Director Byun Sung-hyun‘s Netflix film “Good News,” a black comedy inspired by a real ’70s hijacking incident that spans Japan, South Korea and North Korea, marks the filmmaker’s fourth collaboration with acclaimed actor Sul Kyung-gu.
The film, produced by Star Platinum, dramatizes a 1970 incident in which a communist group hijacked a passenger plane and diverted it to Pyongyang. The story follows a mysterious fixer known only as “Nobody” (Sul) who orchestrates a covert operation to bring the plane to safety, working under Park Sang-hyeon (Ryoo Seung-bum), director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. Hong Kyung stars as Seo Go-myung, an elite Air Force lieutenant unwittingly drawn into the mission to “double hijack” the plane from the ground. The ensemble cast also includes Takayuki Yamada, Kippei Shiina, Kim Seung-o, Show Kasamatsu and Nairu Yamamoto.
For Byun, the project represented a deliberate pivot after his 2023 Netflix action thriller “Kill Boksoon.” “I wanted to take on a black comedy, so I began looking into real-life incidents that might suit the genre,” the director tells Variety. “When I first came across this incident on a television program a few years ago, I assumed it would one day be adapted into a film — although I never imagined I would be the one to make it.”
When crafting the story, the director decided to keep the known facts intact while fictionalizing the behind-the-scenes dynamics. “In my research, I was careful about the aspects of the case that are publicly known — the surface of the story,” he explains. “But the unknown internal dynamics, which also resonate with the theme of the film, is where I brought in fiction. In other words, while the outcome of the incident remains non-fiction, I fictionalized the course of events leading up to it.”
“Good News” is structured into five distinct chapters. “As the tone shifts slightly throughout the story, I thought a chapter-based structure would be the best way to manage these changes,” Byun says. “Otherwise, the atmosphere of the film might have felt uneven.”
“When I was working on the script, I didn’t finish the story first and then divide it into chapters — instead, I relied on a chapter structure from the very beginning,” the director notes. “I approached it from the start with the intention of giving each chapter its own distinct tone.”
Unlike traditional hijacking thrillers that lean heavily on suspense, Byun chose to focus on human behavior under pressure. “I didn’t necessarily intend for the audience to take away any specific message from the film. It was more about my own ambition as a filmmaker to do something different,” he says.
Working with Sul for the fourth time after “The Merciless,” “Kingmaker” and “Kill Boksoon” presented a unique challenge for Byun. “After working with the same actor on three films in a row, you’ve inevitably made use of much of what he has to offer,” he admits. “So I kept thinking about what different aspects of him I could still explore.”
The solution came from revisiting Sul’s earlier work, particularly Lee Chang-dong’s 2002 masterpiece “Oasis.” “For Nobody, I wanted him to embody the idea of a man deliberately taking on the role of his character in Oasis, as if the character is acting,” Byun explains. “As a result, his performance feels a bit more theatrical and heightened than his usual tone. But at the same time, I tried to capture the fleeting, genuine moments that reveal the true side of Nobody.”
Though set during a politically charged moment in Cold War history, Byun believes the film speaks to current geopolitical tensions. “I think the current situation is still more or less similar,” he says. “Even after 50 years, I felt that this story could still resonate today, because the core dynamics haven’t changed all that much.”
“In a way, this film is similar to ‘Kingmaker,’ as I was tackling a genre that I had always wanted as a director,” Byun says. He distinguishes “Good News” from “Kill Boksoon,” which he took on primarily to work with star Jeon Do-yeon. “I don’t usually prefer action films — to be honest, I rarely even watch them,” he confesses.
“Political noir is challenging, but I personally believe black comedy is an even more difficult genre to handle,” Byun adds. “It was quite a challenge, but I was determined to do justice to this film.”
Byun now plans to move on to different genres. “I probably won’t make another black comedy for at least 10 years because I’ve gained enough personal satisfaction from this one,” he says. “It feels like I’ve cleared a hurdle I set for myself, so I think I’ll explore a different genre in the future.” However, fans can expect his signature touch to remain. “I believe a certain kind of humor, especially the ironic kind, will always be present in my films, no matter the genre,” he adds.
“Good News,” which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival, is streaming now on Netflix.
variety.com
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