A new South Korean sci-fi disaster film has landed on Netflix, leaving subscribers both enthralled and slightly baffled by its intricate, layered conclusion. The Great Flood, starring Squid Game actor Park Hae-soo, has drawn comparisons to cinematic mind-benders like Inception and Edge of Tomorrow. Initially released three months ago, the film is now available for streaming, prompting a wave of discussion about its ambitious and complex narrative.
Unravelling The Apocalyptic Plot
The story centres on An-na, portrayed by Kim Da-mi, who is awoken in the night by her terrified son, Ja-in (Kwaon Eun-seong), during a violent storm. Peering outside their third-floor apartment, she witnesses not just heavy rain but a cataclysmic, rising flood. The water is already pressing against her windows, signalling an immediate threat.
In a desperate bid for safety, An-na attempts to lead Ja-in to the building's rooftop. During this harrowing escape, she encounters security agent Son Hee-jo (Park Hae-soo). He reveals the disaster's origin: an asteroid struck Antarctica, melting ice caps and causing sea levels to surge catastrophically. The event has already submerged half of Japan, with South Korea now directly in the path of destruction.
The Shocking Truth About Ja-in and The Emotion Engine
The plot takes a dramatic turn when it is revealed that An-na is an AI researcher for the Darwin Centre, an institution fighting human extinction. Her life's work is the Emotion Engine, a technology designed to give synthetic humans genuine emotions. While physical synthetic bodies can be created, the Emotion Engine remains incomplete, dooming the project and, by extension, humanity's last hope.
In a heartbreaking twist, Ja-in is not her biological son but a synthetic human. For the past five years, An-na has raised him as her own, using real-life experiences to help him develop emotions organically. Their flight to the rooftop ends not in rescue but in separation, as officials in a helicopter take Ja-in away. His memories are deemed vital to completing the Engine, leading to his "death" as his brain is extracted, leaving An-na devastated.
The Time Loop Experiment and A Mother's Sacrifice
Faced with this impasse, An-na proposes a radical solution: the time loop experiment. She argues that core emotions like maternal love cannot be programmed; they must be lived and tested. A synthetic mother would be placed in a simulated, looping apocalypse, forced to overcome relentless obstacles to be reunited with her lost son. Failure would reset the loop, but ultimate success is humanity's only chance.
The film's final layers reveal a profound sacrifice. As Earth succumbs, a lab is established in space. The real, human An-na dies en route to this lab, but her dying wish is for her memories to be implanted into a synthetic version of herself. Thus, the An-na we follow for much of the film is this synthetic being, reliving the same horrific flood day in a desperate attempt to find Ja-in.
This loop has repeated 21,499 times, equating to over 58 years of the same traumatic day. The breakthrough finally comes when synthetic An-na remembers telling Ja-in to hide in a closet when scared. She finds him there, successfully completing the experiment and proving the Emotion Engine works.
A New Hope in The Mid-Credits Scene
The film offers a glimpse of a potential future in a mid-credits scene. An-na and Ja-in are shown awake in a space shuttle, returning to an Earth that is not entirely destroyed. Africa appears green, suggesting some plant life survives. They are not alone; numerous other shuttles descend alongside them.
This finale implies that with the Emotion Engine now functional, the remnants of humanity can begin producing synthetic beings to repopulate the planet. The ending is bittersweet, blending the tragedy of extinction with the hope of a new beginning, all born from a mother's love tested across thousands of lifetimes. The Great Flood is streaming now on Netflix.
