The Frog (2024)

The Frog (Korean: 아무도 없는 숲속에서) is a 2024 South Korean mystery crime thriller television series written by Son Ho-young, directed by Mo Wan-il, and starring Kim Yoon-seok, Yoon Kye-sang, Go Min-si, and Lee Jung-eun. The series depicts how a suspicious visitor disrupted the normal lives of ordinary people in the middle of summer. It was released on Netflix on August 23, 2024.

Plot

The Frog unfolds in a secluded forest town, a few hours' drive from Seoul, where Jeon Yeong-ha has spent the last several years. Following his beloved wife's terminal illness, Yeong-ha moved to this tranquil location, fulfilling her dream of living in a beautiful, remote house surrounded by nature. After she died, he chose to remain in the town, residing in a modest home adjacent to the villa he now operates as a holiday rental. His daughter, Ui-seon, frequently urges him to return to Seoul to live with her and her fiancé, but Yeong-ha finds solace in managing the rental alongside his best friend, Yong-chae. However, Yeong-ha lacks the drive to fully commit to the business, relying on Yong-chae to encourage him to promote the property online to attract more guests.

Amidst this backdrop, a young woman named Seong-a arrives at the rental with her son, Si-hyeon. Though she carries an air of mystery and reserve, Yeong-ha welcomes them without hesitation. His sense of unease grows when Seong-a departs early the next morning, leaving behind disturbing blood stains and an overpowering scent of bleach, most alarmingly without her son in tow.

The narrative also weaves in a chilling incident from over twenty years ago at the Lake View Motel, run by Gu Sang-jun and his wife, Eun-gyeong. In the early 2000s, Sang-jun's hospitality took a dark turn when he invited a serious-looking man, later identified as the serial killer Hyang-cheol, to stay the night. Despite being off-season and desperate for business, Sang-jun offered the guest the best room at a nominal fee. This fateful decision shattered Sang-jun's life when Hyang-cheol committed a brutal murder within the motel's walls. Though the killer was apprehended swiftly, the motel's reputation suffered irreparable damage.

Officer Yoon Bo-min connects the two timelines. A skilled investigator, Bo-min began her career at the Hosu police station shortly before Hyang-cheol committed the murder. She witnessed the motel's decline and the effects of the crime on Sang-jun and his family. Years later, she returns to the same station as a senior officer and begins to take notice of Yeong-ha and his guest, Seong-a, as events surrounding them suggest a possible connection to the earlier case.

Cast and characters

Main

Kim Yoon-seok as Jeon Yeong-ha

Owner of a pension house.

Yoon Kye-sang as Koo Sang-jun

Owner of a motel.

Go Min-si as Yoo Seong-a

A mysterious woman.

Lee Jung-eun as Yoon Bo-min

Ha Yoon-kyung as young Yoon Bo-min (special appearance)

A chief detective who investigates both Yeong-ha and Sang-jun's cases.

Supporting

Kim Sung-ryung as Lee Seong-ran (special appearance)

Young-ha's wife, who died of cancer.

Roh Yoon-seo as Jeon Ui-seon (special appearance)

Young-ha and Seong-ran's daughter, who is a pharmacist.

Lee Nam-hee as Park Yong-chae

Lee Sung-wook as Choi Kyung-nam

Nam Ji-woo as Song Ji-soo

Ryu Hyun-kyung as Seo Eun-gyeong

Sang-jun's wife and Gi-ho's mother.

Cha Mi-kyung as Kim Kyung-ok

Jong-du's mother.

Park Ji-hwan as Park Jong-du

Sang-jun's friend. He is an individual who walked a single path from the beginning of his life, went out to the city to live a wild life, and eventually quietly returned to his hometown.

Hong Ki-joon as Ji Hyang-cheol

A serial killer who stayed in Sang-jun's motel.

Chanyeol as Koo Gi-ho

Choi Jung-hoo as young Koo Gi-ho

Sang-jun's son.

Jang Seung-jo as Ha Jae-sik (special appearance)

Seong-a's ex-husband.

Jo Yeo-jun as Ha Si-hyun

Lee Seung-cheol as Director Yoo

Cho Ah-ra as Director Choi

Kim Jong-tae as Detective Kang

Ahn Sang-woo as Sergeant Choi

Jo Eun-soul as Kim Seon-tae

Lee Yoon-jae as Yeom Dong-chan

Lee Ga-sub as young Yeom Dong-chan

Kim So-yul as Yeom Hee-won

Joo In-young as a restaurant owner

Episodes

Production

Development

The series, which consists of eight episodes, is a collaboration between writer Son Ho-young, who won the Excellence Award in the Series category of the 2021 JTBC New Writers Playwriting Contest, and director Mo Wan-il, who directed Misty (2018) and The World of the Married (2020). It is co-produced by SLL and Studio Flow and released on Netflix in more than 190 countries.

Casting

Kim Yoon-seok, Yoon Kye-sang, and Go Min-si were reportedly cast for the series in 2022. Lee Jung-eun, Park Ji-hwan, and Ha Yoon-kyung were reportedly cast for the series in 2023. Chanyeol was cast by February 2024.

On February 20, 2023, Kim, Yoon, Go, and Lee were confirmed as the lead actors of the series.

Release

Netflix confirmed The Frog to be released in the third quarter of 2024 after they announced the list of the annual Korean Slate of Films and Series on February 6. The series was released on August 23.

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 56% of 9 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10. Writing for The Korea Times, cultural critic and scholar David Tizzard described the drama as having great promise but ultimately failing to deliver on its early psychological explorations. Despite aiming to emulate things like The Shining or Parasite, it ended up as "Disney level morality dressed up in miniskirts and trying to be sexy for Netflix...a Tarantino soundtrack (something else it plays with) without the dialogue, wit, or tension." Tizzard did, however, acknowledge the influence the drama might have had on domestic Korean influences for the similarities the plot had with the case of Koh Yuh-jeong.

Listicles

Notes

References

External links

Production website at SLL (in English and Korean)

The Frog on Netflix

The Frog at IMDb

The Frog at HanCinema