A rare treat for a film festival, Fantasia 2022 premiered a TV mini-series The King of Pigs. The first four episodes of the new mystery and crime thriller follow a police detective who realizes the serial killer being investigated was one of his childhood friends. The Korean language TV show, also known as “Dwaejiui Wang” is directed by Dae-jin Kim. He is well known for other K-drama series like “Kill Me, Heal Me” and “Golden Pouch.” Written by Tak Jae Young, The King of Pigs is derived from an animated film that screened at Cannes in 2012.
The thriller series will air 12 episodes and judging by the first four, The King of Pigs will have a huge following. The TV show was released in South Korea in March of 2022 and already there are IMBd.com reviews from puzzled viewers who can’t understand why the show isn’t a viral hit already.
The King of Pigs TV Show
The story dips its fingers into plenty of hard-hitting themes. How women are treated in the workforce, and how wealth affects one’s stature. However, among the most prevalent is how it depicts bullying. Police detective Dong-Wook Kim teams up with Kang Jin Ah almost in secret to try and figure out why this spate of killings is happening now. Amidst a series of flashbacks, viewers are taken back through the friendships and sordid violent bullying three specific classmates had while trying to go to school. Far from slight teasing, the boys are subjected to a litany of humiliation, intimidation, and sexually devious attacks.
Not for the lighthearted, the story has underlying crimes that the police also work through. In the first episode of The King of Pigs, detectives try and solve the case of a joint suicide. A married couple turns up dead side by side. Of course, there is more to this case than meets the eye. But soon, bodies begin to turn up. Each new victim turns out to be someone from a local school in the area. But the classmates aren’t children anymore and all of the cases can be traced back to students from 20 years ago.
From what I have seen so far of The King of Pigs series, I liked it a lot. There is no denying the main guise of the story is one of pure revenge. I also can’t wait to see what streaming platform this gritty thriller and mystery K-drama turns up on.
The King of Pigs series is rated
4 Pigs versus Dogs out of 5
The Cast of The King of Pig Mini Series: Jeong-an Chae, Dong-wook Kim, and Kim Sungkyu.
Directed by Daejin Kim. Written by Tak Jae Young.
