"The Great Flood": Technical Mastery Rises, but the Narrative Sinks [Slate]

Losing the Core Narrative While Crossing Disaster, Sci-Fi, and Drama
Impressive Flood Scenes, but Weak Emotional Conviction

Movie Still Cut of "The Great Flood"

The Netflix film "The Great Flood" is set in a city submerged by water. The concept of an apartment building being flooded is particularly eye-catching, as it is a rarely explored subject in Korean disaster films. The early part of the movie faithfully follows the fundamentals of the genre, maintaining a relatively high level of tension throughout the disaster scenario. The development utilizing a confined space is also convincing. Rising water, narrow staircases, and gas explosions create real-time threats. The process of the characters seeking survival within these limited spaces unfolds with urgency.

Anna (Kim Dami) becomes trapped in the apartment with her kindergarten-aged son. As Heejo (Park Haesoo), a personnel security team member from an artificial intelligence research institute, makes his way through the disaster site and approaches them, the story appears to shift toward an escape narrative. His arrival acts as a bridge between the isolated space and the outside world. However, from this point, the film loses its direction. When it is revealed that Anna's son is a test subject in a project for human survival, the axis of the narrative shifts abruptly. New elements such as special genetic mutations and secret research take over the central focus of the story.

The problem is that there is not enough explanation to support this transition. In disaster films, the question audiences expect is "How do they survive?" In science fiction thrillers, the driving question is "Why are they being pursued?" Each question requires a different narrative engine. As "The Great Flood" moves from the former to the latter, it fails to fully address either question.

Movie Still Cut of "The Great Flood"

The identity of the child is a key piece of information in the film. However, this uniqueness does not function effectively within the narrative. It is merely repeated through Heejo's explanations and Anna's memories, without being organically connected to the disaster scenario. It is difficult to be convinced of the necessity to follow the child to the end.

As more plot elements are introduced, the dialogue increases, but the tension of the escape and the physicality of the disaster are diluted. The emotional trajectory of the characters is no different. In the beginning, Anna functions as an active protagonist struggling for survival. She searches for an escape route while carrying her son, making proactive choices. However, by the middle of the film, her role is reduced to that of a "protector of a special child." Only the obligation to protect her son remains, and the emotional justification for why that choice is so desperate is not sufficiently established.

The same applies to Heejo. Although he is set up as a character torn between his mission to retrieve the child and his conscience as a human being, his internal conflict is not fully expressed. This gap becomes a weakness in the film's conclusion. The story relies on the universal emotion of maternal love to evoke feelings, but the unique qualities of the world the film has built never become clear.

Movie Still Cut of "The Great Flood"

While the narrative limitations are clear, the film achieves notable technical accomplishments. The depiction of water texture and light refraction in the flood scenes is impressive, and the quality of the underwater cinematography is high. The direction makes active use of confined spaces, effectively heightening the tension within the limited environment. Considering the Korean film production environment, this is a meaningful challenge, demonstrating Netflix's efforts to expand the boundaries of Korean science fiction and disaster genres.

However, the technical excellence of the scenes does not guarantee narrative completeness. "The Great Flood" ultimately fails to secure a cohesive narrative that anchors the genre. The focus of the story shifts from survival in the beginning, to conspiracy in the middle, to motherhood in the end, dispersing the narrative's focus. This is not an issue of genre excess, but a structural problem. Rather than respecting the conventions of each genre, the film merely lists them without integration.