Director Yoo In-sik has revealed why he chose the end of the century in 1999 as the setting for ‘Wonderfools’.
On the 15th, we met Director Yoo In-sik, the mastermind behind the Netflix series ‘Wonderfools’, at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Seoul. ‘Wonderfools’ is a comic adventure series set in 1999, where a group of local clumsy people who accidentally gain superpowers struggle to save the world from villains threatening peace. The series stars Park Eun-bin, Cha Eun-woo, Choi Dae-hoon, Im Seong-jae, and Kim Hae-sook.
Director Yoo In-sik pointed to the ‘Y2K’ doomsday theories of the time as a primary reason for the setting. “Back then, many people believed the rumors that the world would end in the year 2000,” he explained. “I felt that the idea of characters creating false beliefs out of fear of the apocalypse to threaten Haeseong City, paired with a story about clumsy people saving the world, would fit this era perfectly.”
The lack of smartphones and the resulting communication gaps were also crucial factors. Director Yoo noted, “If a doomsday theory emerged today, people would just post it on SNS and ask, ‘Is this actually true?’ but that wasn’t the case back then.” He added that he specifically wanted “analog devices” that created those limitations in communication.
‘Wonderfools’ was released on Netflix on the 15th.
