Parents' Guide to

Gyeongseong Creature

TV Netflix Drama 2023
Poster art for Gyeongseong Creature shows the two leads standing back to back, guns drawn, in a hall lined with cages

Common Sense Media Review

Jenny Nixon By Jenny Nixon , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 15+

Intense, violent K-drama blends sci-fi, horror, and history.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 15+?

Any Positive Content?

  • Yoon Chae-ok wears a pale 1940s blue suit and white hat with a veil, standing beside the open door of a car
  • Lieutenant General Kato, dressed in uniform, peers into a large test tube full of an unidentified liquid
  • A profile shot of the Gyeongseong creature and Yoon Chae-ok stand face-to face

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What's the Story?

Set in Japanese-occupied Korea toward the end of World War II, GYEONGSEONG CREATURE centers on well-connected pawn shop owner Jang Tae-sang (Park Seo-joon, Parasite), an apolitical cynic just trying to stack up money and maintain what's his in an increasingly oppressive environment of colonial rule. When Japanese military man Commander Ishikawa's pregnant mistress goes missing, he threatens Tae-sang with financial ruin (and worse) if he can't find her before the cherry blossoms fall from the trees. Stressed and on deadline, Tae-sang enlists the help of the new-to-town sleuth Yoon Chae-ok (Han So-hee, My Name) and her father, who've been helping everyday folks with missing person cases since starting their own quest to find her mother, who disappeared from Manchuria 10 years prior. While in pursuit, the unlikely pair stumble upon a horrific secret being kept in the basement of Onseong Hospital, where human subjects are being jailed and experimented on by military scientists hell-bent on creating a terrifying monster to help turn the tides of war in their favor.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say Not yet rated
Kids say (1 ):

History, mystery, science fiction, and horror—along with a touch of well-developed romance—make this a standout K-drama on par with any number of "prestige" U.S. series of a similar bent. Gyeongseong Creature takes inspiration from the real-life war crimes perpetrated by the Japanese military's chemical warfare division known as Unit 731, which performed human experiments on Chinese, Russian, Mongolian, and Korean citizens during World War II. It may seem iffy to use such atrocities as the basis of a horror series with a giant tentacled creature at its center, but the monster is hardly the point; it's a metaphor and a commentary on the generational trauma, deep moral quandaries, and questions of good versus evil that result from war.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the real-world historical inspiration for Gyeongseong Creature: the lethal human experiments conducted by the Japanese military in Korea during World War II. In putting a horror/sci-fi spin on these happenings, what is the series trying to say about humanity's capacity for evil? Does the metaphor work?

  • The series ends with cliffhanger vibes and is slated for a second season. Where might the story end up next? How did you feel about the fates of Jang Tae-sang and Yoon Chae-ok? Would you have chosen a different ending?

TV Details

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