Kingdom (2019 Series) Review

Kim Eun-hee, who wrote Signal, built Netflix's first Korean original on an idea the zombie genre usually leaves implicit: the dead are what bad government makes of the poor. In 1601, with the king hidden away and the Haewon Cho clan ruling in his name, Ju Ji-hoon's Crown Prince Lee Chang rides south to find out why. At a clinic for the poor in Dongnae, the plague spreads through a stew fed to starving patients.

Kim Seong-hun directs it on a film's scale, all palace courtyards, mountain passes and crowds. The set pieces exploit simple rules: at first the dead lie dormant by day and hunt at night, so every sunset is a deadline, and the siege of Sangju that bridges the two seasons is as tense as the genre gets. Bae Doona's physician is the conscience, Ryu Seung-ryong a superb, patient villain, and Kim Hye-jun's young queen the most frightening schemer at court.

The second season, mostly directed by Park In-je, is tighter and bloodier still. Budget overruns cut both seasons from eight episodes to six, leaving twelve episodes without filler. Only the dialogue is merely good, functional court speech. Ashin of the North, a 92-minute special with Jun Ji-hyun, set up a third season that has not followed.