'Jung_E's Mysterious Rise to Global Streaming Hit

The late actress Kang Soo-yeon's last film has become the first Korean film to rise to the top spot on Netflix' global rankings.

It took just three days for "Jung_E" to rank first in 48 out of 89 countries tallied by FlixPatrol which provides streaming rankings worldwide.

Yet the sci-fi movie by Yeon Sang-ho, who is famous for the zombie thriller "Train to Busan," was soundly basted by critics, who complained of its cookie-cutter visuals, thin plot and cheesy sentiment.

The main selling point seems to be the sci-fi genre itself, but even that does not explain why it has soared so far above hundreds of similar offerings. 

Perhaps there have simply been no other eye-catching releases on Netflix since mystery thrillers "The Pale Blue Eye" and "Knives Out: Glass Onion" last month.

Billions cannot be wrong, but the South China Morning Post was scathing. "As with so many [Korean] productions operating in this ideas-driven genre, 'Jung_E' shows a reluctance to explore science, technology or futurism themes except in the most superficial and speculative way, as if merely acknowledging them is sufficient."