Seobok (2021) Review

Seobok: Project Clone | Bu-ray | Well Go USA

Director: Lee Yong-Joo
Cast: Gong Yoo, Park Bo-Gum, Jo Woo-Jin, Yeon Je-Wook, Lee Un-Jung, Lee Sang-Kyung, Park Byung-Eun, Jang Young-Nam, Kim Jae-Gun
Running Time: 114 min. 

By Paul Bramhall

Around the turn of the millennium the Korean film industry saw itself increasingly dabbling in the science fiction genre, with movies like 2001’s 2009 Lost Memories, 2002’s Yesterday, and 2003’s Natural City, and while they all had their moments of inspiration, for the most part they proved to be middling efforts. Now 20 years later, the beginning of the 2020’s seems to indicate a resurgence for Korea’s interest in sci-fi, after being absent for the most part in the preceding 2 decades. In 2021 we got the space adventure Space Sweepers, and the year closed out with the Netflix series The Silent Sea, which followed a mission to retrieve a mysterious sample from the moon that could save the planet. Making it a hat-trick, in the same year we also got Seobok, although notably completed before both Space Sweepers and The Silent Sea, being another production that’s release was much delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eschewing any adventures into space, Seobok takes the more grounded approach of being set in Seoul, and centers around the title character – a human clone. Played by Park Bo-gum (Coin Locker Girl, The Admiral: Roaring Currents), returning to the big screen having stuck to acting in K-dramas since 2015, Seobok is the result of years of top-secret research – he’s immortal, doesn’t need to sleep, and has brain waves so strong he can perform telekinesis. He’s also been confined to a lab for the entirety of his life, required to have daily injections to supress his ever-evolving cells that would kill him if not kept in check, and seemingly accepting of his place in the world. His cells are also believed to hold the cure for a whole variety of diseases, making him a hot commodity, so when one of the leading scientists behind the project is killed in a remote drone attack, a shady government agency (simply referred to as ‘the company’) are brought in to relocate him.

Enter Gong Yoo (Train to Busan, The Age of Shadows), a former operative for the company who’s on an undefined period of leave, thanks to a brain tumour that’s expected to only see him around for another year at most. The head of the company, played by Jo Woo-jin (Drug King, Rampant), needs someone with nothing to lose and everything to gain, and Yoo fits the bill. Get Bo-gum to the transfer point safely, and in return he’ll have the opportunity to be the first test subject to see if the clone’s cells really are capable of healing a brain tumour. Of course with a name like ‘the company’ it’s hardly surprising when ulterior motives are revealed, and the pair find themselves betrayed, forced to go on the run from both those they thought they can trust, and a group of foreign mercenaries hired by an aging millionaire who isn’t ready to meet his maker just yet.

While the scene may be set for a rollicking thrill ride (which is arguably the tone much of Seobok’s marketing material also went for), the final product is decidedly different. Gong Yoo’s character on paper may share some of the same traits as his role in 2013’s The Suspect, a highly trained agent more than capable of getting their hands dirty, however onscreen the action is primarily used to bookmark proceedings. Instead, the bulk of Seobok’s narrative focuses on the road trip that the pair unintentionally end up on, moving from place to place to stay ahead of those who are after them, and the relationship that gradually forms between them as a result. Yoo comes with some heavy emotional baggage, and in his own words can’t figure out if he wants to live or is afraid to die, a predicament which is juxtaposed by Bo-gum’s own realisation of his place in the world, and what exactly it is he has to look forward to in a life that has no expiry.

It’s weighty stuff, and for those expecting an action flick from a production that pairs a highly trained government operative with a clone armed with telekinetic powers, the movie that Seobok is will likely be a disappointment. However for those willing to look past its sci-fi exterior, Seobok offers a thought provoking and decidedly dark take on the buddy movie, where the burden of both mortality and immortality weighs heavily on our protagonists’ shoulders. Marking the third time in the directors’ chair for Lee Jong-yu following the 2009 supernatural thriller Living Death, and 2011 romantic drama Architecture 101, his preference for strong characters permeates through all of his work, and is one that carries over into his latest. 

That’s not to say Seobok is devoid of action. The ambush of the truck Yoo and Bo-gum are travelling to the transfer point in is refreshingly done for real with vehicle-based stunt work, and not a single CGI car in sight. The sequence also gives us the first glimpse into Bo-gum’s powers, in a scene which continues the fine Korean tradition of, if any character in a movie has a superpower, then likely it’s going to be telekinesis (see also 2010’s Haunters, and 2018’s double-bill of Psychokinesis and The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion – a movie which Seobok occasionally echoes). Unlike those movies though, Jong-yu doesn’t offer up any boss level villain for the pair to go head-to-head against in the finale, instead relying on the mostly indistinct threat of the various factions who want to get their hands on Seobok for their own nefarious purposes.

The villains are alas the weakest part of Seobok. While Jo Woo-jin can always be relied on to clock in a suitably seething performance, and does so here as the head of the company, others don’t fare quite as well. The biggest issue is the head scientist who’s been overseeing Seobok for years, played by Park Byung-eun (The Great Battle, The Hunt), and his unwavering belief that Seobok is just a “specimen” that doesn’t need to be treated as human. Considering the fact a bond forms between Yoo and Bo-gum over just a few days, to buy into someone who’s spoke to him every day for years still believing he’s just a commodity stretches credibility, and is a trait that appears to be there for the sake of the plot rather than being a genuine character. 

Needless to say Seobok is at its best when focussing on the chemistry between the world weary Yoo and doe-eyed Bo-gum, and even though we’ve seen the doomed buddy scenario plenty of times before (Jung Woo-sung’s condition in Steel Rain springs immediately to mind), here the sci-fi element provides enough of a twist to keep it interesting. It’s in the finale that both the story and the action really come together, as all parties converge on the lab where Bo-gum is being kept, and we get to see the full extent to which his powers have developed. While the scene itself relies on the usual CGI mass destruction, portrayed convincingly, the real strength lies in what it does with the character, as we come to realise what it means to be dealing with such a powerful force who’s yet to grasp the real value of life, no matter how long or short it might be.

Tales that provide a warning over the dangers of playing God are many, dating back to the days of Frankenstein, and Seobok proves to be a worthy cautionary addition. Director Jong-yu maintains a brisk pace throughout, and Gong Yoo proves to be a likeable lead who’s grown on me recently, having felt lukewarm to him for many years (his cameo in the Squid Game series is a highlight). Despite the weighty themes there are moments of welcome humour weaved into the narrative, and the tension is effectively cranked up when it needs to be, resulting in a movie that never feels like its overstaying its welcome.

Whether Seobok succeeds as a science fiction flick will largely depend on what audiences expect to get out of it. At its heart is a tale of what it means to live, and without the sci-fi trappings there would arguably be no tale to tell. Thankfully Jong-yu doesn’t squander the potential for some action, even if it’s not in the abundance that some may be hoping for, and though Seobok may muse on the meaning of life and death, it also contains one of the most gratuitously entertaining kills involving a wheelchair committed to film. For that, I can say it got the balance just right.

Paul Bramhall’s Raing: 7/10