This Gripping Crime K-Drama Remake Outshone Its British Original on IMDb
It’s a rare case, but sometimes remakes manage to surpass the original show.
Remakes of Western series on Korean television have become commonplace due to movie boom. Since 2015, new releases have been appearing on Korean TV and in theaters at a record pace – more than ever before.
The era of remakes of American and British shows in Korea began with The Good Wife and continued with hits like Criminal Minds and Suits. One of the most worthy representatives was One Ordinary Day, which gained popularity not only in Korea but in other countries as well.
What is One Ordinary Day About?
The story tells of a young man, Kim Hyun Soo, who, while going to a party with friends, accidentally meets a girl, spends the night with her, and finds her dead the next morning.
Under the influence of alcohol and drugs, he has no memory of the events of the night. The law is not on his side, as only his fingerprints were found in the apartment, and he is eventually brought to the police station, where he becomes the prime suspect in a murder case.
Criminal Justice Is a Realistic Social Drama
The original British series Criminal Justice, which ran from 2008 to 2009, tells the same story. The British series is a classic detective story with elements of a prison drama.
But it grips you not because of its twisted intrigue or suspense, but because of its excellent acting and the hopelessness that you feel even through the screen.
While the viewer is waiting for a spectacular twist, the ending touches the heartstrings in a completely different way – by its realism.
Criminal Justice does not aim to surprise the viewer, but to remind us of the truth about the imperfection of the justice system, which can ruin a person's life just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
One Ordinary Day Managed to Outshine The Original
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While Criminal Justice is truly a worthy representative of its genre, the Korean remake managed to do the almost impossible – surpass the original.
Korean projects are often filled with obvious or hidden social subtext, and the most prominent and famous example of this is the Oscar-winning Parasite. This topic frequently appears in TV series, so it is not surprising that Korean directors and screenwriters have perfected the art of depicting social injustice on screen.
This makes One Ordinary Day a unique project that not only did not spoil the original work, but also developed and enriched its ideas, as evidenced by the ratings of these two shows – Criminal Justice has a rating of 7.7 on IMDb, and One Ordinary Day has 8.1.