Movie Review: Kingdom: Ashin of the North (2021)

Kingdom: Ashin of the North (2021) directed by Seong-hum Kim and written by Eun-hee Kim

In the world of the Korean historical zombie drama of Kingdom, this prequel story is set in the north of Joseon (the medieval kingdom that is now Korea). Japan has threatened invasion in the south so enemies in the north are emboldened, specifically the Pajeowi of Jurchen. They are a tribe that lives across the border though some of them moved into Joseon over a century ago. The Jurchen living in Joseon are accepted by neither the Pajeowi or Joseon, essentially making them orphans. When some Pajeowi are discovered dead in one of the kingdom's forests, blame is put on a tiger. 

Ashin is the daughter of the head of the "orphan" village. She's a young girl who has wandered into the forest. She's discovered something entirely different--an old temple with drawings showing a certain plant that can bring the dead back to life. She wants to cure her terminally-ill mother, but her efforts are swallowed up by the political situation. A Joseon leader tells the Pajeowi that the village is to blame for the deaths, so the Pajeowi burn down Ashin's village. She returns after finding the plant only to see every last member of her family and tribe wiped out. She goes to the Joseon leader and asks for revenge. He puts her off, letting her stay and do menial tasks for the military compound as she learns both how to fight and, eventually, what has really happened to her family. Her path of revenge is terrible, more so because she brings zombies into the mix.

The plot starts with a lot of political intrigue (much like the first two seasons of Kingdom), a little action, and minimal gore. By the final third of the story, the action is full-on, as is the gore. Ashin is an interesting character, morphing from an innocent and intelligent child into a Clint-Eastwoodesque silent avenger. The story fills a hole or two from the other narratives while it stands on its own (i.e. you don't need to watch the previous content to understand what is going on).

Recommended, though the gore level gets high. If you liked the other Kingdom series, you'll like this one-off special.

As I write this (December 2021), this is only available streaming on Netflix.