Save the Green Planet!

I watched Save the Green Planet and it’s one of the strangest Korean films I’ve ever seen. It starts as a dark comedy about Lee Byeong-gu, a beekeeper who believes aliens are living among us and planning to destroy Earth. He kidnaps a businessman named Kang, thinking he’s an alien leader, and tortures him in a basement to get the truth. What sounds like a crazy sci-fi comedy quickly turns into something much darker and sadder as the story unfolds.

The movie constantly shifts tone. One minute I was laughing, the next I was shocked or heartbroken. The torture scenes are brutal and hard to watch, but as you learn about Byeong-gu’s past, you realize his madness comes from real pain. Childhood trauma, loss, and a world that ignored him twisted his mind into this mix of fantasy and violence. It’s easy to hate him one moment and feel sorry for him the next.

Shin Ha-kyun is incredible as Byeong-gu. He goes from charming and funny to terrifying and pitiful so smoothly you never know what’s coming. Baek Yoon-sik as Chairman Kang is equally strong, starting off cold and proud then becoming desperate and frightened. Their scenes together are intense and unpredictable. The two detectives add some comic relief and help balance things when the film gets too heavy.

Director Jang Joon-hwan shoots the film with wild energy. The camera work and colors reflect the chaos inside Byeong-gu’s mind. Some shots look like music videos, others like horror films, and some hit with pure emotion. It never sits still, which makes it feel alive and unpredictable. What surprised me most was how emotional it became near the end. Beneath all the madness, the film talks about loneliness, revenge, and the desperate need to believe in something.

Save the Green Planet isn’t easy to watch or even describe. It’s funny, violent, sad, and touching all at once. Some people will find it too strange or too dark, but for me it’s a bold original film that shows how pain and imagination can twist together. It stuck with me long after it ended, not because it’s perfect but because it’s so alive in every strange, messy way.