Clumsy killer with supernatural powers

An ordinary college student who works part-time at a convenience store happens to get involved in a murder. He tosses and turns at the same nightmare of seeing the victim, spending every day lying on the floor with bags under his eyes in fear of getting caught. Surprisingly, it turns out that the victim murdered by this young man is the one who committed a horrendous killing. The upcoming Netflix series “A Killer Paradox'' is scheduled to be released this Friday; depicting Lee Tang, played by Choi Woo-shik, accidentally realizing his special ability to identify evil guys and Jang Nan-gam, a detective character by Son Suk-ku, chasing after him. Based on a webtoon of the same name, Netflix produced this series of eight episodes targeting the forthcoming Lunar New Year Holidays.

The story starts against the backdrop of one of the ordinary days Lee Tang works part-time at a convenience store. Part of his routine is treating rude, demanding customers and doing his boss, who thinks of him as a pushover, the favor of taking over his shift. However, his ordinary life changes in the blink of an eye after he accidentally kills a drunk man while defending against his indiscriminate attack. The following day, things are resolved for some reason as another body is discovered near the man Lee killed last night. The police conclude that the man ended up being killed while the two men were fighting against each other. Surprisingly, the man Lee happened to murder turns out to be a serial killer of unsolved murders. As Lee starts following evil men after discovering his peculiar talent to tell those who deserve to be killed, Jang Nan-gam, a shrewd detective, tracks him down.

The primary role of Lee Tang is played by Choi Woo-shik, who has gained global fame since he starred as Ki-woo in “Parasite.” His pale skin, slim build, and droopy eyes distance him from looking like a typical killer you can imagine. Strangely, you may take pity on this clumsy-looking killer who wastes away out of a sense of guilt and gets perplexed by how unexpectedly things unfold over time. After he happens to realize his ability, he does a 180-degree turn with his eyes filled with the creepy wickedness that reminds us of the evil role of Gwi Gong-Ja, who plays in the 2018 film “The Witch.”


Ji-Sun Choi aurinko@donga.com