Stream It Or Skip It: ‘A Model Family’ On Netflix, A New Korean Series That Riffs On ‘Ozark’

The reason why Ozark has been such a hit for Netflix is that the scenario of an “ordinary family” laundering cartel money in the middle of the woods is a tantalizing prospect, especially as the family gets deeper in their hole while still trying to get out of it. A new Korean series sets up a similar scenario, but takes the formula a step further.

A MODEL FAMILY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A shot of people in the woods. One is wearing a sack over his head. “War, disease, accidents… Lots of people die from these things. But even more people die because of money.” The man in the sack is shoved into a hole the other men dug, and dirt is shoveled on top of him.

The Gist: Park Dung-ha (Jung Woo) is an adjunct professor at a local university, and in his efforts to get a tenured position, he paid off a professor using money that his family had reserved to get his young son Hyun-woo (Seok Min-gi) a heart transplant. His wife Hyun-woo (Seok Min-gi) is ready to divorce him. And the professor he paid off was just arrested; the money he needed for his son is gone.

As he drives home from work, he’s rear-ended by a van as he talks to his son on the phone. When he walks back to the van, he not only sees two dead bodies but a sack full of money. While Dung-ha knows the money is likely dirty, he’s so desperate he hatches a plan to keep it. This includes taking the bodies back to his house and burying them in the yard, cleaning the van, and abandoning it. What he doesn’t bargain for are DUI stops and buried cell phones keeping his teenage daughter Yeon-woo (Shin Eun-soo) awake.

In the meantime, a cartel strongman named Gwang-cheol (Park Hee-soon) is looking for the van, as well as the men and money inside. When he’s alerted by Joo-hyun (Park Ji-yeon), another cartel operative who was tracking the van, he gets his men to try to figure out where the van has been. Their search leads them to Dung-ha’s neighborhood.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Given the cartel and potential money laundering angle, A Model Family feels like a Korean take on Ozark.

Our Take: Written by Lee Jae-gon and directed by Kim Jin-woo, A Model Family sets up a somewhat familiar scenario — see the Ozark mention above — but with its own intriguing twists and turns. Unlike Ozark, where the main character was already laundering money and needed a lower profile place to do it, the main character in this show, Dung-ja, gets into the laundering business because of desperation and greed.

When that car with the bodies and cash in it rear-ends him, he’s at his lowest point. So there doesn’t seem to have any qualms with taking this blood-spattered money if he knows it’ll go to good things, like a new heart for his son. Do we want to know a little more about what he had to do to get him to the point where he had to bribe that professor that got arrested? Sure, but Jung Woo does a great job of showing Dung-ja’s despondency, then his manic desperation to cover things up so he can keep the money.

We’re pretty sure things are going to get worse for him; after all, he’s the man in the hood getting buried alive. We still need to see more of the steps that lead up to that point, and also the deal that he inevitably has to make to save his skin. We also need to find out a little bit more about some of the main cartel figures, as well as Dung-ja’s family. But the series is off to a fast start, with good performances and a plot that sets itself up for multiple twists and turns.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: As he sneaks out and drives away with the now-unburied phone — Hyun-woo notices him getting in the car in the middle of the night — he drives to the middle of nowhere to get rid of it. Then it rings; a woman named Eun-joo (Yoon Jin-seo) is calling for the umpteenth time.

Sleeper Star: Park Ji-yeon is interesting as Joo-hyun; we’re not quite sure what her cartel role is, but it’s one that has her able to freelance a bit. She’s definitely a wild card.

Most Pilot-y Line: A lackey of Gwang-cheol’s boss says that Gwang-cheol is the best at finding people. Then, when Gwang-cheol glares at him, he says, “You look scary. Why are you looking at me like that? What? Is it something I said? We’re not family. I can’t call you my brother.” None of that makes sense in that scene, but we’re hoping we’ll get more clarity later in the season.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The first episode of A Model Family sets up an interesting story, borne out of desperation and greed. How that choice reverberates through the main character’s family and life is something we’re eager to see.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.