Lead cast: Lee Sung-min, Yoo Yeon-seok, Lee Jung-eun
In the gripping new TVING streaming series A Bloody Lucky Day, a taxi driver scores a huge fare at the end of his shift, but his luck runs out when his long drive to the coast turns into a showdown with a malevolent mop-haired serial killer.
Taek experiences a long and frightful nightmare during sleep one night, but since it ends with a drift of pigs – which are considered highly auspicious in dreams – he wakes up believing that he’s about to hit the jackpot.
10 of the best new Korean drama series to look out for in October 2023
10 of the best new Korean drama series to look out for in October 2023
This starts with a call from her son’s friend, who fails to show up for their meeting after a mysterious fire. She tries to visit him in hospital, but he dies just after being seen by a doctor. That doctor is Hyeok-soo, who suddenly leaves the hospital.
A Bloody Lucky Day is broad at its outset, with the grinning Taek interacting with a procession of lively characters filtering in and out of his cab, which includes the initially very charming Hyeok-soo.
This early happy-go-lucky tone is intercut with snatches of Soon-kyu’s tortured search and several foreboding omens, which prepare us for the very dark road trip ahead, which has shades of the ’80s horror classic The Hitcher.
Hyeok-soo, who is planning to stow away on a boat, quickly notices Taek’s pushover tendencies as the latter smiles his way through road rage incidents, accepting blame when others are clearly at fault.
Taek is a little taken aback by Hyeok-soo’s stream of jokes and stories, which grow more morbid the deeper they get into the countryside, until the point that he begins to realise the truth behind his fare’s words.
This 10-episode series – two of which just premiered at the Busan International Film Festival – sharply drives towards a clear goal.
There’s the literal destination for Taek and Hyeok-soo and eventually Soon-kyu, when she figures out where they’re going, but also the character trajectories. Hyeok-soo needs to escape and Soon-kyu is out for revenge, while Taek needs to buck up and show some courage under fire if he’s to make it out alive.
Beyond the fireworks we can expect when they all reach the seaside, we can also look forward to seeing how this fateful journey will change all these characters.
Hyeok-soo, a handsome and amoral serial killer who likes to play with his food, is a familiar character in the realm of Korean thrillers.
He doesn’t have unique shadings as a serial killer, as we learn through a backstory that fills us in on the various mental and physical ailments that exacerbate his psychopathic tendencies. Yet he is a compulsively watchable rendition of this stock character, which we have Yoo to thank for.
The genial Taek is comfortable territory for Lee Sung-min. He yucks it up a little early on, but when he shrinks before aggressive men in various shameful stand-offs he makes us root for Taek to find his inner courage and stand up for himself.
Building a wonderful rapport before things turn south, Lee and Yoo play off of each other magnificently, turning Taek’s cab into a hotbox of surprising suspense.
Filled with cramped thrills and tense stand-offs, A Bloody Lucky Day is off to an auspicious start.
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
