The Great Flood is Netflix's newest K-brand top movie

6 days ago 7

A mother's desperate fight to save her child in a flooded world takes over streaming

The Great Flood Kim Da-mi as Anna in The Great Flood

A Korean movie is currently the number one film on Netflix, and it's not KPop Demon Hunters. Sci-fi disaster thriller The Great Flood has been out in other regions since September, but it finally arrived in the United States over the weekend — and became an overnight hit. Not only does the film check a couple of key Netflix boxes, it also features an AI-laden twist that's got audiences talking about its particularly relevant ending.

The Great Flood follows a family holding onto the last shred of hope for humanity as they struggle to survive in a flooded apartment building after an asteroid impact causes the Antarctic ice sheets to melt, unleashing a world-ending catastrophe. Directed by Kim Byung-woo (Take Point), the film stars Kim Da-mi as a mother and scientist named Gu An-na doing her best to keep her young son safe from the disaster. Although it may sound like a typical disaster movie, the story goes much deeper, revealing the lengths a mother would go to protect her child.

The Great Flood delivers on the adrenaline level thanks to the family's hopeless escape to the top of their flooded building, which makes for the perfect set-piece for the movie's visual spectacle. However, Kim also adopts a wider scope, moving his gaze from the narrow escape scenario to a more conceptual view of the sci-fi disaster trope. We won't go into spoilers, but the ending is reminiscent of the bleak sci-fi twists of the 1970s, such as Soylent Green and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Perhaps The Great Flood is just the next hot thing in a space that is inevitably going to be filled by the final installment of Stranger Things final season in a few days. Perhaps the K-brand is so popular that everything it touches becomes a success. Either way, The Great Flood has taken Netflix by storm, and if you haven't seen the film yet, you may be missing out on a pretty heavy finale that's going to have people buzzing throughout the holidays.

Just don't expect a perfect film. While The Great Flood may be a hit on Netflix, it's not exactly winning over critics or viewers. It currently has a 60% Rotten Tomatoes score, with a 41% fan rating.

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