Korean Series at the Canneseries 2023

The Cannes International Series Festival, also known as Canneseries, recognizes television series and brings together a stellar array of the best global productions in the medium. The festival this year opened on April 14 and runs until April 19.

In addition to a plethora of initiatives from around the world, the following Korean series have been invited to be included, with the suspenseful crime drama Bargain garnering a lot of interest in the ‘Competition’ category. 

Bargain (2022)

In a motel room, the attractive Park Joo-Young (Jun Jong-Seo) receives a visit from No Hyung-Soo (Jin Sun-Kyu), who is eager to pay for her services. To his disbelief, he abruptly finds himself besieged by people who want to purchase his organs. They wrangle over the cost of his body parts as Park oversees the auction. Unexpectedly a sudden earthquake wreaks havoc at this juncture.

The uphill battle of mankind amid a catastrophe that cuts off contact with the outside world is depicted by filmmaker Jeon Woo-Sung in this thrilling portrayal, which draws on a short film of the same name from 2015.

Aside from Bargain, the following three Korean series have also been invited to the Rendez-vous segment of the festival, under the ‘Out of Competition’ section.

Island (2022)

Set on the island of Jeju, Van (Kim Nam-gil), who must fight a demon, Won Mi-ho (Lee Da-hee), who is at the center of fate, and Priest Yohan (Cha Eun-woo), an exorcist, come together in director Bae Jong’s dark fantasy drama web series to fight the evil that seeks to destroy the world.

Midnight Horror: 6 Different Nights (2022)

A collection of six harrowing tales involving six women who endure bizarre occurrences as the strains of daily domesticities wear them down and fear consumes them. The most intriguing element of this television miniseries helmed by Cho Yun-ho is its omnibus structure. The stories are listed below.

Hole

When a girl becomes the caretaker of a blind person, she soon realizes that someone—or something—is monitoring her through a peculiar hole in the wall.

Home Shopping

An accomplished knitter is assigned the weird task of making 100 teddy bears while chanting a spell. She later learns that her dolls are being sold as voodoo dolls at a late-night home shopping program.

Save Yourself

Calls to a suicide prevention helpline are answered by an employee who works there. One day, she receives a phone call from her deceased sister.

Strangers in a Convenience Store

An aspiring flight attendant takes a one-week stint as a part-time employee at a convenience store. She unravels something unbelievable in her quest for quick cash.

Cursed Order

A restaurant with delivery services is owned by a Japanese chef. She observes a customer who frequents her restaurant daily but consistently leaves negative reviews. It turns out the person is her next-door neighbor.

The Night Stalker

A private security company employee’s unending night begins when she learns of a man who allegedly vanished after being held in a backroom.

Pale Moon (2023)

The first episode of Yoo Jong-sun and ‎Jung Won-hee’s ongoing suspense thriller crime television series, adapted from the same-titled novel by Mitsuyo Kakuta, will have its screening on April 19 at the festival. Yoo Yi-hwa (Kim Seo-hyung), a woman with an ambitious but neglectful husband, is at the core of Pale Moon. Her dreary life changes for the better when she accepts a contract position at a savings bank, allowing her to rebuild her confidence. Even so, things drastically shift when she starts skimming money out of VIP clients’ accounts.