Introduction
I always love dark dramas, and this is only a six-episode drama dropped by Netflix in one go. Great for binge-watching, because it’s quite short, possibly with friends and family. But beware of the content Rating: 18+ Restricted (violence & profanity).
Other tags, besides violence and profanity, that may be disturbing: (click on the spoiler arrow)
Sexual assault, infidelity, gore, death, murder.
Drama Info
Drama title: Karma (Native title: 악연 )
Alternative title: Akyeon, Ill-Fated Relationship
Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Crime, Drama
Aired: April 4, 2025
Episodes: 6 | Duration: 60 minutes
Director: Lee Il Hyung ( 이일형 )
Screenwriter: Lee Il Hyung ( 이일형 )
Adapted from the webtoon "Akyeon" (악연) by Choi Hee Sun (최희선)
Where to watch: Netflix
Trailer:
Synopsis
A fateful accident intertwines six lives in a thrilling tale of karma and crime, where each must face their own dark truths and connections. (Source: Netflix)
Characters
Main Characters
Below are all the main characters whose lives intertwine.
Park Hae Soo ( 박해수 ) as Kim Beom Jun or “Witness”
A mysterious character who accidentally witnesses an accident and makes a deal with the man who tries to cover it up.
Shin Min Ah ( 신민아 ) as Lee Ju Yeon
A surgeon at Seongsim General Hospital who lives with a lifelong trauma due to an incident experienced in childhood. One day, she encounters a horrifying face she never wants to see again.
Lee Hee Joon ( 이희준 ) as Park Jae Yeong or “Debtor”
A person who invested in cryptocurrency by taking debt for a shot at life ended up sitting on a pile of debt with a negative return.
Kim Sung Kyun ( 김성균 ) as Jang Gil Ryong
A person who loses his job and gets caught in this ill-fated relationship after being commissioned for a high-stakes job.
Lee Kwang Soo ( 이광수 ) as Han Sang Hoon or “Glasses”
A traditional medicine doctor who runs a private clinic in Gangnam. He lives a successful life, enjoying the wealth and fame he desires, but his life changes in an instant due to an unexpected accident.
Gong Seung Yeon ( 공승연 ) as Lee Yu Jeong
Han Sang Hoon’s girlfriend, a femme fatale.
Guest Character
Kim Nam Gil ( 김남길 ) as Yun Jeong Min
Ju Yeon’s colleague and fellow doctor. When she encounters her nemesis again and falls into confusion, he stands by her side and comforts her.
Review
Story and Plot
Although there are six main characters, the karma theme is actually quite simple with non-linear storytelling. From the word “karma,” you know the idiom “What goes around comes around,” which means actions, especially negative ones, will eventually have consequences, and those consequences will return to the person who initiated them. The English title should use the alternative title “Evil Destiny” or “Ill-fated Relationship” so audiences cannot easily guess what’s going on.
As an additional note, the word “karma” in its core meaning in Hinduism and Buddhism is neither inherently good nor bad, but rather a system of cause and effect where actions and intentions create consequences, both positive and negative, for the individual. So there is good karma and bad karma.
On the other hand, the twists in this drama are surprisingly good, assuming the twists follow the Webtoon, thus they are created by the author.
The audience may find the drama moves slowly in the first two episodes, where they set up the background of the characters and the situations they are in that eventually connect them. For example, how Park Jae Yeong falls into debt, or why Jang Gil Ryong is fired. Every main character seems to have their own bad fate that doesn’t connect with the others. In Episodes 3 and 4, we start seeing their connection to each other, and by Episodes 5 and 6 shows how karma works on the characters.
Characterization and Acting
Each character embodies the intense and twisted story with their grey, even dark roles, they dive deep into their flaws and dark instincts to save themselves. I can say nobody is a saint. The leading actors and actresses delivered strong performances for their respective roles.
The casting of Park Hae Soo as Kim Beom Jun (“Witness”) and Lee Hee Jun as Park Jae Yeong (“Debtor”) is perfect because at some point they look alike. At the beginning of the drama, I was confused about who was who.
Although the karma theme is quite simple, the characters are not. This makes Karma a character-driven story. All main characters carry emotional pains or secrets. When the connections between one character to another are revealed, the audience starts seeing how the consequences of one’s past choices influence another’s outcome and will change them forever.
For individual character, I like Shin Min Ah’s Ju Yeon. She is a complex character suffering from trauma and insomnia.
I added Kim Nam Gil’s guest appearance, because his character Dr. Yun Jeong Min delivers the last karma with a charm.
Special Effects
The noir cinematography implements low-key lighting, creating an unsettling atmosphere. Many dramatic scenes are set at night, which contributes to the overall sense of unease and psychological tension.
The dramatic makeup is also very good, especially the burned skin makeup when the first stage (charred from fire) and after skin debridement (as shown below).
Background Music and OST
The background music befits the noir theme, evoking a sense of mystery, suspense, and in other scenes with a touch of melancholy or even despair.
The OST played in the beginning and the end is “Devils Highway” by SATV Music.
Conclusion
To conclude this article, the crime drama Karma delivers a nonlinear story with a suspenseful build. The story of six people whose fates are tied together by a gruesome past act ends as expected after several plot twists. It’s a nice short binge-watch if you like noir dramas with morally ambiguous characters, low-key visuals, and existential themes.
Spoilers
Is it a happy ending?
Yes.
How is the ending?
Happy ending for Dr. Lee Ju Yeon, she lets go of her hatred, and makes peace with herself. She’s the only innocent one. The rest of the main characters die; they get their karma.
What’s the connection between the main characters? As seen in the image below:
Park Jae Yeong and Jang Gil Ryong were co-workers. Park Jae Yeong pays Jang Gil Ryong to kill his father.
Jang Gil Ryong and Kim Beom Jum were cell buddies. Jang Gil Ryong asks Kim Beom Jum to dispose of the body.
Kim Beom Jum and Lee Yu Jeong are long-time friends and con artists. Their latest victim is Dr. Sang Hoon.
Park Jae Yeong and Lee Ju Yeon dated in high school. He later raped her together with other people.
Lee Yu Jeong and Lee Ju Yeon were classmates. Lee Yu Jeong hated Lee Ju Yeon, so Lee Yu Jeong arranged the rape on Lee Ju Yeon with the idea from Kim Beom Jum.
When Kim Beom Jum finds out that Park Jae Yeong may inherit a lot of money from the death of his father, Kim Beom Jum kills Park Jae Yeong and assumes his identity.
There is no insurance payout, so Kim Beom Jum is caught by the loan sharks whom Park Jae Yeong borrowed money from, to pay debt with organ harvesting.
The doctor who performs the surgery on Kim Beom Jum for organ harvesting is none other than Dr. Yun Jeon Ming, Dr. Lee Ju Yeon’s friend.
