If you’re a Netflix watcher, you can’t have missed the influx of international content on the streaming platform of the last few years. Lately, you may have noticed more and more content from S. Korea.

Most recently, this includes the huge hit Squid Game, but another recent release fits into the more standard sci-fi category. The Silent Sea caught my eye as a preview on Netflix when it was released as a solid-looking ‘realistic’ sci-fi series. I gave it a watch recently and wanted to give you my thoughts. 

Language

The show was recorded in Korean, but you can choose to watch it dubbed in English or in Korean with subtitles. The dubbing isn’t bad and feels fairly natural, using solid voice actors. So, if you choose to watch it dubbed in English, you probably will forget it’s actually in Korean fairly quickly. 

What’s it About?

The 8 episode series is set in the future, where the world is running out of water. One’s water status is the way society is classified. With the ‘rich’ having a larger water ration and the poor having to scramble for whatever they can get. 

The story follows a team of South Korean astronauts who are headed to a base on the moon to retrieve some vaguely described ‘samples’ and return them to earth. As the story unfolds, we learn more about the mission, the base, and several of the characters. Each episode tends to include flashback scenes to set the stage for certain revelations. The timeline is also compressed, as the entire mission is planned to take only 24 hours. 

Initially, we only know that the lunar base was closed after some sort of accident. But, we (and the astronauts) don’t know much more than that. After initially crashing their space shuttle when landing on the moon, the team makes their way into the base, to discover that nothing is quite as it was presented to them. 

A Mystery Wrapped in Science Fiction

The series then follows the team as they work to find the samples they were sent to acquire and the mystery that they discover as they search the station. While there is some action, a shuttle crash, challenges related to being on the moon with no oxygen, and then a variety of new dangers once the station begins to give up its secrets. 

I won’t give much away beyond that, in case you want to watch the show. Because there are some twists and turns and surprises. Let’s just say that the research base was involved in some important and very questionable research.

The Acting

Admittedly, it’s tough to gauge the acting in a show that is in another language, which you then watch dubbed into English. Even so, you get a feel for the level of acting on the show.  The leads are the chief scientist (Doctor Song Ji-an) and the leader of the mission (Han Yoon-jae), who both do a fine job of largely leading the plot along.  

Watch it or Not?

Personally, I enjoyed it. I wouldn’t rate it as a must-watch, but if you enjoy a more or less realistic science fiction show (there are definitely some things that aren’t scientifically accurate, but they mostly blur into the background) then I would put this on your watch list.