“Badland Hunters” (Original title: Hwang-ya) is a South Korean dystopian action film streaming on Netflix. Filled with gore & violence, it is a sequel to the 2023 disaster thriller film “Concrete Utopia,” which was South Korea’s submission in the Best International Feature Film category at the 96th Academy Awards. “Badland Hunters” exists in the same world as “Concrete Utopia,” where an earthquake transforms Seoul into a wasteland that results in the collapse of law, order, and civilization. The Netflix release follows a huntsman trying to rescue a teenager from a doctor with questionable motives. Spoilers ahead.
Badland Hunters (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
What is ‘Badland Hunters’ on Netflix about?
“Badland Hunters” (Original title: Hwang-ya) on Netflix is a Korean-language dystopian action thriller flick set in a post-apocalyptic Seoul – like the previous year’s “Concrete Utopia.” It follows a skilled hunter trying to help save a young girl from a selfish & greedy doctor. It is directed by Heo Myeong Haengg, who has previously worked in the stunt department for a couple of South Korean films. Its screenplay is written by Kim Bo-Tong & Kwak Jae-Min. Ma Dong-seok, a popular action film star, plays the lead role of hunter Nam San.
Can I watch ‘Badland Hunters’ even if I haven’t seen ‘Concrete Utopia’?
Yes. You can watch “Badland Hunters” without watching “Concrete Utopia.” Both these films are set in a post-apocalyptic Seoul since an earthquake disrupts the world as once known and turns it into a lawless badland. However, both films treat their subject differently. Badland Hunters’ director, Heo Myung-haeng, clarified that his film does not serve as a direct sequel to “Concrete Utopia” – even though both films exist in the same fictional universe. The Netflix movie has a different background, plot, and filmmaking style. Unlike the contemplative tone of South Korea’s Oscar submission, “Badland Hunters” is a relentless thriller that may remind you of George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” instead of Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite.”
What happens in ‘Badland Hunters’ on Netflix?
“Badland Hunters” on Netflix follows a man’s attempt to rescue a teenager from an evil doctor. The film takes place in a period after a deadly earthquake hits Seoul and turns it into a lawless badland. It begins inside a lab where Doctor Yang Gi-su (Lee Hee-Joon) tries to operate on a girl, hoping to bring his daughter back to life. A few local operatives arrive there to stop him. They claim that Gi-su has done enough damage through his similar experiments. Before they can take any action against him, the nearby buildings start to collapse. Within moments, everything crumbles down, leaving them all under rubble.
Through that rubble, Choi Ji-wan (Lee Jun-young) walks with a bow & an arrow. He tries to kill a crocodile, but the plan backfires, and he finds himself trying to save his life. Moments later, Nam-san (Ma Dong-seok) arrives there and saves him. They both work as hunters in the lawless wasteland and try to protect the population from ruthless bandits and mutant creatures. Meanwhile, Su-na (Roh Jeong-eui) lives with her grandmother and tries to survive a new set of challenges in their post-apocalyptic world. While getting their usual supplies, she and other local residents get a visit from a gang of bounty hunters.
Where does Su-na go after the bandits’ visit?
The bounty hunters were trying to get a hold of a particular man in Nam-san’s village. They create a ruckus and disturb the villagers. Then, one of them creepily approaches Su-na and stares in awe at how young she is. Seeing him humiliate her, Ji-wan starts a fight against this hunter. But they beat him black and blue. So, Nam-san gets in the fight and saves him. The bounty hunter tells him about an apartment where he can get clean water. However, only a ‘chosen few’ are allowed to get in that facility. Soon after, Nam-san meets a teacher who offers a haven – and shares her organization’s wish to help the children and old people. Upon Nam-san’s advice, Su-na decides to go there with her grandmother.
Along with a group of villagers, Su-na walks through the night. Since her grandmother feels unwell, the teacher decides to send her away for some medical help. Moments later, the teacher offers everyone else a car ride. Su-na wonders why the teacher sent her grandmother away if a car was available. Nevertheless, she can think of no other option than moving along. On the other hand, Ji-wan notices Su-na’s grandmother getting stabbed to death. He shoots an arrow into this killer’s chest, hoping it will kill him. However, the killer wakes up right after, as if he has been resurrected. Nam-san notices this strange incident. After their eventual fight, Ji-wan goes to confront the killer and asks why he killed Su-na’s grandmother.
How does the dead man return to life?
Ji-wan ties Su-na’s grandmother’s killer to a rope and asks why he killed her. Before the killer unties himself and kills them, Lee Eun-ho (An Ji-hye) arrives out of nowhere and kills him. After saving them, she seeks their help for an ambitious mission. Not long ago, she was working as a special ops sergeant. At the time, she came across Doctor Yang Gi-su’s dirty secrets. He was working on a breakthrough that could offer immortality to humans. The doctor considered himself a messiah, trying to save humankind. Once Eun-ho learned about his dangerous experiments, she got furious. So, she seeks Nam-san’s help to fight against the doctor. Nam-san agrees because it will help him rescue Su-na.
Meanwhile, Su-na reaches the apartments to see the doctor’s influence over the denizens. Parents pray for their children to be considered worthy of his approval. Soon after, she gets introduced to the teacher’s class. She finds everything about it strange. When she tries to ask any question, the teacher stops her from speaking against the doctor’s authority. Su-na still decides to be upfront and asks where her grandmother is. The doctor silences her and forces her to drink a bottle of clean water. On the other hand, Nam-san realizes that the doctor has established a monopoly over clean water. He learns a way to infiltrate their operations.
Badland Hunters (2024) ‘Netflix’ Movie Ending Explained:
What happens to Su-na?
Gi-su tries to bring in more and more children to his operations to benefit from. He sees his experiments as a way to positively affect the evolution cycle. His men stop purification plant workers from meeting their children. While they get into an argument, Su-na tries to escape the authoritarian prison. Gi-su meets the workers and argues against letting them meet their daughter. However, he eventually decides to bring them to her. They see her lying on the bed, being experimented upon. Once they start to protest against him, their daughter dies. Gi-su’s man kills them both without any second thought. Gi-su finds Su-na hiding behind a curtain and decides to use her as his lab rat.
Does Nam-san rescue Su-na in the end?
Su-na manages to infiltrate the doctor’s apartment facility with Eun-ho & Ji-wan. However, the local authority gets a hint of their intrusion and starts firing at them. They manage to sneak out and try to find Su-na. While walking through a prison-like structure, they come across several bodies in a poor state. They fight against these mutant creatures and win over them. Meanwhile, the doctor begins to panic, seeing his grand plan gradually crumbling down. Nam-san steadfastly moves ahead with Ji-wan in their fight against the doctor’s blind supporters. In a fight against one of these devotee creatures, Eun-ho falls down a high floor.
Ji-wan breaks into the teacher’s classroom and asks her about Su-na’s whereabouts. She mentions that Su-na is with the doctor. While Gi-su keeps up with his attempts to bring his daughter back to life, Nam-san and Ji-wan break into his lab to save Su-na. The doctor realizes that it is too late to reverse the damage he has made. So, instead of thinking of the children in the building, he blows up a bomb and selfishly rescues himself. When the parents start complaining, he shoots them all down. Eventually, Nam-san finds Gi-su and shoots him dead. With Eun-ho and Ji-wan’s help, Nam-san rescues Su-na. Unfortunately, she cannot reunite with her grandmother at the end of her journey.
Badland Hunters (2024) ‘Netflix’ Movie Review
Just like a majority of South Korean thrillers, “Badland Hunters” is a solid offering. It is packed with its fair share of human drama to keep us emotionally invested in the stakes. There is a purely binary morality at play here where we rarely empathize with the villain of the narrative. We see the megalomaniac doctor through the lens of his evil mania. Although that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it turns the film into a run-of-the-mill thriller where good tries to win over evil.
If we look at “Concrete Utopia,” we see a morally complex fable underneath its crowd-pleasing disaster thriller. The film constantly tries to make us recontextualize our perception of its characters, who belong to different parts of the social strata. It was emotionally potent and intellectually stimulating – because of its reluctance to provide a singular moral conclusion. That is why it appeals a lot more and becomes relatively memorable.
Unfortunately, “Badland Hunters” does not feel nearly as essential as a film. It follows a conventional character arc with little depth or new insight into social inequalities. Nevertheless, it is a gripping thriller that has a fairly intriguing central conflict. We see a man trying to change the course of nature to serve his selfish agenda. He uses his position of power to influence others into utmost submission. With all that’s been going around in the world, this archetype feels closer to reality than ever.
“Badland Hunters” shows a fight against this evil man through its satisfactory stunt work and set design. It occasionally fumbles when it tries to bring together different periods in the characters’ lives. Yet, there is just enough to get entertained through its blood-soaked violence.
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