[Drama 2021] Dr. Brain, Dr.브레인

[sadiesmith]

So our protagonist could be the murderer after all?

 

Source: https://www.themanual.com/culture/dr-brain-apples-sci-fi-thriller/

 

First Apple+ Korean Language Release, ‘Dr. Brain,’ Is a Sci-Fi Thriller

By Matthew DenisOctober 28, 2021 4:17AM

 

 

 

“You’re saying that we can access a person’s memories and thoughts? Why would we need to do this?” an assistant queries.

 

The dark trailer for Dr. Brain soon reveals why.

 

From visionary filmmaker Kim Jee-Woon (I Saw the Devil), brilliant brain scientist Sewon (Parasite’s Lee Sun-Kyun) suffers a horrific personal tragedy, losing both his wife and his son. Desperate to uncover how and why this happened, Sewon conducts “brain syncs” with the dead to access their memories for clues. The results are not good.

 

Apple TV+’s first trailer for its first Korean language release get tense and trippy very quickly. While Sewon pops in and out of visions that may or may not be his, we find that this brilliant scientist may not only be losing his mind, but might be the prime suspect in a murder investigation. “The memories of the deceased are all tangled in my head,” Sewon intones.

 

The six-episode Korean thriller series is based author Hong Jac-ga’s popular Korean webtoon of the same name. To unravel his family’s mysterious accident, Sewon must perform “brain syncs,” which will allow him to see the memories of the dead. Despite the obvious downsides to this plan, Sewon will stop at nothing to find the answers he’s seeking.

 

Sewon postulates that he might be seeing hallucinations from someone else’s head. In addition to the obvious pain that this is causing him, there are roach hordes spreading on the street, climbing up his leg and some sort of water octopus monster manifesting, as just some of the visions Sewon confronts. 

[sweetroad]

31 minutes ago, sadiesmith said:

So our protagonist could be the murderer after all?

 

That would be an interesting twist, and would certainly make me look at LSK differently

 

31 minutes ago, sadiesmith said:

In addition to the obvious pain that this is causing him, there are roach hordes spreading on the street, climbing up his leg and some sort of water octopus monster manifesting, as just some of the visions Sewon confronts. 

 

The more I read about Dr Brain and watch the trailer, I'm not sure how long I'm going to last with it. This kind of stuff (hallucinations, gross monsters) doesn't sit well with me. I can't even handle Stranger Things. We'll see how it goes.

[sadiesmith]

10 hours ago, the_sweetroad said:

That would be an interesting twist, and would certainly make me look at LSK differently

 

But the fact that they put forth this possibility in the trailer must mean this won't be the case. That would just be too obvious. Haha..

 

10 hours ago, the_sweetroad said:

The more I read about Dr Brain and watch the trailer, I'm not sure how long I'm going to last with it. This kind of stuff (hallucinations, gross monsters) doesn't sit well with me. I can't even handle Stranger Things. We'll see how it goes.

 

I will suffer through my least favorite genre (horror, the movie with Jung Yu-mi) if LSK is in it as long as it is very well-made.

[sadiesmith]

The article below has some information on the studios and producers. I don't know anything about them, but I have read disappointed remarks on the production of Jirisan. I wonder if the two dramas use the same studios for CGI and special effects.

 

Source: https://collider.com/dr-brain-webtoon-animated-series-apple-kim-jee-woon-lee-sun-kyun/

 

Trippy Sci-Fi Thriller Series 'Dr. Brain' Coming to Apple From 'Parasite' Star and 'I Saw the Devil' Director

BY GREGORY LAWRENCE

PUBLISHED MAR 03, 2021

 

What if we could access our memories and brain waves like data in a hard drive? This question has motivated the acclaimed Korean webtoon Dr. Brain in a series of striking animated tableaus. And now, as part of Apple TV+'s new spate of international content (a globalization play most of the big streaming services are now making), this webtoon will become a live-action sci-fi thriller TV series, courtesy of some of South Korea's most celebrated filmmakers and performers.

 

The live-action Dr. Brain, currently in production in South Korea, is written and directed by Kim Jee-woon, who gave us such ultraviolent genre masterpieces as A Tale of Two Sisters and I Saw the Devil. It stars Lee Sun-kyun of Parasite fame as a brain scientist determined to figure out how to access our brain's most inner secrets and memories, with the ulterior motive of finding out the truth behind a terrible tragedy that happened to his family. Producers include Kim, Samuel Yeunju Ha (Okja), Ham Jung Yeub and Daniel Han for Studioplex, and Joy Jinsoo Lee and Min Young Hong for Kakao Entertainment.

 

 

While I'm not familiar with the webtoon, I love the sound of this premise, I love the pedigree of the talent involved, and I love that American audiences will have access to more interesting, international content. I've been a fan of the contemporary South Korean cinema scene for awhile now, and to get such an intriguing, mind-bending, and spooky TV series from the hearts and minds of this pool of great storytellers is a win for Apple TV+.

 

[CarolynH]

I will join y'all here since I have an Apple TV+ subscription.  I've been impressed from the shows  I've watched thus far..

[sweetroad]

If this show follows the regular Apple TV+ format, they'll release one episode per week so we're in for a 6-week journey.

 

6 hours ago, CarolynH said:

I will join y'all here since I have an Apple TV+ subscription.  I've been impressed from the shows  I've watched thus far..

 

Glad you'll be joining!  

[backstreetboysfan]

New casting news!.

 

UmTaeGoo reportedly cast for Apple TV+ drama DrBrain along with LeeSunKyun, LeeYooYoung, ParkHeeSoon etc.

 

 

[leeminhosny]

On 10/29/2021 at 12:11 PM, the_sweetroad said:

If this show follows the regular Apple TV+ format, they'll release one episode per week so we're in for a 6-week journey.

 

 

 

Every week 1 ep and it will be released KST 6:00 AM 4th Nov.

[sadiesmith]

Here's a longer "review" of the drama that has yet to air. haha... But it does contain new details not seen before, although I do wonder from where the author gathered them.

 

https://www.eastasiantimes.com/dr-brain-2021-review/

[sweetroad]

1 hour ago, sadiesmith said:

Here's a longer "review" of the drama that has yet to air. haha... But it does contain new details not seen before, although I do wonder from where the author gathered them.

 

https://www.eastasiantimes.com/dr-brain-2021-review/

 

I appreciate that you guys find all this info!

 

I didn't expect the drama to have a Boston setting. (Is that true?!) I wouldn't have gathered that at all just from watching the trailer. Interesting...

[sadiesmith]

1 hour ago, the_sweetroad said:

 

I appreciate that you guys find all this info!

 

I didn't expect the drama to have a Boston setting. (Is that true?!) I wouldn't have gathered that at all just from watching the trailer. Interesting...

Maybe from the webtoon itself? I don't actually trust this info. I hope no actor had to speak any English.  

[sweetroad]

9 hours ago, sadiesmith said:

Maybe from the webtoon itself? I don't actually trust this info. I hope no actor had to speak any English.  

 

Exactly . The trailer contained no English (or Caucasians) so I'll be really surprised if it takes place in Boston.

[sadiesmith]

I can't believe we are 3 days away from showtime and there are still no promo items of any kind. No show website, no character chart and descriptions, no press conference, no magazine interviews, etc.. It's as if they were all caught off guard with the sudden announcement of this week's premiere date. 

[leeminhosny]

2 hours ago, sadiesmith said:

I can't believe we are 3 days away from showtime and there are still no promo items of any kind. No show website, no character chart and descriptions, no press conference, no magazine interviews, etc.. It's as if they were all caught off guard with the sudden announcement of this week's premiere date. 

This is really annoying , I am really angry with Apple tv,so disappoinment, they looks so careless, just before 10 days trealer given and they don't make promotions in Korea but they said "Aplle Tv entered in Korea" etc., so where is promotions? Actually Korea even doesn't know Apple tv , Look at Disney , Disney also enter in Korea on Nov but they make so many promotions. I just saw on a korean forum, a netizen said Aplle Tv trailer released KBS and MBC  yesterday, and I saw Dr. Brain Teaser on Naver Tv today , That is all.

[sweetroad]

It might be an Apple TV+ thing. If I remember correctly, with some of their other big shows (Ted Lasso, The Morning Show), the only thing that was released beforehand was the trailer. Reviews and interviews were then released the day the show came out. But Apple TV+ pushes new shows hard on their home page, which is what they're doing with Dr Brain now (show promotions all center around Apple TV+'s homepage, instead of on external promotions).

 

Apple TV+ itself doesn't do show websites or character charts, though....Hopefully Dr Brain showrunners will still release those!

 

Having had experience with Apple TV+, I'm not surprised there's not more information out there about the show (even though it's disappointing); I predict we'll see more press out there on November 4 itself. It makes me wonder if there's actually a contractual clause that says everything related to the show will only come out on Nov 4 to make maximum impact on the day itself. I feel like that's how it was with Ted Lasso.

 

BUT it would be extremely disappointing if Apple TV+ isn't promoting itself in Korea to get buzz going. If no one signs up for Apple TV+ in Korea on Nov 4 because they haven't marketed well, that would be a huge fail. And Dr Brain might not do well only riding on international success.

[sadiesmith]

9 hours ago, the_sweetroad said:

BUT it would be extremely disappointing if Apple TV+ isn't promoting itself in Korea to get buzz going. If no one signs up for Apple TV+ in Korea on Nov 4 because they haven't marketed well, that would be a huge fail. And Dr Brain might not do well only riding on international success.

 

This is what is most worrisome. Let's hope there is enough international attention to boost interest in South Korea itself, which is a little "backward" IYKWIM.

 

But speaking of Apple TV homepage, apparently they did release some information somewhere out there (not in the US). All I could gather from my end is that it's rated TV-MA, although I remember seeing it was TV-17 or something just two days ago. It looks like many of their shows are rated TV-MA. Is it usually because of violence? Someone on twitter shared the following episode titles, which made me quite excited. 

 

 

And it's rated 21 somewhere:

 

[larus]

18 minutes ago, sadiesmith said:

But someone on twitter shared the following episode titles, which made me quite excited. 

 

So it is indeed one episode per week. 

[sweetroad]

4 hours ago, sadiesmith said:

It looks like many of their shows are rated TV-MA. Is it usually because of violence?

 

Haha, in the case of The Morning Show, For All Mankind, and Ted Lasso (the shows I've seen), it's because of language.

 

Dr Brain looks like it will be TV-MA because of violence, though. And cockroaches.

 

 

[CarolynH]

@the_sweetroad I think that you are right about Apple TV+ not promoting outside of Apple.  I didn't even realize that the next season of Ted Lasso and the Morning Show began until I stumbled upon it.  Tom Hanks has a new film on Apple TV + too, but I only knew because I saw it in the coming soon section.  That being said, because Apple TV+ is a new platform in SK and not as big as Netflix or even Disney+; IMO they should do some promo.  

[sadiesmith]

I wonder if the production team of Pachinko has been as hush-hush as this one. Does anyone follow or anticipate that drama? Are there BTS pictures or anything?