Gyeongseong Creature

As South Korean dramas flex their muscles on US shores, Netflix’s “Gyeongseong Creature” vaults to the top of the charts, offering an addictive mix of history, romance, mystery, science fiction and monsters, in roughly that order. Built around a desperate Japan’s tyranny in Korea near the end of World War II, it might not match “Squid Game’s” viewership, but for sheer entertainment value surpasses it in a way that deserves to be a monster hit.

The show won’t be to everyone’s taste – it sometimes lurches into hysteria, while there’s so much gore splattering about that at times you feel as if you need an umbrella. However, making my way through the first drop of seven episodes, the intensity is relentless, the sense of menace verges on operatic and I’m keen to unravel the layers of mystery.

Despite our reservations, Gyeongseong Creature has a good story buried in all the murkiness. But we’re not sure if the show will actually be able to focus on that story as the first season goes along.

In the end, this constant pulling back from its most promising elements is where Gyeongseong Creature gets swallowed up — not by a creature, but by its own repetitive hesitation.