The Blue Road Review Buzz Is Strong, and Han Jun-hee's Buddy Thriller Lands on the 20th

Netflix has released stills and a main trailer for The Blue Road, a crime series starring Son Suk-ku and Japanese actor Nagayama Eita as a Seoul detective and a Tokyo detective chasing a serial killer across borders. It premieres on Netflix on the 20th, after its first three episodes screened at the 31st Busan International Film Festival last month and drew praise from audiences and critics for the leads' energy and chemistry.

The pairing follows a pattern Korean streaming originals have leaned on for years: casting leads who each carry proven drawing power in a different market. Son Suk-ku became a leading name in Korean film as the villain Kang Hae-sang in The Roundup (Crime City 2), a 10-million-admission hit. Nagayama is best known for the Japanese drama Last Friends, whose final episode drew a 22.8% rating. Here Son plays Seoul Metropolitan Police detective Kim Seok, and Nagayama plays Tokyo Metropolitan Police detective Inose.

The story begins when a body with twisted limbs is found and a cryptic message is left at the scene. The two detectives alternate between cooperation and conflict as they follow the case.

Directing is Han Jun-hee, whose credits include D.P. and the film Coin Locker Girl (Chinatown). Audiences at Busan reportedly responded to the stylish buddy-thriller tone he is known for.

Two detectives, two methods

The stills set the pair in contrast. Kim Seok briefs fellow detectives at the Seoul police agency, while Inose works the back alleys of Tokyo, questioning people on foot. Other images show them working closely together, and one shows them lunging at each other inside a shop, hinting at friction. In another, a crowd in Red Devils supporters' gear scatters in alarm while Kim Seok stands alone holding a pistol.

Several supporting characters appear as well:

• Kim Sin-rok plays Lee Yoon-ok, a Korean-Japanese businesswoman who offers to help the detectives. Kim Seok receives a business card in her room belonging to Seo Hyun-tae, a major figure in Japan's underworld, played by Jung Jae-young.

• Choi Sung-eun plays Yoon Su-kyung, a National Intelligence Service agent, shown pressing Inose in an interrogation room. Her motives are left open.

What the trailer shows

The trailer opens in an empty building, where a girl picks up a mysterious medicine envelope and is abducted by a masked figure. A body with bent limbs follows. The detectives' first meeting goes poorly: Kim Seok offers a hand and proposes solving the case together, but Inose refuses the handshake and says that whatever happens, he only needs to catch the culprit.

One unsettling scene shows a man listening through headphones to the sound of bones snapping, as though enjoying music. The trailer does not say whether he is the killer. Another murder follows, Lee Yoon-ok asks Kim Seok whether he can stake his life on the investigation, and Seo Hyun-tae finally appears. Locations include snowfields in Central Asia and Hong Kong's Kowloon Walled City, along with hand-to-hand fight scenes.

At Busan, Han said he wanted the story to move from early wit toward a harder-boiled tone, drawing out tougher, new sides of the actors that differ from their established images.