Parasyte: The Grey is an entertaining South Korean horror science fiction series based on Invasion Of The Body Snatchers and created by Yean Sang Ho (Jiok). The story is based on the Japanese manga of the same name and has already had a few film adaptations. This Netflix series concerns unknown monstrous parasites that can take over the human body and brain and completely subdue them to their will. Those infected with this can also transform their heads into a bizarre-looking tentacle creature that spares nothing or anyone. So they look exactly like humans, allowing them to blend in with the crowd unnoticed.
It's clear that this story is based on that of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. Monstrous and/or alien parasites that can possess and control humans. The appearance of these parasites in this series takes some getting used to. Of course, it's not every day you see people on the street whose heads suddenly turn into a tangle of slippery tentacles. Anyway, it concerns an unknown life form, so we can give this a place in our imagination, whether realistic or not.
In this story, Jeong Su-In(Jeon So-nee, When My Love Blooms) is our main character. She is a simple supermarket employee who, after a dispute with a dissatisfied customer, is attacked by the same man after her shift in the evening. Because she was just infected with a parasite, this situation does not end well for this man. However, because circumstances prevented this parasite from completely taking over her brain, she acts as a kind of Jekyll and Hyde. At moments of danger the monster appears, but once it has disappeared, Su-In herself has no idea what has happened. This of course represents exciting moments in this story.
Meanwhile, we meet Kim Cheol-min (Kwon Hae-hyo, Wedding Impossible), a middle-aged detective. He is an expert in the field and soon finds himself on the trail of a series of bizarre murders. Due to an earlier incident, he is connected to Jeong Su-In, which makes him act more like a father figure to her. This also makes for a fascinating concept here because he often finds himself in a conflict between doing his duty as a detective on the one hand and protecting Su-In on the other.
Next we see Seol Kang-woo (Koo Kyo-hwan, Monstrous), a young gang member who has to go into hiding after a failed assignment. He is also looking for his youngest sister who has disappeared without a trace for some time. When he discovers that his eldest sister also turns out to be a parasite, a chance encounter with Su-In leads him to form an alliance to uncover the truth. Due to his nonchalant yet amiable character, he often steals the show and regularly provides the comic relief in this story.
Finally, we have the badass female officer and head of Parasyte: Choi Jun-kyeong (Lee Jung-hyun, Areumdawoon naldeul). Her organization battles the monstrous parasites. She is clearly no pushover and does everything she can to kill every parasite. She too has a past that explains why she uses everything in her power to silence these wretched creatures.
The interplay of these characters is exactly what makes this series fun
They all play their roles with verve, making it easy to empathize with this surreal story. Certainly Su-In and her relationship with her own parasite are highlighted from a number of different sides throughout the story and provide some depth. Themes such as self-identity, change and/or evolution of an organism have nice added value here.
This series also has its negatives. As believable as the actors may be, towards the end the story started to plateau a bit and fewer fascinating surprises came into play. Some characters also get a questionable twist towards the end, which does not always do justice to their credibility.
That being said, this series is overall very entertaining. The contemporary view on the outbreak concept, the convincing performances and the intriguing plot make this series worth clearing your head for a while, at least in the figurative sense of course!
I also got a 7.5. Quite a nice surprising Korean series like more that have been released in recent years. Nice story, very reasonable effects and quite a nice cast.
It's still funny to see that the whole woke discussion apparently doesn't play a role there at all. With a Korean series you get what you expect. Koreans as actors. And nothing else. And nobody seems to mind. Not me anyway.
Thanks for your response. Yes, I hadn't thought about it, but indeed they were only Korean actors. But so what? I'm also more than tired of this woke stuff in the film world. What does it matter? As if there used to be no diversity in films? Now suddenly there has to be diversity everywhere because it has to be from above, and because of this forced stuff you get films and series that are no longer worth watching.
Hopefully this will go away soon. But luckily you don't have that trend everywhere of course ;)
It's still funny to see that the whole woke discussion apparently doesn't play a role there at all. With a Korean series you get what you expect. Koreans as actors. And nothing else. And nobody seems to mind. Not me anyway.
Hopefully this will go away soon. But luckily you don't have that trend everywhere of course ;)