The film is slated for an August release on Netflix.
Netflix has debuted the first trailer for its upcoming South Korean action-thriller Carter, starring Joo Won as an amnesiac hero who must race against time to halt a pandemic by securing a girl who might be the “sole antidote” to the virus and bringing her to North Korea. Described as a “one-scene, one-cut action film,” Carter appears to be pulling a 1917-style experiment — it has the illusion of having been filmed in one unbroken take — but the trailer, of course, is edited conventionally.
It teases a handful of elaborately choreographed action set-pieces, ranging from hand-to-hand combat to large-scale helicopter dogfights. We’re introduced to the titular hero in the trailer’s opening moments. He has a scar on the back of his head and a voice inside it, telling him that he needs to follow instructions if he wants to live, because he's basically a ticking time-bomb. Meanwhile, we’re told that a mutant virus has infected over eight million people across the U.S. and North Korea. To save the world (and himself), Carter is ordered to locate a girl who might hold the key to humanity’s survival, and escort her — video game-style — across the DMZ, into the North. It’s like Children of Men meets Crank.
Carter is directed by Jung Byung-gil, who is perhaps best known for the film The Villainess, which itself featured a stand-out single-take action sequence. This is him doubling down. While some sequences teased in the trailer look like something we might have seen in the Chris Hemsworth Netflix vehicle Extraction, other scenes have the scale of a Fast and Furious movie, although with some visible rear-projection work going on. Carter must deal with kidnappers, assassins, and the CIA as he goes on a breakneck adventure while at the same time trying to figure out who he really is.
Netflix’s efforts in Korea are paying off handsomely, with a handful of success stories under its belt already. Squid Game remains the streamer’s most popular original series. But it has also delivered hits such as Hellbound, Kingdom, All of Us Are Dead, and most recently, Money Heist: Korea.
Carter also stars Lee Sung-jae, Jeong So-ri and Kim Bo-min. The film is slated for an August 5 release on Netflix. You can watch the trailer here, and read the official synopsis down below:
Two months into a deadly pandemic originating from the DMZ that has devastated the US and North Korea, “Carter” awakens, with no recollections of his past. In his head is a mysterious device, and in his mouth, a lethal bomb. A strange voice in his ears gives him orders. The bomb may go off at any time — unless he rescues the girl who is the sole antidote to the virus. But the CIA and a North Korean coup are hot on his heels.
Rahul Malhotra is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he’ll watch anything once. Swing and a miss>Measured victory. Also, #JusticeForHan. (He/Him).
'Carter' Trailer Introduces Joo Won's Amnesiac Hero in High-Octane Action Thriller – Collider
