Narcosantos, review: how to (accidentally) become a drug trafficker

From now September 9 the new k-drama by Netflix: Narcosantos. The American giant is well-intentioned to continue its collaboration with overseas productions, probably giving some tips to have greater success in the West.

The new thriller of the streaming service in red and black consists of only 6 episodes of about an hour each and is taken from a story that really happened in the early seventies. Directed by Yoon Jong-bin, the k-drama is set between Suriname and Brazil, while following the series of (unfortunate) events involving Kang In-gu (Ha Jung-woo).

As a tireless small business owner, Kang tries to find a way to stop surviving and finally be with his fast growing children. Determined to his own intent, he follows the advice of a friend who takes him to the South American state of Suriname. Here though, it will get stuck in the power games of some cartels that dominate the country: will he be able to save himself and return home?

Narcosantos, the plot

Kang In-gu (Has Jung-woo) never had an easy life: as a child he always saw his parents work to the limit the strength to try to give, without ever succeeding, a decent life to their children. Once he grows up, however, In-gu finds himself suffering the same situation as his parents, coming to work in more places to support his family.

It is only after yet another problem that he realizes that he is never home to see his children grow up and so decides to listen to his friend Eung-soo (Hyun Bong-sik) and undertake together with him a trip to Suriname to make easy money with the sale of breeds in South Korea.

And since the whole world is a country, In-gu soon realizes he has to ingratiate yourself with military bribes corrupt in order to be protected from retaliation. Unfortunately for him, however, there is much more under the surface and in a short time he finds himself asking for help Father Jeon Yo-hwan (Hwang Jung-min)pastor of the Korean church, to save himself from an unpleasant situation with the gang of Chinese thugs.

In doing so, however, In-gu and Eung-soo end up intertwining even more, and unbeknownst to them, in a series of disputes between drug gangs, more and more interested in their fish business for their own gain. Will the small Korean entrepreneur be able to get out of problems or will he have to compromise to save his life?

Rhythm, actors and dubbing

After receiving several criticisms for the film Carter and only partially recovered with Seoul Vibe – The ultimate chase, Netflix tries once again to give space to Korean productions. It seems though having had more weight in decision-making, especially as regards the narrative rendering from Narcosantos. In fact, the series, in addition to having a fairly fast pace, seems to have taken inspiration from the American series to package more captivating episodes both from the point of view of the script and the technical one.

The photograph of each episode seems to be generally accurate, while the narration, despite a few moments of slowing the pace, manages to keep the attention alive of the spectators. Another point in favor of Narcosantos it is also the Italian dubbing, which reconfirms itself as one of the best available. Unlike other series where it seemed a little limp and out of phase with the original language, in this k-drama the Italian dubbing manages to keep up with the emotions of the characters.

It also seems that Netflix has managed to put its veto on what concerned the decisions of some actors in the cast: among the various faces of Narcosantoswe can in fact find some well-known names of other television series present in the catalog of the American streaming service.

Park Hae-soohere interpreter of Korean intelligence agent Choi Chang-Ho, is now one of the best known and most appreciated Korean facesespecially thanks to his performances in Squid Game And The Paper House: Korea (of which you can find our review at this link). Also Jo Woo-Jin (Byeon Ki-Tae) e Yoo Yeon-Seok (David Park), however, could be recognized by k-drama fans: the two actors in fact found themselves on the set of Narcosantos after acting together in Mr. Sunshinea gripping romantic series.

From reality, to cinema, to Netflix

Despite the script of Narcosantos may seem worthy of some American producer, the story being told is actually taken from real events. Unfortunately, however, we cannot tell you exactly what was invented from scratch and what was kept and transported from the original, given that there is no clear information about it.

Probably the mystery weighs on the story, so they say, because of the undercover operation carried out by Korean Intelligence therefore only to say that in broad terms the story seems to trace some of the major events that really happened. What is certain is that, however, Narcosantos it’s not the only k-drama to be inspired by the story of the biggest drug trafficker from South Korea.

In fact, in 2018 the film was released The Drug Kingwritten and directed by Woo Min-ho, who also stars Bae Doona (Could Atlas, Sens8, The Silent Sea). This film also follows the story of a man who, from a small drug dealer, manages to become a dangerous drug trafficker, able to expand his business even abroad.

Summing up

So Narcosantos has what it takes to be a very interesting series from different points of view, both for the story it tells, and for the narrative techniques used. Thanks to the actors and to a style that winks to its American counterparts, the series manages to grab the attention of viewers throughout all six episodes.

If you are then lovers of k-drama thrillersyou just have to look Narcosantosavailable to stream from September 9 on Netflix.