Till death do us part… or till undeath? In Coupang Play’s zany apocalypse romance Newtopia, a soldier and his ex-girlfriend find themselves running back into each other’s arms amidst a sudden zombie outbreak. Will their relationship revive like the reanimated corpses, or will they go down amidst a spray of blood and guts?
It all starts one otherwise ordinary day, when the lonely soldier Lee Jae-yoon — played by Park Jung-min (The 8 Show) — receives a call from his girlfriend suggesting they take some time apart. Having entered the military late while trying (and failing) to apply for alternative service through a job in the defense industry, Jae-yoon’s anxiety about the future has him clinging desperately onto his girlfriend Kang Young-joo. Played by Blackpink’s Jisoo (Snowdrop), Young-joo is a fresh graduate who can no longer stand her one-sided relationship.
That is, until a zombie virus ravages the whole country right on that very day. Chaos spreads at a breakneck speed, with zombies crashing through windshields and blood spraying from necks like ketchup fountains. Amidst the frenzied race to escape the zombie horde, Young-joo’s fear reveals her true feelings — she can’t help but worry for Jae-yoon’s safety. “Jae-yoon, are you really okay?” asks Young-joo, in one of about twenty texts she sends him.
With that, Young-joo embarks on a journey across the country to reach Jae-yoon. Over in the military base, Jae-yoon wails in distress at the messages, concerned that Young-joo is running straight into danger. Cue zombies growling and Young-joo whining that she has to get to Jae-yoon, all while haphazardly swinging a golf club around.
Given that Young-joo’s combat skills (or lack thereof) leave me skeptical of her ability to defend herself, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jae-yoon does indeed go AWOL to find her before the zombies do. The undead are pesky and persistent, though, forcing the soldiers to resort to Molotov cocktails and flamethrowers to roast them to a crisp. But perhaps Jae-yoon and Young-joo’s love will burn even brighter?
Helmed by PD Yoon Sung-hyun (Time to Hunt) with scripts by Han Jin-won (Parasite) and Ji Ho-jin (A Shop for Killers), Newtopia is based on the novel Influenza by Han Sang-woon. The drama is slated for a February 7 premiere.