Badland Hunters: new Netflix scifi film tackling the Apocalypse with a wink and a smile (trailer).
Badland Hunters, the latest cinematic scifi concoction from South Korea, is not your average stroll through a post-apocalyptic playground. Directed by Heo Myung-haeng, a fresh face in the director’s chair, this film grabs the dystopian genre by the scruff and gives it a good shake, all while winking cheekily at its audience.
Set in a Seoul that’s seen better days (like, any day before a massive earthquake), Badland Hunters follows the ruggedly charismatic Nam-san, played by Ma Dong-seok. Nam-san is not your average wasteland wanderer—he’s more like a post-apocalyptic tour guide with a knack for survival and a taste for danger. He’s joined by a merry band of misfits, including Yang Gi-su, the doctor who apparently missed the memo about the world ending, played by Lee Hee-joon.
Enter Choi Ji-wan, Nam-san’s sidekick portrayed by Lee Jun-young, who’s so loyal he makes a golden retriever look like a fair-weather friend. And let’s not forget Roh Jeong-eui as Suna, a bold young girl who decides that following a bunch of guys into a wasteland is a sound life choice. Rounding out this ragtag group is Ahn Ji-hye, playing Eun-ho, a special forces sergeant who probably finds the end of the world a bit too quiet for her liking.
Badland Hunters is a sequel to 2023’s Concrete Utopia, and it picks up with Seoul having a really bad day, post-earthquake style. The city’s transformation into a dystopian hellscape is the perfect setting for our heroes to, well, hero around.
This Netflix original, set to drop on January 26, 2024, isn’t just a film—it’s a rollicking, ruin-riddled romp through what’s left of civilization. The production, a brainchild of Climax Studios, Big Punch Pictures, and Nova film, promises all the high-octane thrills of a world where the biggest concern used to be morning traffic. Badland Hunters is gearing up to be a delightful jaunt through a world of despair, with just enough cheek and charm to make the apocalypse seem like a pretty fun place to hang out. Get ready to stream it in your cozy, earthquake-free homes and be grateful that the biggest threat you face is running out of popcorn.
