This is a great show. What a story! I was reading the storyline and had thinking it could be a weird series. But, I'd surrender to my curiosity and got addicted to every episode. One of the best korean dramas that I've ever watched. The parallel between past and present is awesome. Park Gwang-Wo's 30 years of absence from 1986 and 2016 is the center of the show and the way that he discovers the connections between these two times and how the things are connected turn this show a good one. Good twists, good cliffhangers. If you aren't into korean dramas but want to give a chance to try, this is a good opportunity. Nice entertainment.
53 Reviews
It amuses me how less people have rated this one
mithoon-3121521 November 2018
Mind blowing series!
iqbalazhar-7876311 October 2019
Our first Korean tv show, will not be our last. Impressed.
gscotwats2 February 2021
Family of three adults and we all watched together. After one episode we were hooked! Watched one or two episodes every day and sad that we have completed our journey. We loved the characters and story. We have watched many many TV shows and movies this past year and this has to be our favorite, by far.
A really good supernatural thriller series not just for fans of Korean shows
pethog-2767321 July 2020
This series has an unusually smart plot. The main character travels through time unintentionally, as it eventually turns out, to solve crimes that have been committed by a serial killer. What makes the story unusual (even original) is that unlike in most time-travel plots he travels to the future, not to the past. Surprisingly this works out pretty well. What is also unusual for a thriller is that the suffering of the families of the victims is much more central to the story than usual. This is in line with the main idea of the show, according to which police detectives are not simply supposed to catch criminals but rather to make sure that they cannot perpetrate further crimes. While I think that this aspect was exaggerated in Tunnel for the emotional effect, I think the concept as such is certainly commendable and still worked reasonably well in the plot.
The writers handled the obligatory plot twists very well. The viewer is led down several garden paths (most importantly concerning the identity of the main character's child and the identity of the serial killer in the future) and starts wondering about apparent consistency mistakes that the writers of the story made, but then everything falls nicely into place.
There were some things I didn't like. For one, it was too long and sometimes became slightly boring and slow, especially toward the end. The same story could have been told in about half as many episodes without omitting anything important and would have been more effective that way. Many unreasonable setbacks in the investigation could have been avoided if the main characters had communicated with each other, especially if they had told each other about their hunches and what they are planning to do next. This was at times very annoying. Another annoying thing was that the main character was constantly and needlessly saying and doing things that were giving away that he came from the past. While I suspect that this was supposed to function as comic relief, I didn't think it was funny but simply unrealistic.
While there were similar annoyances, I think this was a particularly good and intelligent thriller series. The plot twists were unexpected but believable, the story was unpredictable but not overly complicated. The acting was rather good not only by the main but also by the side characters. Finally, what I liked best was that the teenagers from the past who grew up to be the bad guys in the future were cast so that they resemble their grown-up self remarkably. This was done almost as well as in Looper and shows the effort that went into making this series.
Intrugied to find this show in Time Travel
SaratChandraV4 October 2019
The beauty of this show is how little the time was spend around time travel and yet completely en-gulped by the characters and their development around the very concept of time travel. I think it is one of the very few shows nowadays that have not tried to explore the scientific reasons and get struck in those, rather a beautifully woven story of balancing ambition and personal life and deriving purpose from one another with a true happy ending.
Innovative , Refreshing, Lovable , Mysteries
Aneyeopner15 May 2020
After a very long time I am penning down reviews for any series . Till date I have watched almost 1000+ movies & 50 + Series across all languages . Specifically Hollywood .
I must say Korean Cinema is moving to next level at a very good speed.
This series is so refreshing , innovative, and nicely crafted. Be it acting , screenplay , Direction , story all at it best . Great Job done by team of the 'Tunnel' . I would suggest everyone just give a try and from team come up with Season 2 with more spine chilling mystery and Innovation.
I must say Korean Cinema is moving to next level at a very good speed.
This series is so refreshing , innovative, and nicely crafted. Be it acting , screenplay , Direction , story all at it best . Great Job done by team of the 'Tunnel' . I would suggest everyone just give a try and from team come up with Season 2 with more spine chilling mystery and Innovation.
9 Stars for a Great Story
charleslanobucklin22 November 2020
I don't need to summarize the plot or film details as they have been thoroughly gone over on this site. The team that put this film together did a wonderful job. I ended up going through a whole gamut of emotions watching this show. What I loved most about this series is that it told a story without getting bogged down in a pseudo-scientific explanation. A man chases a fugitive thirty years into the future and discovers he can travel back and forth between the past and present. Our enjoyment comes from watching our MC on his emotional journey as he learns how the past affects the future. Well acted, great direction, and music score - this show has everything from comedy to suspense and is definitely worth watching.
Interesting but unbelievable
jamessamson17 November 2019
I disagree with most of the other reviews, in my opinion the acting is a bit cheesy. If I were a criminal I'd want these guys investigating me because they are mostly incompetent which would be fine if this were a comedy but it's not.
The story itself is interesting, and it is actually kind of funny.
As to the incompetence of these supposed police officers - the main character is knocking on doors looking for a woman. A guy answers the door and at same time the woman comes home, whereupon the guy at the door grabs a bat and starts chasing the cop and the woman. The cop and the woman split up, the guy with the bat continues after the woman... so what does the cop do, absolutely nothing and in fact looks unconcerned. On top of that a lot of the character interactions are not all that believable. Possibly they are all escapees from a mental facility living out a dream
As to the incompetence of these supposed police officers - the main character is knocking on doors looking for a woman. A guy answers the door and at same time the woman comes home, whereupon the guy at the door grabs a bat and starts chasing the cop and the woman. The cop and the woman split up, the guy with the bat continues after the woman... so what does the cop do, absolutely nothing and in fact looks unconcerned. On top of that a lot of the character interactions are not all that believable. Possibly they are all escapees from a mental facility living out a dream
Awesome Story But Enough With The Blurring
PriestMarmore1 September 2020
I would give the story of this series a solid 9/10. It's very well written and as time goes by it gets more interesting. It's not a ten cause some of the aspects are not really realistic (like the consequences of time travelling). The thing that really bothered me with this series was the blurring. They blurred everything from knives, stockings (yes, those things women wear when wearing shorts or skirts), wounds and even paintings. It really gets a little bit annoying after a while and it almost seems like I'm watching asian porn rather than a drama. Because of this and some other minor stuff I'll drop the score to a 7/10 but if, like me, you're only looking for entertainment I recommend this series
Excellent
cansin_ertan4 March 2021
enjoyable crime melodrama
rickfoj27 December 2019
The show tells a slightly convoluted story about a series of killings in the 1980ies and 2017. A cop, who is thrown 30 years into the future, becomes part of a team working on solving these crimes. For a western viewer this is an interesting mix between well-known elements (cop show, enemies become best buddies etc.) and unusual elements: the time traveling just happens and is never explained; and even more so on the emotional side: while we do know the serious crime fighter show (think CSI, Criminal Mind) or the the comic variant (Castle), this is mostly sentimental. with a bit of comic relief and some action The show highlights the soppy elements of the plot, getting its emotional power mostly from all the family relations depicted (and not the love story). Even if plot and dialogue are sometimes a bit too formulaic and because of its sentimental bend the way it tells its story is sometimes a bit too slow, it is all in all quite an entertaining show
Interesting concept/characters, but misses the mark the last 1/3 of the series
davidvincentwolf3 December 2019
First, I love K-dramas, and have probably watched about 35 just this year. Also, I'm typically not that critical, as I've never seen a bad one, only some are better than others. Some of the better ones for example are Mr. Sunshine, Korean Odyssey, Something in the Rain, Stranger, Descendants of the Sun, Goblin, The Healer & Mother. All of those are highly recommended. Now, this drama has a very interesting concept, but has several serious flaws. Much of the dialogue and scenarios during the investigations are silly, cheesy or inept. One thing that I couldn't get past is the incompetence of the detectives/police in general. Obvious & glaring mistakes overlooked or made multiple times just became incredibly frustrating over time. Without giving anything away, the ending was also incredibly unsatisfying to me, especially considering that because of the circumstances involving the different time periods, they wasted an incredible opportunity to change some things. I'll close with some positive notes; being that the acting is good, with the characters mostly interesting & well done, with good guys likable & sympathetic, while the bad guys are really despicable. The only reason I wrote this review is because I'm really disappointed in a mediocre drama that could have been so much more. I understand you have to suspend belief to a degree in these dramas, but this one demanded more than I could bear. But, If the dialogue in the first few eps doesn't bother you, and the ineptness of the police doesn't frustrate you, then you may find this drama enjoyable & to your liking without reservation. However, I can't recommend it.
The main actor is the one I'm here for lol
lacrez3 February 2021
Interesting!!!
Van-pumpkinberries13 December 2020
This Kdrama cop thriller will keep you on your feet! It's so addictingly good.
I have to admit at first I was not to fond of the main actress not until after many episodes later and learning more about her.
Handsome leads, great thriller and good story line.
I have to admit at first I was not to fond of the main actress not until after many episodes later and learning more about her.
Handsome leads, great thriller and good story line.
Excellent
light-rock28 August 2020
Now I have to come up with enough words to justify a posting, as if that is not enough so far just to say "excellent" and leave well enough alone...
This is really good, really intriguing.
There are so far to my experience two kinds of Korean movies and TV, either cute girls and guys in series that start off well enough, but then rely on being "cute" and eventually "jump the shark", and then there are masterpieces all the way around.
This series is in the later category, it has great depth and character development.
Basically this is a police detective series, and it is incredibly difficult to say more than that without triggering any kind of spoiler alert.
I will say this, there is a wee bit of sci fi, incredibly masterful sci fi. Often when you read a sci fi book you get a profound depth of feeling, perhaps like as if to say "Truman Capote was here", and then this typically is lost in translation to the screen.
Wherever and however this conceptualization has originated, the translation to the screen is spot on, it carries the ball as any great sci fi author would have intended.
I continue to be immensely impressed with Korean cinema and TV exactly for works like this.
The only downside is that you have to follow subtitles. My wife doesn't like that, but it seems like I do not even notice that they are not speaking native English. It is that engrossing.
This is really good, really intriguing.
There are so far to my experience two kinds of Korean movies and TV, either cute girls and guys in series that start off well enough, but then rely on being "cute" and eventually "jump the shark", and then there are masterpieces all the way around.
This series is in the later category, it has great depth and character development.
Basically this is a police detective series, and it is incredibly difficult to say more than that without triggering any kind of spoiler alert.
I will say this, there is a wee bit of sci fi, incredibly masterful sci fi. Often when you read a sci fi book you get a profound depth of feeling, perhaps like as if to say "Truman Capote was here", and then this typically is lost in translation to the screen.
Wherever and however this conceptualization has originated, the translation to the screen is spot on, it carries the ball as any great sci fi author would have intended.
I continue to be immensely impressed with Korean cinema and TV exactly for works like this.
The only downside is that you have to follow subtitles. My wife doesn't like that, but it seems like I do not even notice that they are not speaking native English. It is that engrossing.
One of the best Korean series I ever seen
iamaswin-069362 December 2020
One Of The Best Korean Series
anandajithsnair16 March 2021
Masterpiece
humayunkabirhumayun5 January 2021
Not worth watching after episode 10
reelstunts-348199 November 2019
I really enjoyed watching the show till episode 10
Than flash back
To the past was pretty stupid . How can a detective not share who the killer is and chase on his own . Soon after the show became unbearable to watch . Did they change writers ? What happened ?
Outstanding!
amazon-657-2409879 September 2021
I've never watched a Korean production before. But the premise of Tunnel caught my attention, so I gave it a try. It did require reading the captions, as it is not dubbed. But this series is very good. I didn't like Gwang-ho at first. Yeon-suk helped. And once he was a fish out of water, he grew on me. The other characters are very good as well. They have some quirks, some that may be Korean culture & others that are just universally human. Coupled with very good acting makes the characters compelling. The plot is smooth & it's interconnected in some predictable & unpredictable ways. Plus there is interpersonal humor mixed into the drama. It reminds me a lot of American 80s ensemble detective shows. And like those, it's very entertaining.
Good premise although too long for the story
phd_travel16 March 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The premise about the time travel catching a killer is good and gets you involved. However after the strong start the main plot gets side tracked and the the show gets bogged down by the individual crimes. It feels like a procedural series with a different story every episode and that breaks the momentum. Not till the 7/8 episodes before the plot moves along and the connections between past and present start coming to the forefront. Then the emotional connection with the characters starts to play a part in the story. Ep 9&10 are quite exciting. Better to just have stuck to the main plot. It doesn't jump around too much in time and itbgets better later when he goes back in time again.
There is humor in the tone and some differences between the 80s and 2017. And that helps. Choi Jin Hyuk is quite good. The female lead professor is too stony faced even if it is part of the character. Should have been a 12 episode series. The last episodes are dragged out especially. Felt repetitive.
And the ending instead of all the goodbyes more time could have been spent showing how he changed things when going back for the last time.
It's a story with potential just too long with unnecessary scenes and dialog that break up the momentum.
There is humor in the tone and some differences between the 80s and 2017. And that helps. Choi Jin Hyuk is quite good. The female lead professor is too stony faced even if it is part of the character. Should have been a 12 episode series. The last episodes are dragged out especially. Felt repetitive.
And the ending instead of all the goodbyes more time could have been spent showing how he changed things when going back for the last time.
It's a story with potential just too long with unnecessary scenes and dialog that break up the momentum.
Missed opportunity
baunacholi-8615922 June 2020
I have seen recently quite some Korean movies and tv productions and was very impressed esp with the unique story telling and new and fresh look at established genres. However this one is not delivering on so many levels. It's melodramatic where it should be captivating, cheesy instead of smart and predictable where I'd expect some twists to actually keep me interested. For my taste unfortunately a big miss and clearly no recommendation as a thriller series.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
