Summary
- Concrete Utopia is a hit thriller film that combines black comedy and psychological elements in a dystopian setting.
- Concrete Utopia is based on a webtoon called Pleasant Outcast and explores the story of a group of residents defending their home after a massive earthquake.
- Badland Hunters, the sequel to Concrete Utopia, is an action-packed dystopian movie with a simple plot about a hunter on a mission to save a kidnapped girl. Although not a direct sequel, both films take place in the same universe.
In 2023, the South Korean film Concrete Utopia became a massive hit with a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating. As of today, the film has won 14 awards already, including two for best film. It was even selected as the South Korean entry for the 96th Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category. Unfortunately, it didn’t make the shortlist, but Concrete Utopia still received very positive reviews for its balance of black comedy and psychologically thrilling atmosphere.
The 2024 sequel, Badland Hunters, was released on Netflix in January. It took the first place spot in the Global Top 10 weekly list of the most-watched non-English Netflix films. So far, the sequel lives up to its predecessor’s reputation. But what exactly is Concrete Utopia? And what carries over into the sequel? The answers are pretty surprising. Here’s what you need to know about Concrete Utopia before diving into the action-packed Badland Hunters.
Concrete Utopia Is a Hit Thriller Film
You might notice that one of the major differences between the films is their subgenres. They are both dystopian/disaster movies through and through, but Concrete Utopia‘s approach is unlike Badland Hunters. For starters, Concrete Utopia is a disaster thriller with psychological elements. The main plot involves a group of residents in an apartment complex defending their home from the survivors outside who are looking for shelter after Seoul, Korea, was destroyed overnight by a massive earthquake.
Imperial Palace Apartments is the only structure left standing, with the residents assigning a resident leader to create rules for them and prevent any outsiders from entering the complex. Concrete Utopia is a more layered film, leaving the audience to pick apart the themes and determine what the movie means to them. The film is a good balance of representing the worst in human society (selfishness, betrayal, greed) with the hope that things will get better with the help of the community.
Badland Hunters is less of a thriller and more of an action-packed dystopian movie. The plot is pretty simple compared to Concrete Utopia: a wasteland hunter is on a mission to save a girl kidnapped by a rogue scientist who has been performing experiments on teenagers, resulting in many deaths. It’s straightforward and focuses more on the action than the overall environment. But since both films are in the same universe, Concrete Utopia shows us one side of how people live in a dystopian world secluded rather than on the outside, facing whatever lies in store.
Concrete Utopia Is Based on a Webtoon
Concrete Utopia is actually based on a webtoon. Well, the second part of a webtoon, technically. The webtoon is called Pleasant Outcast (aka Pleasant Bullying) by Kim Soong-Nyung. The director of Concrete Utopia, Um Tae-hwa, read this webtoon and was fascinated with the story of what would happen if everything but one single building was destroyed. The first half of the webtoon series is about a 15-year-old boy named Donghyun, who is an outcast in his school. Because of this, he is a victim of bullying. However, when a new transfer student named Suhyeon comes to his school, this new student shakes up Donghyun’s life.
Concrete Utopia and Badland Hunters Are Stand Alone
Badland Hunters
- Release Date
- January 26, 2024
- Director
- Heo Myeong Haeng
- Cast
- Lee Joon-young , Jun Hee Lee , No Jeong-ee , Ma Dong-seok
Badland Hunters is not a direct sequel to Concrete Utopia. In fact, both films follow a completely different set of characters. Concrete Utopia follows Yeong-Tak (Lee Byung-hun) as the leader of the residents in Imperial Palace Apartments, tasked to keep his fellow residents in line and safe from the survivors outside.
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Badland Hunters follows the wasteland hunter Nam-San (Ma Dong-seok) on his journey to rescue a young girl from experimentation. Badland Hunters briefly connects to Concrete Utopia via the Imperial Palace Apartments, the same apartment complex where Dr. Yang Gi-su (Lee Hee-joon) camped to perform experiments. Other than the earthquake that destroyed Seoul in the universe of both films, the two films stand alone.
Technically, you don’t necessarily have to watch Concrete Utopia to watch and understand Badland Hunters. But because these films take place in the same dystopia and have different subgenres, it’s interesting to see how one movie paints the world and the people in it versus the other.
Concrete Utopia is full of suspense and dark humor in trying times, trying to live a relatively normal life while adapting to the seclusion the characters put themselves in. Meanwhile, Badland Hunters is filled with danger, action, comic relief, and a fierceness like no other. While Concrete Utopia tackles human rights and wrongs during a time of survival, Badland Hunters is the typical hero’s journey through and through. The trailer for Badland Hunters is available on YouTube. Concrete Utopia is available to rent on Viki, while Badland Hunters is currently streaming on Netflix.
Stream Badland Hunters on Netflix
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
