Picture: Netflix
Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival & the Busan International Film Festival ahead of its streaming debut, Good News (Gut Nuiuseu) is the latest film from writer/director Byun Sung-hyun, whom many Netflix subscribers may know from his breakout hit Kill Boksoon (writer/director) and its spinoff Mantis (writer) released only a few weeks ago.
Co-written by Lee Jin-Seong, the story is inspired by the hijacking of a Japanese passenger plane in March 1970 by members of the Japanese Red Army Faction, a militant organization that ran in the late 60s & early 70s; however, as noted by the opening credits, “all characters and events portrayed are fictional”. So if you’re looking for a historical, politically driven recreation of a hostage crisis in the sky, you’ve maybe come to the wrong place; but if you’re ripe for a satirical slant inspired by a true event where no political affiliation is spared from ridicule & examination in an often outlandish & silly way, then boy do I have … well … you know.
While Good News loves to play with the perception of the truth, the core of the story still follows a group of young student communists from the Red Army Faction as they hijack a Japanese passenger plane in an act of revolution against the pro-capitalist agenda of the Japanese government. Their plan is to take the plane & its inhabitants over South Korea into North Korea, where they will be greeted as conquering heroes. But when it turns out that Japanese pilots don’t know how to contact or know the flight path towards North Korea (and maybe a lie or two that the pilots sold the naive young terrorists), the plane is forced to land.
Good News Hong Kyung as Seo Go-myung in Good News Cr. Song Kyoung-sub/Netflix © 2025
While the Japanese government officials scramble for a solution while the plane is grounded, the KCIA (Korean Central Intelligence) sees an opportunity: convince the hijackers to land the plane in South Korea and become internationally renowned with Japan in their debt. Who do they put in charge of such an operation? Nobody! That’s the name of the fixer (played like a sarcastic “Columbo” by Kill Boksoon star Sul Kyung-gu) hired by KCIA director Park Sang-hyeon (Ryoo Seung-bum) to orchestrate a “re-hijacking” of their own after the plane takes off once more for North Korea.
While Good News does seem to use the real life events as the backbone of the story, Byun Sung-hyun feels perfectly content to not let the truth get in the way of a good joke. With a “You can’t fight in here! This is a war room!” spirit behind the depictions & motives of every government bureaucrat, the film is an intentional blend of what Nobody playfully nods to multiple times: “Take what happened, add a little creativity and a desire for truth …” It seems the creators have no issue with spinning this historical event into a tangled web of bumbling governments in search of good press, disrespected lower tier employees looking to rewrite their stories, & toothless young terrorists hoping to be seen at any cost. Everyone wants the glory, but few, if any, actually seem to deserve it. The actual good news is that film does inevitably favor the bold who were brave enough to do the right things when it matters most … and sure no one really gets hurt too I guess.
While I’m too young or too inept at 1970s global politics to know whether playing fast & loose with the subject matter is morally wrong, the experience as laid out does, thankfully, a worthy job of punching up against those in power and pulling the pants down on the inexperienced blowhard hijackers. Byun Sung-hyun seems to relish in poking power dynamics, trust, & loyalty with his previous films The Merciless, Kingmaker, & Kill Boksoon, ranging from political corruption to upending crime organizations.
Good News Takayuki Yamada as Shinichi in Good News Cr. Song Kyoung-sub/Netflix © 2025
While the moral compass may be guided appropriately, the main issue with the film, as many other genre blends, is tone, consistency, and length. With bouncing around from serious stock footage of what seems like real events to irreverent humor to daydreams of Wild West showdowns and everything in between, the story can sometimes get dizzying, losing the narrative, and taking a while to get the film back on track. The 3rd act especially seems to come to a grinding halt at its start after the North Korea ruse is found out and repeats a lot of the same beats with the same characters as earlier in the story, losing some of the punch and effectiveness from the more successful early acts and causing the bloat in the over 2-hour runtime.
Overall, Good News overcomes most of its shortcomings with its playful jabs, mocking tone, and over-the-top characters that seem to be nodding to films like Dr. Strangelove or Burn After Reading while continuing Byun Sung-hyun’s fascination with undercutting spineless leaders. A collectively funny cast, led by Sul Kyung-gu & standout Ryoo Seung-bum, with some amazing laugh lines – “You should have told us (you had a heart condition) when we took you hostage!” – and a Monty Python-esque runway standoff at the mocked-up “North Korean” airport. Though it may have overstayed its welcome, Good News is too entertaining to ignore.
Watch Good News If You Like
- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
- Burn After Reading
- Wag the Dog
- Don’t Look Up
MVP of Good News
Ryoo Seung-bum as KCIA director Park Sang-hyeon
While Sul Kyung-gu gets to play the meatier, narratively important fixer in Nobody, no one stole more scenes than Ryoo Seung-bum as KCIA director Park Sang-hyeon. Playing with a smarmy charm covering for lack of smarts & spine, Ryoo sways in any direction that suits him, smiling as he throws person after person under the bus while taking credit wherever he can find it. He’s like an ’80s buddy cop police captain and slimy politician seeking re-election rolled into one in all the best ways.
While it may struggle to land the plane and justify its 136-minute runtime, Good News turns a real-life hostage crisis into an effectively wild lampooning of everyone involved. Fans of political satires & farsical comedies will relish in its pointed yet silly construction.
