Black Knight Review: Kim Woo‑bin’s Dystopian Class Divide Saga Has Its Highs and Lows

Black Knight Review: The latest South Korean drama (택배기사) starring Kim Woo‑bin in the lead role alongside Song Seung-heon, Kang Yoo-seok, Esom, Kim Eui-sung and more released on May 12, 2023, on Netflix. Directed and written by Cho Ui Seok, the story follows a post-apocalyptic society with an existing class divide that threatens the life of the underprivileged.

The show is shot in Korean, and it is available with an English dub and subtitles. With a total of 6 episodes, the runtime is approximately 40-50 minutes each.

-Black Knight Review Contains No Spoilers-

Based on Taekbaegisa by Lee Yoon Kyun, the series starts off with a narration providing a basic premise for the audience to understand the story. Due to a drastic event, Earth is left stranded with no clean air, resources and society. Only a small population manages to survive the hit but division exists within it as well. People born outside the main area are considered refugees and are not allowed to have basic human rights.

The show begins strong and does not waste time introducing the main characters. Woo-bin’s presence sets a powerful tone and a fair idea about how the story would evolve. However, his character, 5-8, is much more of a traditional protagonist and offers little to no variation. Moreover, the audience is bound to feel a disconnect with him due to the lack of a proper backstory. Apart from being an eye candy, there is not much complexity to him as one would expect.

Sa-wol, on the other hand, is extremely different and showed great promise at the beginning. Being a refugee himself and getting adopted by the commander, his struggles were easily relatable. With a sense of identity crisis and tormented by traumatic events, his character represents the downtrodden. However, the creators utterly failed to develop the character in a proper way. Unnecessary plot points that add little to no value to the script ruined the character’s potential.

Apart from the main characters, the antagonist also lacks the depth and nuance it needs to make the script memorable. There is no explanation of the motives or any hints as to why one is pushed so far to commit mass genocide. Some of the twists and turns get so predictable that one can see it coming from miles away.

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Nevertheless, a few aspects of the show will keep you on the edge. The action scenes remain uber-realistic and are carried out with fluid movements. The elongated death race on a dirty grassland is executed to perfection and leaves no room for complaints. The build-up in the action sequences is done seamlessly and manages to keep the audience hooked. Additionally, some moments are extremely well-choreographed and combined with the background music, it makes it hard to shake the focus from it.

The CGI and visual effects have done a phenomenal job of portraying the world. It is intricately detailed and provides a cinematic experience to the viewers. Furthermore, the costumes are another aspect that adds to the appeal of the dystopian society. The sets and the rustic locations are able to distract the audience from the flawed plot and ample amounts of loopholes.

Black Knight Review: Final Thoughts

The story seems promising at first and offers a strong premise; however, it fails to keep up with it throughout. Many characters, especially the protagonists, lack the needed character development, which would have effectively elevated the storyline. Moreover, there is a sense of disconnect with the story constantly due to the lack of a proper backstory. It feels like a lost opportunity for the creators to produce an astounding modern dystopia. Nevertheless, it is still enjoyable and visually pleasing to the eyes, even though the plot is lacking in many ways.

Black Knight is now streaming on Netflix. Did you watch the series yet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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