'Ballerina' scores big on non-English film chart in 62 countries, No. 3 globally

Movies

Published: 11 Oct. 2023, 14:09 Updated: 11 Oct. 2023, 16:30

'Ballerina' scores big on non-English film chart in 62 countries, No. 3 globally

A scene from the Netflix film ″Ballerina,″ starring Jeon Jong-seo as Ok-ju, a former bodyguard who seeks revenge for her deceased best friend against the head of a sex trafficking ring. [NETFLIX]

Netflix original film "Ballerina" landed high on the streaming service's weekly non-English charts in 62 countries and climbed to third place in weekly film rankings released on Tuesday since the film's release on Netflix on Friday.

“Ballerina” landed in the top 10 list of 62 countries on Netflix, including France, Germany, Italy and Japan. The film is about a former bodyguard named Ok-ju who sets out to avenge the death of her best friend against a sex trafficking ring leader.

“Ballerina” stars Jeon Jong-seo as Ok-ju, along with Park Yu-rim, Kim Ji-hoon, Shin Se-hwi and Kim Mu-yeol, and is directed by Lee Chung-hyun, one of Korea’s rising directors whose debut short film “Bargain” was made into an extended series and won an award at this year’s Cannes International Series Festival.

“Ballerina” has gained a 100 percent rating on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 7.1 out of 10. It also has a 6.3 rating out of 10 on IMDb.

Main poster for ″Ballerina″ [NETFLIX]

“[‘Ballerina’ is] a lean and unflinching exercise in neon and blood-wrenched action that should sate fans of such movies,” critic James Marsh wrote in the South China Morning Post.

“There’s certainly an exciting action movie here, make no mistake about that,” critic Jonathan Wilson wrote in Ready Steady Cut.

A special making film featuring Lee, artistic director Kim Min-hye and music director Gray was released Wednesday on Netflix and YouTube, where the creators talk about the behind-the-scenes stories of making “Ballerina” and offer commentary on the scenes.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]