Buraco Negro (2021)

An Instant Favorite Zombie Virus Drama

Out of all the zombie dramas/movies that I have watched, I believe this one raises to the top. It was dark and had the classic "what would you do when the world ends" troupe and seeing the darkness of human nature; seeing what they'll do to survive. We see a lot of religion or believing in a higher power to save them in the life or to welcome them into the next - which had to be my favorite parts of this drama.

Just overall, this drama was visually gorgeous as well as gruesome, which ultimately attracted me to watching this. I saw a clip of Hwa Sun in the tunnel, seeing visions of her husband's murder dressed as how she dressed her victims, and a Tae Han coming to the rescue, saving a woman that he had just met. Which was another thing I loved about the drama as well - I loved the weaknesses and the strengths of both Hwa Sun and Tae Han. Even right in the beginning, both come off as closed off (Hwa Sun due to her husband's murder and devoting her life to track her down) and purposeless (Tae Han motivated by nothing as he lost his brother in a hit and run and losing his job with a false accusation, but even with their lone wolf personas, they just at the chance to help and save someone they have never met. Which ultimately brings them together to create the dream team! They both struggled with their own internal dilemma, but what ultimately pushes and saves both of them is the support from one another and the support of people they meat along the way.

I like to say that this drama was a journey both Hwa Sun and Tae Han needed to take in order to face their problems head on and ultimately learn to accept help and heal in order to move on and start their lives again.

Going off that though, I wanted to give this drama a 10/10, but after reading some of the other reviews, I would have to agree with some comments. I didn't binge this drama like I would have with others, so it took me a month or two to complete this one, but I was very content in my speed as I felt that I was satisfied if I needed to leave off in the middle of an episode or even at the end. But because of the non-binge, I forgot a few things. Overall, I really liked this drama and was pulled in from the beginning! But there were some plot holes that were present, that I choice to disregard because I was sucked in by everything else. For one - maybe it is just me and my passion for watching playthroughs for shooting games, where you need to find ammo to reload or supplies to craft items, but I was very aware of the "infinite bullets" plot hole. In the beginning at least, maybe they just didn't show Hwa Sun reloading her gun, but homegirl was firing round after round. There was also the whole plot where Hwa Sun was introduced as this detective trying to find her her husband's murder and we got a lot of background information about the murder and it being her only motivator even though there is this whole virus killing people. It was soon forgotten about as there were "bigger" issues happening around her, but it still remained a huge trigger between Hwa Sun staying human or being a zombie. Eventually in the middle of the drama, by pure coincidence, her husband's murderer happened to be one of the random survivors and was quickly resolved as it wasn't this HUGE trigger for the main character. Then for Tae Han, we don't get his back story until the middle to end, which seemed a but random, as he didn't really seem to have a trigger. But he did, and he got his "revenge" or "closure"... it didn't really make sense to me, but I was happy he didn't hold grudges against third parties. The only backstory that seemed to make sense throughout the drama was Dong Rim's, as it played a huge part in this "evilness" that the black fog was thriving off of.

But even with these small plot holes, it didn't affect me as it might have with other dramas. I very much enjoyed the calm and nurturing nature of both the mains, as well as with the survivors. There wasn't that many, so be prepared in ep 11 to maybe lose a few favorites like I did.

Leia Mais

it was good? I'm quite shocked to see the low rating here. It was good, but it wasn't perfect, lots of unanswered question but I love the experience watching it. First of all, when I first watch it, it definitely intrigues me, what's going to happen next, how they are going to survive and you know stuff like that. I was curious and excited. also, reminds me of kingdom and sweet home, there is thrill that I felt and suspense too. Acting was good, I really love the chemistry between the lead, action scenes were good as well. There were many subplots but I guess they are all kinda important at last so just watch it, it's not that bad. Andddd this drama is superrr messy, and very very fictional and fantasy. but i enjoyed those kind of dramas haha. moving to cons, with that great process and journey, the ending was meh? like it was super simple and it feels like its not enough. There were many unanswered questions and plot holes. are we getting season 2 though? if we're getting it then it's good? some parts were slow so it kinda disrupts my mood to watch cause I dont like slow dramas. but not all, just few parts. anyways, for me it was good. if u like thriller and suspense and fictional give this a watch!! :))

Leia Mais

Flawed but still worth a watch

If you're into zombies, definitely give this a try. It's a hard to find fresh take on the genre with great effects and good performances from the leads. It kept me engaged the entire time and the tension and action in every episode was really great.

That said, the plot did fall short. It got a little repetitive with characters doing what felt like the same thing over and over, walking around the hospital and fighting zombies with a shaman acting sus every time. They should have left the hospital after a few episodes. A lot of characterization was missed too at the expense of cramming in action scenes; the barely-there romance/chemistry between the leads should have been fleshed out more, and there was at least one great opportunity for character redemption that was missed - I would have loved to see Dong Rim's bully become good, and then redeem himself and get together with her. We were given the brief impression this might happen when he was impressed with her standing up for herself and then volunteered to help them. But no, what did they do? They had him betray them as predicted and then just killed him off. What a waste. It felt like a lot of characters were wasted this way.

Leia Mais

My first review.

I am not sure about anyone else that is currently watching this series but I am enjoying every moment of this series.
I dont se a problem with the actin, and i am enjoying the storyline.
the mutants are creepy and look great, and the fog with the black smoke is a nice touch.
I also like the flashbacks showing parts of the survivors lives, it give a little understanding about their character.
So i would like to suggest giving this series a chance, not everyone has the same likes and dislikes, you wont know if you like this series by just reading someone else's review on it, you might end up liking something you didn't think you would.

Leia Mais

bad writing

it's a dark hole alright. True to it's title, watching this drama felt like plunging into a bottomless hole of boring badly written script. I feel bad for the actors, truly. The acting is actually quite good, so sad that they had to follow a script that really insulting human logic. The way the character respon to the whole thing is just stupid. Some character does bad things for no reason other than just because they have to be the bad people that add more problem to the story. If you like zombie movie, go watch Kingdom, it's 100x better, don't waste your time on this.

Leia Mais

This vs Sweet Home

there's no need for comparison, but I'll do it anyways~
for the plot, this was a flat mess, they had too many characters with zero emotinal attachment...

the main reason I stayed was Kim Ok Bin. I've only seen her before in The Villainess and briefly in Children of a Lesser God. I can't remember her in the 1st one though I briefly remember the plot and I dropped the later cuz of her (and the ML's) high pitched tone, so here I actually really appreciated her beautiful calm voice and persona. as a cop I approve

in sweet home, they had so many characters but each of them felt real, from the sweet church boi to the horrible wife beater, each were a piece in the big puzzle

here, they had the cop, the ex cop, the kid (added for cheap emotinal grab), the teen (added for cheap sad lonely misfit), the teacher (that was connected to the teen for cheap revenge plot), the doctor (for cheap last minute conflict), the shaman and her annoying inferiority complex, the creepy self centered human monsters, another kid, another teacher, a police dude and his pregnant wife, and basically my point was, everyone was a piece of a puzzle cut in a square just to make the picture bigger (ie more ep count) and easy skippable plotlines


this was one of those cases "less ep cuz they knew they couldn't drag it out too much"


the ost is beautiful and I never rewatch stuff

Leia Mais

So I had to write a review because of the bad ratings on MDL and bad reviews dropping it and stuff, first rule on this site is to never trust the ratings on MDL, this got 7.7 but it doesn't mean it's bad, sometimes you have to give it a try, many underrated shows on MDL is actually good, ok so this show is somewhat similar to Sweet Home, not trying to compare these two but yes both had almost similar vibe and story. I think you somewhat have to be emotional vulnerable to inhale the "black smoke" and become a mutant just like in SH where your greeds and desire are the ones that turn you into a monster. I agree that they somehow stretched the story and it became draggy but I think they wanted to create more tension and atmospheric vibe to it and more chasing scenes that's why it became draggy, but it's okay. Everything was okay, the OST was nice as well. But it was quite disappointing that they couldn't save Dong Rim :(( And that post credit scene where they show that a new sinkhole appeared in Yeouido.. I'm not sure if that's an opening to a Season 2 but I'll be glad to have one more. It's not that it's a cliffhanger but it's fun to watch yknow? I think Yujin (Dong Rim) did a great job here after acting in True Beauty, she looks damn pretty here. I also do agree that there were many unnecessary sub plots in the show, but I guess it did come all around in the end because it was related to Dong Rim with the hit and run and stuff. But I think we could have easily finished the show with like 10 episodes.

Leia Mais

idk how to feel...

As stated in the title.. i'm not sure how to feel. I was curious when i first started this show how everything would play out between chasing a serial killer and fighting off supernatural beings. However at times, the plot fell through. It felt very lacking and i feel like they could have done a better job building up suspense between hwasun and her husbands serial killer.

we could have gotten it to where hwa sun explored different areas and found different clues leading up to her husbands serial killer all while finding out about the creature. i honestly thought the creature and the serial killer would've has some connection but there was none other than a lackluster "revenge" plot that dies off quite quickly one the serial killer dies.

There was also alot of unnecessary deaths, lots of characters who the audience felt zero attachment to because there was no reason to feel attached to them SPOILER AHEAD: for example, mr.choi died and while i felt some pity the only sympathy we should have felt for him was that he felt guilty his father killed dongrims father ? SPOILER END. honestly there was alot of empty characters, plots, etc. And as for locations, most of the characters mainly stayed in the same 2 locations which just felt kind of lazy imo. if there's going to be limited locations, at least make it more suspenseful like train to busan for example.

I do believe though that the soundtrack is pretty good, i absolutely love Shadow but that's expected of the dreamcatcher girlies. I also quite enjoyed the casting and acting and i think they all portrayed their characters quite nicely.

I just wish the series could've expanded more on the plot and it never really explained why the creature specifically targeted hwa sun

SPOILER : The ending was also quite lacking as all it took was dongrim fighting back ? I understand her character hardly ever fought back in the past so maybe that was supposed to be a huge courageous moment for her character but it felt empty and lacking.

In other words, everything was decent except that i just felt empty watching it, there wasn't many highs or lows or emotional moments to get me highly invested in these characters lives and emotions. And the plot overall could have been better

Leia Mais

Impressive storyline for a zombie show.

It’s a survival story of a group of townspeople who had been attacked by black smoke that came from a sinkhole, which can turn people into super athletic zombie-like mutants upon inhalation. In the chaos, ML, a towtruck driver met with FL, a detective from Seoul on the hunt for a serial killer whose among victims had been her husband, although they got separated in the beginning of the disaster, they eventually cross paths again and joined hands in their quest to find a safe place for the survivors.

First off, I am not a fan of zombie stories. I especially dislike korean zombies cuz once turned, they instantly become superhumans. When i clicked this title, i thought it’d be a sci-fi mystery show of some sort. Nuh-uh, in fact this show has the highest functioning zombie-mutants of all, some of them can even read, speak, think with vengeance! Wth man. Almost dropped it when I realized it is a zombie show, but decided to stay on cuz I was curious to see the showdown between the FL and the serial killer, and how the mainleads were going to defeat the shaman who can control zombies, and the thing in the smoke that controls everything that got infected.

I must say, Lee Hwa Seon the FL, is the most combatworthy Kdrama female detective I’ve ever seen. Other policewomen ive seen so far usually rely on brains and wits while pretty bad at hand-on-hand combat. Not Hwa Seon. She’s not No Mercy type of fighter who does the martial artist kind of fights, but a realistic ordinary person who fights with brawn and wits. She also doesn’t give a second thought at going against higher ranked elders. One pet peeves of mine on kdrama is as asians are people who puts high regards on our elders status, we rarely talk back to them, let alone fight with them. And the elders with power and status (especially those despicable chaebols) in kdrama are usually exceptionally loud, foul-mouthed, super domineering and really love to hit people. It’s satisfying to see FL standing up against those types for once. She’s not rude or anything, she’s just brave and firm. Lee Hwa Seon has become the most badass female detective in kdrama in my eyes.

I really like the chemistry of the main leads. They do not have any romantic relationship, but the chemistry is damn striking. Both are willing to go out of their ways to save strangers, even at the risk of their own lives. In earlier episodes I couldnt understand how this tow truck driver suddenly becomes a hero ready to save everyone around him disregarding his own safety without even giving it a second thought, i even got annoyed and thought this character as reckless. then they revealed who he was before and then only everything falls into place. Pretty neat, really.

The screenwriters are also really good at suspense building. Else how can anyone explain how someone who hates zombie shows like me got hooked? How humans can be desperate and sinister enough to stay alive even if it means to kill others in the name of cult sacrifice. How each characters’ dark secrets are thrown into the plot is also rather brilliant. As each secret is revealed, I got impressed even more.

One thing i noticed about kdrama is that they do so many flashbacks! I get it that it’s to build background of each character, but the flshbacks on this show is just waaay too much. For example, The scene of ML telling his partner that he got fired from the police force, was shown at least 4 times. I mean come on, 4 times? It’s no longer character background building, it’s background overload! I think if the repetitive flashbacks are compiled they couldve filled up an entire episode (or more!).

Also, I really dont get the staring contest in kdramas. They stare at each other in fights when there are still enemies around and they stare after the fights when time is essential. It’s really getting on my nerves. And when they do it in zombie shows where people can get attacked from literally anywhere, it becomes annoying af.

I can’t shake off the thought of how the enemy in here is somewhat like a combination of Train to Busan and Stephen King’s The Mist. Scary right? Superhuman zombie plus mysterious monster in the smoke. However I am glad this show has better and much more satisfying ending than the two shows.

If youre someone who love zombie or disaster survival shows, then this is definitely for you. Those who arent, well it doesnt hurt to give it a try. You can always drop it if u dont like it. Personally it has been an entertaining ride for me.

Leia Mais

I download this drama long ago, but i didn't watch it.. i don't know why i did tht.. it is soo cool. 'oh what going to happen next' Tht sentence always in my mind while watching this drama... when i start watch it i could not stop.. they give us points to think 'why was this happen', 'why mutants did that' 'is she the one' etc etc... their r lot of curiosity.. I remembered sweet home while watchng this.. plot is bit like sweet home for me.. whole drama is superb n well writen. Writer is smoothly line up story..

I feel like last two episode is bit a drop. I really dont know where is the drop point.. but i feel somthing is off.. even story is well written and line up last two episode is out of somthing.. one thing is monster he looks so fake.. writer little bit mess the last two episodes.. i mean while watchng movie for adult n it suddnly become kids movie, i feel somthing like that.. but itz ok not too much harm..

And one more thing i told this is like sweet home, but this one is not dramatic like sweet home.. for example both dramas have some lead good characters death seens, when it come to death of good character sweet home made me cry but actually this drama didnt even make my heart ache while good character die.. acually it is not a fault of cast or plot itz the background.. sweet home has superb background music n they dramatically made the scene. It feel like it happens to us.. this drama dont hve tht... even i like this drama i never feel i'm one of them like i did while watchng sweet home..

Whole cast did thire best, no mistakes at all.. averall must watch drama...

Leia Mais

Interesante premisa, mala ejecución

Al tratarse de una serie del mismo guionista de otros dos doramas que me gustaron mucho, esperaba más de esta serie. No se dejen engañar por la sinopsis, la trama policial no es parte de la historia principal, dura poco y no está bien desarrollada. Los "monstruos" no son humanos mutados al estilo Obscure o Resident Evil, sino que son humanos que se transforman en una especie de zombies con la boca negra.

Hacía tiempo no veía una serie donde los personajes me importaran tan poco. No logré empatizar con ninguno e incluso si se morían aquellos que me caían bien, no me habría producido nada. Son muchos los personajes en esta historia e intentan darle profundidad a todos y los vínculos entre ellos, pero no me enganchó ninguno y tampoco me parecieron interesantes.

Al principio me gustó mucho cómo estaba presentado el agujero y el humo que transformaba gente. Era muy ominoso y misterioso; la historia parece apuntar a algo como el horror cósmico, pero al final nunca queda claro a dónde apuntaron. No se explican muchas cosas en la trama ni al cerrar la historia, quedando algunos agujeros de guión bastante importantes.

Los efectos especiales y el CGI están muy buenos, las actuaciones en general están muy bien, y la serie en sí es entretenida, los capítulos se pasan rápido. Pero si en una trama tan apoyada en los personajes, éstos no son interesantes, ni sus conflictos ni subtramas, entonces falla la estructura que compone la serie en sí. Si tienen ganas de ver algo de "zombies" ligero mírenla, sino no se pierden de nada.

Leia Mais

Could be better

Watching this you can tell it was HEAVILY inspired by other shows in the same/similar genre which is one of the reasons I can't give a higher rating. It manages to bring it's own uniqueness to the genre but in the end it is just telling the same type of story. I liked that it focused on grief and anger, how people deal with fear and how easily people can be manipulated but their fears and blinded by their anger and lust for power and control, the way it handled these things was very well done. However, I did not like the way it ended, I feel like it needed more of a resolution to it and there needed to be a bigger change shown in the surviving cast.

Leia Mais