Netflix original ‘Badland Hunters’ becomes top non-English film after three days

Netflix original film “Badland Hunters” became the No. 1 non-English film on Netflix just three days after its release last Friday.

“Badland Hunters,” directed by Heo Myeong-haeng and starring Don Lee, is a dystopian action film that takes place in the near-future Korea, ruined by a catastrophic earthquake that left the world in shambles with violence as the only governing force of the leftover wasteland. Lee plays Namsan, a “hunter” who navigates through the wasteland to find resources to sustain lives in his village.

The film was created by Climax Studio, which was also behind the 2023 action flick “Concrete Utopia,” another film about an earthquake-struck Korean peninsula and the struggles between the survivors.

The film sat atop the Global Top 10 non-English films category on Wednesday, followed by the German film “60 Minutes.” “Badland Hunters” also sat in the Netflix Top 10 films list in 82 countries worldwide, such as Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Italy, Morocco, Malaysia, Korea and Thailand.

The film garnered 14.3 million views on Netflix from Jan. 22 through Jan. 28, according to Netflix.

“Badland Hunters” is director Heo’s directorial debut film. Heo was the martial arts director for the “The Outlaws” (2017) franchise, for which Lee is famed. This is Lee’s first time participating in a Netflix original.

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]