SEOUL– “Glitch,” Netflix’s new Korean-language original series, is not a simple science-fiction mystery thriller about aliens and UFOs but a genre-hybrid piece that explores human belief and faith, its director said Tuesday.
The 10-part series follows a girl named Ji-hyo (Jeon Yeo-been), who joins forces with a UFO enthusiast, Bo-ra (Nana), to investigate her boyfriend’s sudden disappearance and gets involved in a mysterious secret.
It is written by Gin Han-sai of the hit Netflix series “Extracurricular” (2020) and directed by Roh Deok, a rising female film director known for the romantic comedy movie “Very Ordinary Couple” (2013).
“It can’t be categorized as one genre. It’s a mystery in terms of the subject, but it’s also a buddy series and a sci-fi thriller,” the director said in a press conference. “I think this is the appealing point that ‘Glitch’ has.”
She noted that she has tried to focus more on the emotional and psychological development of the two protagonists while tracing the whereabouts of the missing boyfriend, rather than on the detailed description of aliens and UFOs.
“The keywords for this project were belief and faith from the beginning,” she said. “The camera looks into the relationships and the emotions of the characters looking for the aliens suspected of abducting the boyfriend.”
The director praised lead actress Jeon for her portrayal of the character who has her own belief in extraterrestrial life and dares to verify it.
“Ji-hyo is not an easy character as she’s multidimensional and needed to be fleshed out by the actor,” Roh said. “Jeon is the right person. She helped me create the character in a more detailed way on the set.”
Jeon, who rose to fame for her role in the revenge thriller “Vincenzo” (2021), said she was impressed by the colorful character that she had not experienced before and the friendship that leads her on the unexpected adventure.
“Ji-hyo feels she saw an alien in the past but isn’t sure. She’s eager to prove what she has seen,” she said. “She starts a new adventure and feels her motivation increase while working with her friend.”
“Glitch” will premiere at the On Screen section of the upcoming Busan International Film Festival slated for Oct. 5-14. It will be released on Netflix on Oct. 7.
Source: Yonhap News Agency