The Silent Sea (2021) User Reviews

Worth a binge

[rich-mac · 7/10 · 4 January 2022]

The Silent Sea is a pretty good effort at a SciFi thriller. Sure it has its moments of clumsiness, but it unfolds an interesting story.

Beyond the human drama aspect - where some of the inter character communication is a little strange perhaps for Western audiences - there's a good angle in the story that then develops into several layers.

I do get a bit tired of sci-fi that shows characters in endless corridors - when you pay so much per sq foot to build in space the last thing you'd do is waste so much space on corridors - but bad space station design isn't unique to this show - and plenty of aspects of the internals are also quite satisfyingly detailed.

All in all this is a good sci-fi show that's worth a look and persevering with - worth a 7.

Watchable but it ignores logic too much.

[Nemesis42 · 7/10 · 27 December 2021]

A well paced space drama with lost of challenges for the characters. There were a few items in this that were immensely illogical which makes you wonder if the writers know much about science?

For example they have the characters walking in slow motion whenever they're out in the vacuum. Well, this is plain silly and doesn't happen in reality. Just look at real moon-walking footage. Where is the resistance in a vacuum?

And taking off their helmets in a facility where they know there could be undetectable bio-hazards, where the staff previously died of unknown causes and before they have checked the air for hazards. Much like the similar ridiculous scene in Prometheus where so called 'scientists' remove their helmets in a building on a new alien planet after they just arrived.

Apart from this the main story in quite fine. Do hire a science advisor in the future though :)

The Silent Sea

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 9 January 2022]

This eight part Korea science fiction series is set in a near future where events have led to almost total desertification of the Earth. Water is a treasured commodity. With this in the backdrop Captain Han Yun-Jae has been tasked with leading a mission to retrieve samples from an abandoned lunar base. Amongst the team is scientist Dr Song Ji-An. Dr Song's sister had been one of the base's staff that was lost in a 'radiation leak' five years previously. The mission, which was due to take twenty four hours, gets off to a bad start; a crash landing leaves the crew having to walk several miles on the moon with limited oxygen. Things don't get much better when they reach the station. It soon becomes clear that not everything they were told was true, there are plenty of hidden dangers, they have difficulty finding the samples and what they find appears to be dangerous; to make matters worse it would appear that they are not alone.

I thought this was a pretty solid series. It might not have been the most original but it delivered plenty of tension throughout. It is science fiction but there are also good horror elements such as what happens when people come in contact with the strange 'Luna water'. The characters were the sort one would expect in such a series; the leader who insists on sticking to the mission even after things go wrong; one trying to learn what happened to a family member; one constantly complaining and one who can't quite be trusted to mention just a few. The cast is solid; most obviously Bae Doona, who always seems to impress, as Dr Song. The effects are pretty good even if science is often ignored... for example I never though characters were operating in one sixth of Earth gravity. There are some nice surprises and ultimately I enjoyed the series so would recommend it to fans of the genre; just be prepared to suspend your disbelief.

These comments are based on watching the series in Korean with English subtitles.

This show needs another season.

[alexboyteh · 6/10 · 12 August 2022]

The good : The story, it's pretty good, and it creates tension in a masterful way. The special effects are great.

The bad: It's a slow burn and a bit of a cliché. Conversations seem to be somewhat forced for character creation and at times seem out of context and significance.. The story sometimes loses momentum.

This show needs another season, because it leaves many unanswered questions and the story does not have a meaningful conclusion.

So... Despite these facts I still recommend this show, to SCI-Fi fans, it is better than many recent productions.

Cool concept but...

[jasminn_tan · 7/10 · 27 December 2021]

I was kind of excited when I first started watching this because it had a cool concept and the trailer looked good. And even though the visuals were stunning and the actors did an amazing job, it felt like something was missing. It's definitely a thriller but once the unknown was known, its momentum slowed down. And that ending was kind of anticlimactic, with some plot holes included.

Decent sci-fi show & a new experience in S. Korean filmmaking

[minoom-69729 · 8/10 · 25 December 2021]

I am not a fan of sci-fi or space drama/thrillers but as a fan of S. Korean movies and TV series, I gave it a watch. Overall, it's slow-burning with a somber mood, different from other sci-fis of this kind giving out a realistic feel of their challenges, no aliens or creatures about but something more mysterious and deadly, with intriguing twist and turns and you have to watch all the episodes patiently to really experience the show. There is also a very important message - climate change and the effects on future generations like water shortages which can easily happen if not already. Some of the acting surprisingly was not up to par for me but maybe because this whole project was a complete new experience for all involved. I think, the show would have been better with fewer episodes but for a new director and first attempts at this kind of genre, I was really impressed and enjoyed the show.

However, I like to point out somethings based on the comments/reviews I have seen a lot lately (Squid Game, Hellbound, My Name, etc.):

1) There is so much comparing every recent S. Korean show that comes out to Squid Game. Even the reputable sites that review films/TV shows are doing it. It's ludicrous and at this point aggravating as if all recent S. Korean shows must somehow be like Squid Game to be worthy or that's all they have to offer!

2) I have seen some reviews that seem suspicious and generic whether rated high or low. Sadly, I have even seen few racist ones!! Not sure even any of these ratings were based on actually watching the shows??

3) There is always some comparing the shows from other countries to Hollywood ones as if that is the "ultimate standard". International shows have become very popular in recent years so they must be doing something right. Viewers these days, at least some, are looking for something really original, unpredictable and emotionally engaging and with natural acting and great character build up/storytelling (fast or slow-burning) which is offered more in international films and TV series than the Hollywood productions. You can find reviews/comments to that effect as well.

Anyways, I definitely recommend watching this show because it has a new approach to this type of genre. South Korean filmmaking can be very innovative and this too does not lack in some originality,

Good Enough

[PennyReviews · 7/10 · 10 January 2022]

Korean Drama "The Silent Sea" is a decent attempt to create a post-apocalyptic drama with loads of suspense and thriller factors.

And for sure, the drama keeps things edgy and suspenseful till the very last minute. The viewer is thrown straight away into the action, with the earth struggling to find water to support the needs of the population, and a scientist is forced to leave the planet. And there is a nudging feeling that something is off right up when the team lands on the moon and goes into the base. That feeling is maintained all throughout the story. In addition, the mystery that is formed and solved is well constructed, well presented, and perfectly paced. It gives small cheese bites throughout the episodes, and it concludes everything nicely in the final one.

However, the drama leaves a lot of things out. The condition of the earth and the dystopian current situation is not well explained and just given as a fact rather than something that needs more exploration. The characters are also the losers of the mystery-thriller focused story. There are some flashbacks that indicate some short of past and personalities, but other than those, the characters are left as blank ones that were acting on based on their initial introductions. The CGI, moreover, were bad and almost ruined the atmosphere of the drama at times.

On the other hand, the performances were top notch, as expected by top tier actors and actresses.

So, overall, 7.5 out of 10.

Unusual and interesting plot

[mrmgarnham · 8/10 · 13 May 2022]

Korean Sci-Fi horror series. Great plot with twists and turns all over. Good acting and SFX. Written well until the last episode of the series which was disappointingly slow and unexplained. Looking forward to a 2nd series.

Kept me edge of the seat whole time

[Misss25 · 7/10 · 20 March 2022]

I don't care about bad reviews. All I know, I loved it. I watched it within a day. People are claiming it doesn't make sense but a fictional drama doesn't need to make sense, I guess :3 I thought, I would watch the next episodes in next day as I started watching it 7pm but I watched it till it ends. I regret why I watch it! Now I have to wait til the next season comes ://

Contrived garbage

[Jack_C_ · 4/10 · 29 December 2021]

It no wonder the Balhae station in this series was lost. The entire South Korean space program is plagued by second rate engineering and incompetent astronauts with IQs below 100.

A shuttle that fails on a single bolt and fails to ignite the engine for no reason, check.

Forcing an injured person to walk despite his weighing in at less than 1/5 earth gravity and can easily be carried, check.

No questions are asked of the most important person in the story until it's too late, check.

Netflix needs to put some basic quality control over script and direction. This is just Lost in Space with Koreans. Same bad writing and uninteresting one dimensional characters.

Adding human emotions to space thriller

[sanchita-m16 · 9/10 · 25 September 2022]

In similar line to other Korean drama this show is not only about a scientific extravaganza or a mere logical space thriller, but it captures the human emotions of loss and hope. A astrobiologist in search of her sister and a captain who found his daughter in a clone. A sheer urge to save dear earth. I am much surprised by the negative reviews as this show takes on a different route to a sci-fi dramma than generic. No wonder there are better fictions than this as a space thriller, but this show has not ventured into much of technical glitches, but straight towards playing with human emotions of the troup landing in the space station and going through survival phase. Twists and turns are good enough to get viewers hooked up to the last episode. A good watch for people looking for different content.

Decent enough, but not the best

[Glue2Screen · 6/10 · 30 October 2022]

Silent Sea is an entertaining thriller binge that has its flaws.

The good: What I found most refreshing in this series is the pacing and number of episodes. Many Korean dramas tend to drag on and redundant towards mid to end but this series felt well paced to keep the mystery. The use of water is interesting and kept me curious till the end. The thrill of the mystery and the previous crew definitely made this a fun ride. The acting from the cast felt even and believable. It is also refreshing to not have characters bursting into tears so often. The use of light to reflect story points is worth noting. Lastly, it's as also breath of fresh air not to have a female/male character pair as the last surviving pair.

The cons: as other reviewers already stated, the science was problematic and shaky. Many death occurred unnaturally fast and, at times, unnecessary (ie the captain's sacrifice). The unexplained superhuman aspect of little girl was too much-having suspended my disbelief for majority of the show, but giving the girl basically all the abilities of the X-Men was a bit too overboard. If her abilities were explained and toned down (including how Dr. Song's character miraculously survived) I feel this series would have scored higher with me. The CGI was bit too fake, I felt I was watching a video game at times. As well, does no one ever sleep or rest in this entire series? I feel if they spent a bit of time with characters resting or making the place more their home, it would have given the characters more of a chance to connect.

6.5/10. Although flawed, it was entertaining and a thrilling sci-fi series.

Kill your brain and this series will be just fine!

[henferdeline · 2/10 · 28 December 2021]

Production is top-notch on this one. Some good actors too.

The concept is very promising: a Korean governmental lunar permanent research facility found something very important, potentially profitable but hard to manage and very lethal.

Things go awry and they bury everything for 5 years. Then a salvage crew is put together to retrieve samples of that something.

There are corporate spies infiltrated in the crew (very profitable, remember?) and some people in the crew have deep personal reasons to have joined.

Enter Netflix's monkeys with typewriters.

The Earth has, for some unexplained reason, LOST ALMOST ALL WATER. There are no more rivers, lakes and OCEANS.

Notwithstanding that, people keep on living, with governments supplying water rations. No wars, no riots. Just a merry cattle-like populace.

Seriously, the major writer selection criteria at Netflix must be the candidates' IQ. The lower, the better.....

So, the salvage crew goes up in a fancy shuttle. Which, naturally, metts with a critical failure that forces the team to separate from the side rockets before a stable moon orbit can be reached.

Then the shuttle's own rockets won't start (Korean space engineers must love this show...). Luckily, the trusters do, just so that they can level the shuttle for a crash landing.

Where do they end up?

At a huge crater rim, half in, half out the border.

Netflix should be ashamed.....

Well, they have to get out of the shuttle. Some are hanging on seatbelts to avoid falling to the tip of the shuttle (now severely tilted towards the fall).

The captain tries to lift a woman hanging. He has to truly exert himself.

Moon's gravity is about 16% of the Earth's. In other words, the woman would be weighing some 15 kg.

Hardly something that would need a boy to exert himself, let alone an astronaut.

Then they get out, just in time for the shuttle to fall. And gravity now seems ok....they walk in little jumpy steps.

The station is some 8 km away. On Earth, an average adult covers 6 km/h on foot. Given the gravity on the Moon, this should be at least doubled, so it would take them some 40 min - but it takes a couple of hours, during which they allow a seriously injured man to walk, instead of simply carrying the guy (low gravity.....).

Naturally, the air in their cannisters ends just as they get to the station. Very innovative take, Netflix!

The stations is a huge place. A lot larger than they knew.

They get in, turn on the power.....AND ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY!!!!

It's mind-boggling!

They have developed artificial gravity for a ground station (so, no rotating rings to use centripetal force as gravity), but they still use combustible fuels on the rockets.....

Ah, well.....ok, they have artificial gravity.

Let's not be picky and enjoy the show. After all, what other horrid new blunder can the monkeys write in the story?

Wait for it.....

They find the substance they went looking for. It interacts with living tissue PRODUCING HUGE AMOUNTS OF WATER inside affected individuals without reducing their original mass and quickly killing them, leaving drowning signs on the body. Water from thin air, then.... Oh...dead bodies are unnafeccted by it.

Astounding......

The same substance, applied to plants, promote their accelerated growth instead of killing them.

Makes absolute sense....

Well, among the hundreds dead in the station (no, it wasn't evacuated....) they find an improbable survivor (FIVE YEARS alone in the station....) in the person of a girl of about 12 years of age.

She doesn't seem to be negatively affected by the substance, has hugely increased speed and strength (not to mention claw-like nails) and is hellbent in preventing the crew from retrieving any samples.

By the way: there's no food left in the station. The girl must have lived on happy memories....or on the strangely non decayed bodies of the original station crew....

Seriously.....how do they come up with this level of crap????

The girl turns out to be the 79th in an unknown number of clones. All preceding clones died as the substance turned them into water fountains.

Things evolve, spies are eliminated, crew members get killed, thousands of tons of water get released in the station, some of it gets out and instantly freezes (at least they didn't make the water flow outside....).

The station's structure is severely compromised and the team must get out.

Now we are down to 2 women medical doctors, the cloned girl and the captain. The girl has been lovingly tamed and poses no threat.

The man must die, so the women don't need to share the glory. As he was a nice guy throughout the series, he gets an honourable death, staving off death for the women and girl for a while.

But there are uncountable liters of water spurting non-stop from somewhere.

This water wants out - and no puny bulkhead will stop it!

So, it comes to pass that the water breaks through the last bulkhead just as the women and girl are getting their feet on lunar sands....and throws them far before freezing.

The pressure was enough to blow the bulkhead away, but not enough to crush the captain (paper bulkheads, no doubt....). He is mortally wounded, but alive outside the station.

As his suit fails, we see the girl approaching him. She is NO LONGER in her suit. She's exposed to the Moon's surface temperature, but she doesn't freeze at all! Even her eyes work normally!

Really, they should have made her pick everybody up and fly back to Earth. At least we could have ended it laughing.

Can writers read a basic science text?

[danielpcullen · 25 December 2021]

I can enjoy a good suspense thriller and I'm willing to suspend my disbelieve to an extent. But when a show makes a big deal out of being a science thriller and it's based on such mind-numbingly dumb primes is maddening. It's water, but it defies the law of conservation of mass because... it's on the moon? What?! Also, it's just two tiny hydrogen atoms bound to one oxygen atom, but it behaves like a virus, which is hundreds of thousands of atoms (simple, sure -- but not water simple).

But, sure, you're not here for the science. You're here for the thrills. This was eight episodes that should have been four. Other than the idiotic "it's water, but it's 'lunar water' so it's..." oh, never mind it's so ludicrous I can't even summarize. Other than that surprise, which is only a surprise because it is so, SO stupid, there are no surprises here. It seems like it could be a modern The Thing, but on the moon. Tense and exciting as they race against an unseen foe, trying to figure out what they're up against. If it were a tense and exciting thriller, the science illiteracy would be easier to accept. It is not a tense and exciting thriller. It's a slog that's at least twice the length it should be.

I have seen worse...

[johnnychicago-75285 · 6/10 · 25 December 2021]

It's a story that doesn't really tell anything new. The show is nevertheless quite entertaining and in places really exciting. However, the story is not quite convincing, especially since there are some rough plot-holes and logic errors, and the ending is not really satisfying either. Some effects and also the set can't always convince. But since it was not a boring story, I can give 6 stars.

Could have been better.

[chulwoojung · 6/10 · 25 December 2021]

I'd say it has the same problem as most of the zombie movies: you'd think anyone with half a brain would know to stay in spacesuits if there is any chance of infection from ANYTHING, but they can't keep actors's pretty faces and bodies covered, so everyone is risking their lives while knowing full well that any drop of water can be fatal. More than anything, that diminishes the series just too much, just as it does all the Zombie movie/series.

Unexpectedly good

[marco-wilke86 · 9/10 · 31 January 2023]

I am a big fan of Sci-Fi horror. It's basically my favourite genre. So when I stumbled over this small gem I was intrigued..and not disappointed at all. Good shows and movies on this genre are rare. Movies like Event Horizon, Sunshine oder Life are expensive, but worth the cost. Getting a mini series felt so satisfying!

Yes, sometimes it's about silly. And yes, sometimes they make weird decisions. But the characters are well written. You feel something (good or bad) when someone dies, which is a good sign. The acting was solid.

The premise of the show is like this one Doctor Who episode (Waters of Mars), but takes it more seriously. I found it super interesting and was into it from minute one.

I don't get why people nowadays hate and downrate every new original stuff and new attempts to this genre. Give it a try and ignore the few "unscientific" facts and you will have a well-bingable show :)

Not really good, not really bad

[Almost_Soldout · 6/10 · 24 December 2021]

This year we didn't see much of new sci-fi shows. As a fan of kinda shows, I was really hungry for that. It hooked me but only because there is nothing else to watch. The show is watchable but plot itself is kinda mediocre as everything else here.

P. S. 10/10 reviews are fake as for most of the other NETFLIX shows.

Surprised at the Low Ratings - It's Good!

[fake_moviestar · 8/10 · 3 January 2022]

While The Silent Sea isn't a groundbreaking space thriller, I think it was very well done and a very entertaining watch. The moon renderings were gorgeous and realistic looking, and the story is interesting and pulls you in quickly. The cast is star-studded, with Gong Yoo at the helm in one of his most gorgeous looks yet, and most of the time he's just wearing a space suit! Acting is great across the board, the mystery of the lunar water is very cool, and the show set up for a great second season (please let us get a second season!) Personally found this to be very entertaining and a great binge watch!

Generic

[Movi3DO · 6/10 · 28 December 2021]

Probably the most thirsty show on Netflix.

A new South Korean space-travel thriller on Netflix. The cast got many familiar faces, so I was pretty excited for this show.

Sadly I think this was a generic sci-fi with a lot of predictable plot points. The more I watched, the more I was sure of what the show was heading towards. I wasn't surprised much when certain twists got revealed. Even worse, some subplots felt unnecessary and also some visual scenes didn't create that much impact.

The characters were also generic. They all got backgrounds that I have seen countless times before. Even so I don't think they have enough for me to invest in their outcomes.

Overall, the show got a unique concept, but the execution was subpar. 5.5-6/10.

Prometheus school of science

[rudygerst · 3/10 · 29 December 2021]

First episode was intriguing enough, even though a global draught on Earth is hard to believe.

They go to the moon, and then the show become a 4th grade science fanfiction.

Moon walking was unrealistic... Artificial gravity on a ground base ? Ok... Molecules multiplying from nowhere, because who cares about physics ?

Green plants growing without sun... And the best one : crew removing their helmets in a zone where people died mysteriously. Prometheuse school of space exploration, 101.

Nothing to say about the acting. I little bit overacted, as expected from a K-drama.

If you liked Squid game, or if you like sci-fi, skip this one.

Familiar themes, but all its own

[Leofwine_draca · 8/10 · 19 January 2022]

Another good Korean show courtesy of Netflix. This one riffs heavily on the ALIEN trilogy but the story is engaging and fresh-feeling enough for that not to matter. Great to see some of the stars of SQUID GAME show up alongside KINGDOM's Doona Bae and of course nobody puts a foot wrong. Quality wise, it does rely on cliche at times and it's not quite up there with SQUID GAME, but then what is? This one's a slow-moving atmosphere piece with some unusual scenes and growing suspense as it goes on; the last couple of episodes are quite thrilling. I liked it a lot.

It's a good watch. Nothing more.

[T-xoo · 7/10 · 25 December 2021]

This a good series . It will keep you entertained and that's it. It's actually better than the last movies of this genre by Hollywood and since Interstellar.

The pace: Thanks there are only 8 episodes. Dragging it to 12 or 16 will be too much boring. Though this could have been shorter like 5 episodes max.

Plot: the story isn't bad. It's interesting and original. If you are able to ignore the fact that people supposed to be smart have a limited IQ, you can spend a good time watching this.

Character development: the main characters' stories are visited at the beginning of all the episodes. This is a good idea. Only a few times, there will be flash back.

Overall, Silent Sea has some good ideas. It speaks of the current themes that affect our planet and what could happen in the future. But the rest (survival horror) is just things that are revisited again and again which makes the series too predictable.

Written by a cliche machine

[imdb-19548 · 3/10 · 2 January 2022]

I finished this because I hoped there must be something to justify the good reviews but there isn't.

Firstly it is called science fiction but it isn't, it is fantasy wearing sciency clothing, there is no sense or intelligence in the story let alone science. That alone isn't enough to kill a show, I am happy to watch fantasy and suspend disbelief for a good story but unfortunately that was a mistake here.

The plot is so paper thin it barely qualifies as a plot, it makes no sense and is just cliche after cliche, no originality or thought at all, like a really poor action movie stretched out for hour after hour.

The ending forces in extra cliches for no sane reason making the last episode almost unwatchable.

The acting is ok, that is the only positive I can think of, but everything else is awful.

Space mission

[vivianla · 29 December 2021]

The technology and space equipment on the moon was a cool setting. However there were some moments that were just left as luck - when Chief Han woke up after climbing down the ladder and the elevator shaft came up. When Dr. Song woke up in the infirmary after locking herself in the room as she throws up water. The doctor thinks Luna is an antidote.

Dr. Song finding out that her sister who was the chief researcher illegally made human clones to test the lunar water.

Then all the men died except for women and children. Not sure what happens in the end but a reporter narrates survivors were found. I was unsatisfied with the ending. The earth is running out of water and global warming has dried up the world. Interesting premise but I wanted more development to the story.