- Date of Release: 24 December 2021
- Genre: Mystery, SciFi, Thriller
- Language: Korean
- Watch On: Netflix
The Silent Sea
Introduction
My 2021 ends with a beautiful Christmas gift – The silent Sea. South Korea’s rare Sci-Fi space series venture that revolves around a competent group’s risky mission at a now-abandoned lunar base station named “Balhae Base research station” is not only outstanding, but also has exceeded expectations.
Set in the dystopian near future, when our planet suffers from lack of water and food caused by desertification, “The Silent Sea” series story starts with capable crew’s challenging lunar mission starring Bae Doona, Gong Yoo and Lee Joon. The series is an adaptation from the 2014 short film The Sea of Tranquility written and directed by Choi Hang-yong who also directs this series.
Story & Screenplay
The series starts with a painful near future where we all are in a thirst trap and climate crisis situation. Trust me, It’s the scariest picture of our human race, I have ever seen where global warming and economic inequality grasps everything in Earth and we are helpless, clueless and ready to take any attempt for survival. Water becomes the luxury item and it becomes government allowance based on your status. Living in this horrifying world, South Korean Government forms a team that is undertaking a challenging and mysterious mission to an abandoned Lunar base station Balhae. The station is closed for 5 years after 117 resident members died there in an accident.
Doctor Song Ji-an (Bae Doona), an astrobiologist determines to uncover the truth behind the mentioned accident at the Balhae Base research station on the moon, takes part in the team. The crew with team leader (Gong Yoo) Han Yoon-jae starts their well-planned journey to carry out a crucial mission on retrieving a specific sample with limited information. The mission’s spacecraft malfunctions occur and they crash on the moon’s surface, as a result they are forced to travel to the station by foot with limited oxygen. As the story progresses, it throws bunch of open questions to all of the crew members who are unaware of the actual fact and concern. The unique concept is surely interesting overall and you will definitely watch this in a single go, trust me.
Performance & Direction
Directed by Choi Hang-yong, “The Silent Sea“is definitely a science fiction series that is full of fantastic performances. Starting from immersive music, unique storyline, stunning CGI&VFX effects, vast canvas, horizonless scenes, astonishing cinematography to all casts beautiful acting skill, I believe, the series rocks. In terms of the actual story and direction, it’s properly executed facts perfectly. Starting from teaser and trailer, they maintain dark mystery in a tight grip. Each episode unfolds with surprising twists and we, viewers, are spellbound to digest all details and that creates a lot of satisfying suspense throughout the series.
The series also ends with a lot of enquiries being raised and frankly I also don’t get the whole picture like how the end deal wraps up actually but then, this incomplete vibe in the series is another reason why “The Silent Sea” is unique in its own terms. Bae Doona as Doctor Ji-an is convincing. She is such a versatile actress, she perfectly fits in this daring mission, I must say. Now comes to the Goblin Actor, Gong Yoo, I seriously admire this man. He is definitely the perfect captain in this mission. Because of his strong presence, the series becomes more addictive 🙂
Conclusion
Overall, “The Silent Sea” is definitely a masterpiece. It surely delivers a mesmerizing lunar mission that will be memorable. It’s definitely bingeworthy from my side.
It’s currently available in Netflix.
Disclaimer: The above review solely illustrates the views of the writer.