AppleTV+ presents sci-fi thriller ‘Dr. Brain’ as its first Korean original content

Veteran director Kim Jee-woon, debuting as a TV series producer after a 23-year film career, is feeling a mixed bag of emotions.

“I am very nervous and excited about ‘Dr. Brain’ being the first Korean-language original of Apple TV+. I feel like I am here to showcase my debut project as a rookie director,” the director said in an online press conference on Wednesday.

“Dr. Brain,” the streaming service’s first original series from South Korea, is an adaptation of a webtoon of the same title by Hong Jac-ga.

Kim, who is widely known for directing various genres of films, from the horror film “A Tale of Two Sisters” to action films “I Saw the Devil” and “The Good, the Bad, the Weird,” said he was impressed by the original webtoon a few years ago.

The six-part series begins with brain scientist Koh Se-won introducing himself as a person who likes taking things apart in order to understand what is hiding inside. The desire and the technology to access human memory and read people’s thoughts, later called synchronization of brain waves, or “brain sync,” form the backbone of “Dr. Brain.”

After realizing that his dead son may be alive, Koh struggles to find his boy, which leads him to Lee Kang-mu (Park Hee-soon), a private investigator, and a police officer named Lt. Choi (Seo Ji-hye).

Actor Lee Sun-kyun did not hide his excitement for the release of his first project since the Oscar-winning “Parasite.”

“With the unfamiliar scientific terms and expressions, it was not easy to fully understand both the characters and the story at first. But as the story continued, I found myself drawn to the script and being impatient for the next episode. I am certain that the viewers will also enjoy searching for the truth behind the many incidents in our series,” Lee said.

Though he felt a lot of pressure for “Dr. Brain,” Lee said he hoped to contribute to the rise of Korean contents in the global market and felt honored to take part in the project led by a global company.

Each of the characters from the original webcomic have been slightly changed, except for the protagonist, neuroscientist Koh.

New episodes of “Dr. Brain” will be released every Thursday on Apple TV+.

By Lee Si-jin (sj_lee@heraldcorp.com)