness shows up, demanding money to keep quiet or they'll go to the police. And Lee has to deal with a relentless detective named Jang Nan-gam, who's determined to solve the murder and bring the perpetrator to justice.
A cat-and-mouse chase ensues between Lee and Jang, taking viewers on a wild ride that they never could have anticipated - unless, of course, they've read the award-winning Naver webtoon that the show is based on.
Bringing the Webtoon to Life
To bring the webtoon's darkly comic story to life, Netflix enlisted screenwriter Kim Da-min and director Lee Chang-Hee, a filmmaker known for the intense movie "The Vanished" and the equally intense series "Hell is Other People."
A Gory and Surreal Thriller
A Killer Paradox delves into some pretty dark territory, as the body count starts to rise. Bloody, gory moments are interspersed throughout in a realistic manner, but it's the more surreal, dream-like sequences that will chill viewers the most.
Chang-Hee creatively utilizes Lee's nightmares and hallucinations, alternating between disturbing imagery and sunny, well-lit daytime scenarios that reimagine each murder from the so-called hero's perspective.
These sequences stand out in a genre that's overcrowded with far less imaginative takes on murder, especially from a visual standpoint.
Shifting Genres and Twists
Narratively speaking, A Killer Paradox plays with genres, shifting into an entirely different beast halfway through, around the fourth episode. To say much more would spoil the show's descent into madness, but know that Lee's initial guilt over these seemingly random murders transforms into something else entirely, bringing elements of noir, comedy, and even fantasy into what starts as a psychological thriller.
Twists like these live or die on the cast's ability to keep up and make the audience believe in the ride they're being taken on. Choi Woo-shik excels in the starring role of Lee, convincing as both a slacker student and a tortured hero or hardened vigilante, no matter where the script takes him.
A Talented Cast
Following his roles in Train to Busan, Okja, and the Oscar-winning Parasite, A Killer Paradox will further cement Woo-shik's international career beyond his native Korea.
Lee's nemesis, Detective Nan-gam, is played by Son Suk-ku, who viewers might recognize from Netflix's Sense8, DP, and Designated Survivor: 60 Days. His character is haunted by death in a very different way than Lee, and his charm plays well into the mirrored cat-and-mouse dynamic that serial killer stories love to channel.
However, it's Lee Hee-joon's Song Chon who threatens to steal the show when he arrives later with his own reasons for hunting down Lee. Recently seen in Netflix's Badland Hunters, Chon plays a cocky, wildly unpredictable figure whose ties to the others create a whole new dynamic that brings much-needed charisma to Killer's second half.
Song's approach to death is darkly comic, and that's true of the show as a whole, which is punctuated throughout with moments that will make you gasp, but also catch you laughing.
A Messy but Ambitious Thriller
A Killer Paradox has a lot to juggle tonally, and while this mish-mash works for the most part, there are also some stretches where the script struggles to know where its focus should lie.
In that sense, A Killer Paradox is just as messy as the corpses that pile up around Lee, which is both a strength and a detriment.
A tighter focus and a keener sense of the message behind the show could have elevated the series more. But there's still tons of fun to be had when it comes to Killer's sheer ambition, not to mention the wish fulfillment of it all.
Because honestly, who hasn't wished revenge on someone who really deserves it? If you've worked in customer service, you'll know exactly what we mean, although we wouldn't recommend Lee's approach. That's for sure.