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The Great Flood (2025)—Ambitious but Divisive Sci-Fi Disaster

 

the great flood 2025


The Great Flood is the latest Korean sci-fi/apocalypse movie streaming on Netflix, directed and co-written by Kim Byung-woo (The Terror Live, Take Point, Omniscient Reader). 

What the Movie Is About

On the surface, The Great Flood begins like a classic disaster movie: a catastrophic flood engulfs Seoul after an asteroid impact, leaving people in a sinking apartment building struggling to survive. 

An-na (Kim Da-mi), an artificial intelligence researcher, and her young son Ja-in (Kwon Eun-seong) cling to hope as the waters rise. They’re separated, reunited, and forced upward through the building, encountering panic, loss, and danger along the way. 

Hee-jo (Park-Hae-soo, Squid Game), a security operative sent to rescue them, adds another layer of urgency and mystery to their journey. 

But halfway through the film, the narrative dramatically shifts into high-concept science fiction: what you thought was literal reality turns out to be part of a simulation loop — a training system for AI designed to model human emotions and resilience. 

Acting and Characters

  • Kim Da-mi (Gu An-na) delivers a strong, emotionally grounded performance — believable as both a desperate mother and a brilliant scientist. Her ability to convey determination, heartbreak, and existential fatigue anchors much of the film’s emotional weight. 

  • Park Hae-soo (Son Hee-jo) brings intensity and nuance to his role. He plays Hee-jo with a mix of calm professionalism and underlying urgency that keeps viewers guessing about his true motives. 

  • Kwon Eun-seong (Shin Ja-in) as the son is pivotal — his vulnerability is the emotional center of the flood sequence, but some viewers find his characterization frustrating or underdeveloped, likely because the film uses him more as a symbol of emotional stakes than as a fully drawn character. 

What Works

There’s a lot to admire in The Great Flood:

  • Visceral Disaster Sequences: The early part of the movie — the rising waters, the claustrophobic ascent through the building, and the palpable sense of danger — works very effectively as a survival thriller. 

  • Ambitious Themes: The shift from physical survival to simulated existential crisis gives the film a philosophical edge rare in typical disaster fare. It asks big questions about memory, emotion, artificial intelligence, and what makes us human.

  • Visual and Technical Craftsmanship: The flood visuals and underwater sequences are often striking and immersive — clearly the result of detailed planning and intense preparation by the cast and crew.

What Doesn’t Work

The transition from a disaster-survival story to a sci-fi AI simulation is abrupt and can feel confusing or poorly explained. You can feel that it is difficult to follow, and the logic behind the AI project isn’t fully justified in clear terms. 

Th eplot is full of ambiguity and many things are left for interpretation. That’s great for discussion, but frustrating if you prefer solid answers.

Final Take

The Great Flood is an ambitious, visually compelling film that might frustrate some viewers while deeply rewarding others. 

It’s a movie that requires active thinking, interpretation, and maybe even a second viewing. If you go in expecting a straightforward disaster story, the sci-fi pivot might unsettle you — but if you enjoy films that play with structure and meaning, there’s a lot here to unpack. It’s messy, sometimes unclear, but impressive in its scope.


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