The South Korean Crime Thriller Taking Over Netflix’s Top Charts

Netflix and South Korean thrillers are a fine mix. The streamer’s so into the country’s fare that it can’t help but spoil “Squid Game” Season 3 in its promotional images, although the crown jewel of the platform’s Hallyuwood selection isn’t the only South Korean project that’s been getting love from its subscribers as of late. 

According to FlixPatrol, director Kim Seong-je’s crime film “Bogotá: City of the Lost” has recently climbed into the Netflix Top 10 list in many countries, even reaching the prestigious top spot in some areas. The movie focuses on young Guk-hee (Song Joon-ki), who’s struggling to start a new life after circumstances force his family to move to Colombia. The good news is that he soon settles in with a local Korean community. The bad news? It turns out the people in question are smugglers. 

Guk-hee’s first steps in the shady operations controlled by Sergeant Park (Kwo Hae-hyo) soon turn into aspirations for more power, and the story that unfolds combines some of the greatest hits of South Korean thrillers with the equally exciting South American crime film setting. The end result is an alluring cocktail, and it’s no wonder that Netflix viewers have embraced the movie with open arms.

Netflix has long excelled in recognizing the quality of South Korean movies and TV shows, and the aforementioned international success of “Squid Game” is just the cherry on top of the meticulously layered cake that the streaming service has been building for quite a few years. Its offerings are far from the kind of cookie cutter fare an uninitiated viewer might expect, too. On the contrary — some of Netflix’s greatest hits on the South Korean front include “Snowpiercer” and “Parasite” director Bong Joon-ho’s wonderfully weird 2017 anti-capitalist fantasy film “Okja.” Elsewhere, on the series front, the platform’s more entertaining K-drama fare includes two horror-flavored shows from “Train to Busan” director Yeon Sang-ho; the truly wild alien invasion series “Parasyte the Grey” and the demonic death (and afterlife) mystery thriller series “Hellbound.” 

Netflix’s array of Korean originals is such that the audiences seem to have learned to trust the streamer when it comes to South Korean movies and films. “Bogotá: City of the Lost” appears to be the latest example of the company’s success on this front, and there’s every reason to believe that it won’t be the last South Korean movie we’re going to see rising up the charts.

“Bogotá: City of the Lost” is currently streaming on Netflix.