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| From left, actor Jeon Yeo-been, director Roh Deok, and actor Im Jin-ah pose during a press conference for Netflix's new series, "Glitch," held at a theater in Yongsan District, Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of Netflix |
Two former friends reunited by mysterious disappearances
By Lee Gyu-lee
Netflix's upcoming sci-fi thriller series, "Glitch," will follow the story of a special friendship between two women with trust as the keyword, the director said.
"The important part (of the series) is faith. From the early stages of production, it has been the series' keyword," the series' director, Roh Deok, said during a press conference for the series, held at a theater in Yongsan District, Seoul, Tuesday.
"It throws out questions about the importance of faith, which is part of what makes human beings. It's important to think about what one believes in and what one makes out of that faith," he said.
Led by filmmaker Roh, whose previous work includes the crime thriller film, "The Exclusive: Beat the Devil's Tattoo," and the romance film, "Very Ordinary Couple," the series revolves around a woman named Hong Ji-hyo (Jeon Yeo-been), who has the ability to see aliens.
Despite her ability, she has been trying to maintain a normal life. One day, her boyfriend, Lee Si-gook (Lee Dong-hwi), goes missing out of thin air.
As she tries to find him, she reunites with her former friend and a UFO enthusiast, Heo Bo-ra (Im Jin-ah), to chase down the secret behind a mysterious light that has led people to go missing.
The series is scripted by Gin Han-sai, who wrote Netflix's hit series, "Extracurricular."
The director noted that the series will be a mixture of several genres, including mystery, thriller and sci-fi.
"This is a genre-bending series that cannot be pinpointed on one specific genre. It can be referred to as a mystery but it can also be a series about friendship as the story follows the characters. It also has sci-fi, thriller and several others, but the fact it can't be defined by one genre is what makes this series interesting," she said.
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| A scene from the series, "Glitch" / Courtesy of Netflix |
Ji-hyo used to be close friends with Bo-ra but she cuts ties with her, pursuing an ordinary life. "(The two characters) are friends but as they put faith in each other and grow, they form a special relationship," Roh said.
"I feel that they came to merge themselves into one being from being two separate individuals. As someone looking at them from outside, it was emotional to see their relationship growing and I was envious about them being able to have such a friend," he said.
Actress Jeon said that she was drawn to the colorful story that the series had. "When I first read the scripts, the first thing that came to my mind was 'colorful.' It was monotone but also felt like it had different shades of colors," she said. "Not only was I drawn to the paradoxical and multi-dimensional story, but I also felt my character had the same factors."
She described the series as her character's adventure in finding her own faith. "Ji-hyo is someone who goes after her faith and feeling. She has been looking the other way to stay ordinary but after an incident, she breaks free and jumps in (to find the truth)," she said.
"It's an adventure and she doesn't do it alone. As she joins hands with her friend, she gets this infinite energy," she added.
Im, who is also known as Nana from K-pop girl group After School, plays the character of Bo-ra, a YouTuber who shares mystery-related videos. Saying that she finished reading the script on the day she received it in one sitting, she said that the characters' uniqueness drew her interest in taking the role.
"Each role is very unique and has a strong character. And it was interesting how they come together on an adventure," she said. "Bo-ra has a lot of tattoos and I wanted each one to have meaning. So I handpicked each drawing or word … and she uses a lot of swear words so I tried to make them cute like her character."
"Glitch" will hit Netflix on Oct. 7.
