Year of Release: 2024
Director: Heo Myeong Haeng
Starring: Ma Dong-seok, No Jeong-ee, Ahn Ji-hye, Lee Jun-young, Kim Young-sun, Andrew Grace, Lee Hee-joon, Roh Jeong-eui
Genre: Action, Adventure
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
Watch it on Netflix
Synopsis and Review
Netflix continues its constant output of various films, this time around the focus in on the South Korean feature directorial debut from Heo Myeong Haeng, himself an actor for films such as "Oldboy" from Park Chan-wook. The film takes place in Seoul, following a devastating earthquake which decimates a large part of the population. The survivors are trying their best to stay alive and live in refuge camps. Water is scarce, and the same goes for food in general. In one of those camps, Nam San and Choi, try their best at making a living by selling whatever food supplies they can. Choi has a long standing infatuation with Han Su-na, who mostly stays to herself and takes care of her grandmother. Life on the camp is disrupted when a female recruiter, alongside a few assistants comes over and explains that there's an apartment complex still standing, where they have potable water and where other amenities are available. The complex however is limited to adolescents and children, alongside their families. Han Su-na gets recruited, and soon gets separated from her grandmother. Upon arrival at the complex, she notices a series of weird occurrences, all the while her grandmother is nowhere to be seen. In the meantime Nam San and Choi learn through Lee Eun-ho, a former military officer and known to Nam San, that deadly experiments are being conducted at the complex, and that Han Su-na is in great danger.
"Badland Hunters" is yet another post-apocalyptic film, this time around not focused on zombies, but opting instead for the "weird experiments" angle. It's a film where the dynamics of the opposing forces are quickly established, but where the characters are very thinly constructed. Not much background is given about the characters, or how they even know each other, however, the film's purpose is mostly to focus on the journey of the friends in tackling the apartment complex, and the action scenes that ensue. As a result, there isn't much to say about these characters, or even the plot itself, aside from the fact that both the narrative structure and characters are very much built upon well known archetypes and situations. It's not a particularly original film or premise, but manages to be watchable thanks to the charisma of its performers, particularly the always great Ma Dong-seok (who was also a compelling presence in "Train to Busan"). The production team is competent, making the post-apocalyptic world feel somewhat authentic and with some credibility (definitely with some inspirations from George Miller's "Mad Max" universe). While not particularly original and fairly limited on its premise, it's still a watchable feature.
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