Narco-Saints (2022) Review

Based on real live events, Narco Saints is a crime thriller film from South Korea but under Netflix production. In recent years, since Netflix poured down more investment in the South Korean film industry, their quality has been improving and some movies are quite stellar, that is to say, not only they’ve gained recognition but received international awards. At the same time, once you have seen way too many South Korean films, you can notice the striking difference between Netflix and TVN under CJ entertainment. Narco Saints, like many other Narco-based titles, is also taking a setting in South America as the topic deals with drugs and they pick the hot bed region of it. However, unlike the other Narcos, this South Korean narco takes place in Suriname.

The plot follows the story of a young Kang In-gu(Ha Jung-woo), who grew up with struggling parents right after the Vietnam War era. He hustled since he was young to feed his two siblings. He moved through life from poverty to eventually a homeowner with two children and a loving wife. However, getting exhausted with his mundane routine, he eventually tried to seek more opportunities to improve his family’s condition. His old friend, Park Eung-soo suggested that they are doing business in Suriname. Eung-soo who has recently returned from there found out that skate was just thrown away and has no value whereas in South Korea, skate was part of their meal and at that time, the demand outweighs the supply. With that in mind and looking to improve In-gu’s family condition, he decided to travel to paramaribo. Once he was there, he found out that doing the business wasn’t easy. He got extorted by the local police as well as the Chinese gangsters who wanted a piece of the pie. After one night Eung-soo and In-gu got beaten by the chinese gangster, it was Sunday and it was time for In-gu to go to the Church as his wife suggested that even though they are apart, he shouldn’t miss the sunday church. In that Church, they meet a Korean pastor, Jeon Yo-hwan who was trying to help In-gu. But later on, that pastor was apparently known as the drug lord in Suriname dealing meth and cocaine. In-gu, not knowing this fact was eventually thrown into jail because his shipping container contained drugs as Yo-hwan wanted to establish a trade route back to Korea. As In-gu was jailed, he was eventually contacted by the NIS agent and from there, partnering up with Choi Chang-ho, In-gu helped bring down Yo-Hwan, the slimy and infamous drug lord in Suriname.

When I first saw Narco-Saints, it definitely reminded me of the series Narcos with its beginning and also the cinematography style. The colors were vivid but also muted. As I was watching the dubbing version, it was very odd as I like watching movies in their original language. And like the other Narcos type of drama, there’s also a family and god aspect to it. That these Narcos shield under the pretense that they are the follower of god and family means a lot to them. Apparently even Narco Saints has a meaning to those in that world, Narco Santos, is a folk saint that is worshiped by criminals especially in America and South america. It’s unfortunate that it was only 6 episodes and I wished it could have been longer.

The characters in the movie though weren’t as iconic as the other Narcos, were quite good. In-gu was played by Ha Jung-woo and his facial expression was quite versatile. He has that “ahjussi” look but also was capable of showing that he was a ruthless businessman who knows how to negotiate and deal with the underworld. As though he wasn’t the only character in this movie but his acting was much more highlighted than the other actors in that movie. Park Hae-soo with his cold and calm demeanor style was doing quite alright in this film. I was expecting so much more but him working as the NIS was definitely a fitting role. He knows how to switch into unexpected different personalities. It was also shown in prison playbook that though he looks cold but he was capable of showing his comedic personality as the main character in that series. He also starred in Squid game and Money Heist. This Narco was one among some of his work with Netflix.

If you like crime, thriller series and especially anything that has to do with narcos, this one's for you. I would rate this 7.5 out of 10. The story, the information, the screenplay, everything was exceptional. I haven’t seen a lot of Netflix South Korean shows but from the few I watched, their production quality is a lot better than CJ or TVN. I am hoping that eventually CJ(TVN) will step up its game.