‘Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy’ review: Ahn Hyo-seop heads adaptation of South Korean web comic sensation

Dir: Kim Byung-woo. South Korea. 2025. 117mins.

A doormat of an office worker finally has the chance to be the hero of his own story in Kim Byung-woo’s adaptation of the wildly popular web novel and subsequent web comic Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy. One part action-fantasy about a young man rewriting his life and – if you squint – one part critique of late-stage capitalism, Omniscient Reader is a meticulously produced blockbuster adventure steeped in genre tradition and imagery. There is little on display that is truly original, and it never quite hits the goofily fun highs of something like Choi Dong-hoon’s Alienoid, but the film delivers exactly what it promises.

An old-fashioned creature feature powered by a starry but unchallenged cast

Polished production and widely recognisable influences make Omniscient Reader’s prospects in Asia fairly strong. There are high hopes that it will revitalise the struggling South Korean box office when it premieres there (and in Taiwan) on July 23, and it rolls out across the region a week later. It should also fare well overseas when it opens in various territories including the US in early August, following a spot at Fantasia International Film Festival. Fans of the online versions should turn out, even though it does differ in some significant ways from the comic, and the film’s top-loaded cast of buzzy and emerging actors and K-pop stars could also help its prospects.

Director Kim, who made modest waves with The Terror Live (2013) and Take Point (2018), works well within the parameters of genre convention. Here, he, co-writer Lee Jung-min and novel/webtoon author singNsong (sometimes known as Sing Shong) ably demonstrate the depth and breadth of their collective knowledge of death-game storytelling across various media, referencing everything from Battle Royale and The Hunger Games to The Running Man and Squid Game – as well as any number of urban fantasy videogames such as Devil May Cry.

Kim Dok-ja (former One O One boybander Ahn Hyo-seop, who also lends his voice to Netflix animation KPop Demon Hunters) is the story’s protagonist, literally and figuratively. Dok-ja was bullied as a middle-school student, graduated a ‘third-rate’ college, and is now an anonymous office drone who leaves little impression on anyone. After his last day at a temp job, Dok-ja becomes engrossed in his favourite web novel Three Ways To Survive The Apocalypse – a book he has been reading for a decade – only looking up when he bumps into former co-worker Sang-ah (Chae Soo-bin, Hijack 1971), who strikes up a conversation.

Minutes later their subway train is under attack, first by manipulative dokkaebi (a mythical Korean goblin), which demands a fight to the death with the passengers, and, later, a river dragon lifted straight from Bong Joon Ho’s The Host. The passengers are terrified, but Dok-ja recognises the events from his beloved novel. Tiny changes in the story make Dok-ja realise he has the power to rewrite what comes next, so he sets out to find its real hero, Joong-hyuk (Lee Min-ho, Apple TV’s Pachinko), level up his powers, ensure everyone survives various quests, and prevent the end of the world.

In many ways Omniscient Reader is simply an old-fashioned creature feature powered by a starry but unchallenged cast, including Nana from K-pop girl group After School as Huiwon, a warrior who refuses to bow down to apocalyptic bullies, and Blackpink’s Jisoo as Ji-hye, a high-school sharpshooter with a high-powered rifle. The film does suffer from a muddled plot and murky internal logic: has the book’s plot manifested in the real world, or has Dok-ja been pulled into the novel? Readers of the original web novel may understand these narrative machinations, but newcomers could be at a loss.

Cinematographer Jun Hey-jin, who worked on Kim Jee-woon’s Cobweb and Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave, bolsters the film with a few well-shot videogame cut scenes, and it is peppered with gooey CGI monsters. Yet Kim would have a stronger film on his hands if it were leaner, and embraced its identity as the entertaining B-movie it truly is.