Available from last week on Netflix, South Korean sci-fi series The Silent Sea rose to fourth in the streamer’s top 10. But what is it all about?
What is it about ?
In the near future, all of Earth’s natural resources have been exhausted. As humanity faces starvation, a Korean space team is sent to the moon to try to save the world from extinction.
The Silent Sea, a series created by Park Eun-kyo with Doona Bae, Gong Yoo, Joon Lee … Available on Netflix
A space thriller
In a spaceship, alarms go off with a warning about the oxygen level. A woman in a jumpsuit, Dr. Song (Doona Bae, known for her roles in Sense8 and Kingdom) regains consciousness. This is the opening scene of The Silent Sea, a space thriller that promises to be anxiety-provoking.
Dr. Song, a biochemist, was approached by the space administration to be part of a mission to the moon, five years after an unexplained disaster at the Balhae lunar research station that left more than 100 members dead. crew, including his sister. To understand what happened to her sister, she accepts the mission.
Except that the mission order speaks of a radioactive leak and the obligation to bring back samples. What do they contain? They would no longer know … We are in a series that cultivates its mysteries and distils them … drop by drop! Enough to keep our thirst for more information going.
Netflix
A political subtext
The story takes place in a near-future version where global desertification has prompted governments to ration water. And the more you belong to a higher social class, the more water you have.
Much like Squid Game, another South Korean genre series, The Silent Sea infuses a political subtext through its main plot. The lack of water on Earth has further increased social inequalities. These result, among other things, in increased infant mortality for categories that only benefit from restricted access.
And of course, there is a whole lot of talk about climate change and the ecological disasters it causes. This has resulted in the creation of a World Water Resources Council which regulates distribution. Also, various governments and private companies have started to invest heavily in vertical agriculture to stop wasting water in agriculture.
In short, The Silent Sea is presented as a real science fiction series: a captivating entertainment but with a real watermark message.