The Great Flood Parent Guide

The world is ending. A meteor has struck Antarctica, melting the ice and causing a massive rise in sea level. As the world is inundated with water, a last-ditch plan is implemented to save humanity.

The day begins uneventfully for An Na (Kim Da-mi), a scientist living in Seoul, South Korea. Her persistent young son, Ja In (Kwon Eun-sung) wakes her with demands to go swimming, but tired and preoccupied, she puts him off. Then the water starts to seep into the apartment…

Luckily for An Na, her highly specialized knowledge of Artificial Intelligence is too valuable to lose, and a security officer named Hee-jo (Park Hae-soo) is sent to evacuate her. But as the trio fight their way through various obstacles on their way to the roof, it becomes apparent that there is more to An Na’s story than meets the eye.

The first half of The Great Flood plays out like a standard disaster-in-a-highrise flick, with people in the way and infrastructure-related obstacles to be overcome. Then the movie veers sharply in a science fiction direction and becomes less predictable and more interesting. I spent the first half of the film sleepily snacking and assessing the quality of the CGI effects (pretty good for a low budget production). But when the plot shifted gears, I woke up and spent the rest of the runtime glued to the screen, questions spinning through my brain. Watching this movie is like buying a Chevy, only to get inside and discover that it’s really a BMW. There’s a lot more here than meets the eye.

The real challenge in reviewing this film is that I can’t say much more without blowing the plot twist – and it’s so much fun to experience that I don’t want to wreck it for you. Suffice it to say that this is a story that questions the essence of humanity and the capabilities of artificial intelligence while also delivering powerful messages about families, love, loyalty, and courage.

The film’s production values vary, with good digital effects, and acting that evens out to average. Kim Da-mi inhabits a feisty, emotional An Na, Park Hae-soo is painfully wooden as the security operative, and Kwon Eun-sung is suitably exasperating as a frightened child. I should note that Netflix’s English dub track is terrible: it sounds like it was produced with AI. If you can tolerate subtitles, use those along with the original Korean sound. At least that feels lifelike.

As for negative content, the script features brief bursts of profanity, but the real issue is violence, which becomes more intense as the movie progresses. In addition to distressing scenes of people screaming in fear or floating dead in the water, there are also numerous fistfights, shootouts, and even some executions. Children experience serious peril and are harmed, which can be distressing for some viewers. Also upsetting are the brief vignettes of people An Na comes across – an elderly couple, a girl trapped in an elevator, a woman in labor – all of whom we know are going to die. That sense of imminent death is the hardest part of watching the film and is emotionally draining.

If you’re a fan of disaster movies or sci-fi flicks and are in the mood for something different, The Great Flood provides a largely teen-friendly option. The plot holes are frustrating, but the overall tale is intriguing and will give you plenty to talk about afterwards. Just one hint: keep an eye on An Na’s t-shirt.