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Review | Netflix K-drama review: Somebody – sex and violence favoured over logic in intriguing yet perplexing serial killer romance

  • App programmer on the autism spectrum meets sociopathic architect and cruelty ensues as their unusual relationship ventures into Bonnie and Clyde territory
  • That’s the essence of Somebody, a story that’s hard to decipher but whose themes are alienation and marginalisation. There’s not much logic, but a lot of sex

Reading Time:3 minutes
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Kang Hae-lim in a still from serial killer romance K-drama Somebody.

3/5 stars

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When its first three episodes premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in October, Somebody looked a tantalising but frustrating show.

Packed with a surfeit of intriguing ideas, it coasted along with a killer ambience, yet the narrative was at best opaque. What was the story and where was it going?

Now the whole series is available to stream on Netflix; while the remaining episodes are just as intriguing, the story is as inscrutable as ever.

Somebody | Official Trailer | Netflix

As evidenced by tightly woven films like Happy End and Heart Blackened, director Jung Ji-woo has never had trouble conveying a story clearly. The lack of narrative clarity in his latest creation makes it feel like he is pushing us to draw our own conclusions.

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