Director Kim Byung-woo's latest high-concept blockbuster "The Great Flood" premiered at the 30th Busan International Film Festival last week, earning a modest 2 out of 5 stars from critics. Despite starring popular actress Kim Da-mi, the Netflix production struggles to maintain coherence as it transforms from a thrilling disaster movie into a puzzling science-fiction mystery that leaves audiences more bewildered than amazed.
The film opens with spectacular visual effects as a giant tsunami consumes an entire apartment complex in Seoul. Kim Da-mi portrays An-na, an AI developer and single mother who awakens to find her city under assault from unprecedented rainfall and catastrophic flooding. The water level has already reached her second-floor apartment when she and her six-year-old son Ja-in, played by Kwon Eun-seong, attempt to evacuate to higher ground. Their escape plans are thrown into chaos when a massive wave crashes into their building.
During its opening sequences, "The Great Flood" delivers breathtaking tension and impressive digital effects that create a genuine sense of danger. An-na and Ja-in find themselves repeatedly separated as they fight for survival, maneuvering underwater as one floor after another succumbs to the relentless surge. The arrival of security officer Hee-jo, portrayed by Park Hae-soo, adds another layer of mystery to the unfolding disaster. Hee-jo has been specifically sent by An-na's employers to escort her and her son to safety, raising questions about An-na's true importance.
As the story progresses, An-na discovers that the catastrophe extends far beyond her neighborhood. The disaster is global in scope, threatening all of humanity, with the key to survival somehow resting in An-na's hands. This revelation marks a significant shift in the film's direction as director Kim Byung-woo, known for genre-bending experiments like "The Terror Live" and "Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy," abandons the disaster film format entirely.
The movie transforms into what critics describe as a "labyrinthine sci-fi mystery" that challenges the very fabric of An-na's perceived reality. However, rather than elevating the stakes, this dramatic shift becomes the film's downfall. The narrative loses control as Kim Byung-woo introduces a barrage of disconnected revelations without sufficient concern for clarity or coherence. The ambitious scope that initially drove the film forward ultimately becomes its weakness.
Kim Da-mi, serving as the film's emotional anchor, delivers a committed performance as she attempts to keep the increasingly chaotic story grounded. Despite her best efforts to maintain stability in her role, she faces an uphill battle against more than just the natural disaster elements. The director's boundless overreach threatens to completely derail the project, leaving even a talented performer like Kim struggling to salvage the experience.
By the film's conclusion, when the metaphorical clouds part and the narrative waters finally calm, "The Great Flood" fails to inspire the awe it clearly intended to generate. Instead, audiences are left feeling battered, bruised, and thoroughly confused by the convoluted storytelling. Critics noted that the film drowns in its own ambition while remaining narratively adrift throughout its runtime.
"The Great Flood" represents another entry in Kim Byung-woo's filmography of audacious genre-bending experiments, continuing the ambitious approach seen in his previous works. However, unlike his earlier successes, this action-packed puzzle box fails to solve its own riddles satisfactorily. The film will begin streaming on Netflix starting December 19, giving viewers worldwide the opportunity to experience this polarizing addition to the disaster film genre.
