Celebrity Review: Also known as 셀러브리티, the Netflix Korean Drama stars Park Gyu-young as Seo Ah-ri King, Min-hyuk as Han Jun-kyung, Lee Chung-ah as Yoon Shi-hyeon, Lee Dong-gun as Jin Tae-jeon, and Jun Hoo-seong as Oh Min-hye. The rest of the cast includes Han Jay-in, Han Eu-ddeun, Kim Si-hyun, Jung Yoo-Min, Park Ye-ni, and others. Written by Kim Yi-young, the Kdrama is directed by Kim Cheol-kyu.

Celebrity Kdrama on Netflix has 12 episodes of 40-50 minutes approximately. Along with English subtitles, the series is dubbed in Hindi and English.

Netflix Kdrama Celebrity Review Contains No Spoilers

In Netflix’s Celebrity series, Seo Ah-ri is a saleswoman selling cosmetic brands door-to-door. Ah-ri grew up rich, but when her late father lost all the money in business, she and her mother had to live like a middle-class family. Her friend’s obsession with the influencers makes Ah-ri curious to know what they are like. Co-incidentally, she meets her high school friend Oh Min-hye, who is not a popular influencer. Min-hye, unaware of Ah-ri’s eagerness to get to know the e-celebs and their world, gives her old friend a peek into her life.

Well, Ah-ri becomes one of Korea’s top influencers in no time. She also gets a lot of help from a stranger on social media with the account ‘bbbfamous’. The influencer culture may be all hunky-dory from the outside, but there are a lot of horrors. Somehow, this stranger knows all secrets about these other influencers and helps Ah-ri to take them down one by one.

Whether it’s other influencers or unknown people on social media, a lot of hate and negativity comes with celebrity status. However, the first episode ends with a twist revealing that Ah-ri is dead. Yet, through Instagram Live, Ah-ri tells everyone that she will expose the influencers’ world and share the cheat codes that make people famous.

From episode 2, we are taken back and forth about how Ah-ri rose to fame, and all the politics, betrayals, and insecurities that built up among others. From the beginning, it was established that Ah-ri is different from other e-celebs who love to flaunt their wealth and sell anything that would help them make instant money. She believed in speaking her mind, including calling out influencers and people on the internet who worshipped these influencers.

The shift from being a series about influencer culture to a mystery thriller is intriguing. However, multiple episodes are wasted in showing how these influencers make it big and how fake they can be. It’s 2023, and many people know that these e-celebs often endorse products and beliefs they don’t even believe in. So dedicating just one episode to show the phoniness would’ve sufficed.

Despite the narrative getting stuck in the e-celebs’ life and fakeness for a long time, the makers kept the mystery intact. They would only address the reality about Ah-ri’s existence, mostly at the end of every episode. Along with the mystery, we are also treated to a romantic track between Seo Ah-ri and Han Jun-kyung, a wealthy and handsome businessman. However, excessive focus on constant quarrelling and influencer politics weakens the romantic track. Although, the moments between Ah-ri and Jun-kyung are sexy to watch.

After oscillating between Ah-ri’s rise to success and other influencers’ insecurities, the series picks up momentum in the last 3 episodes. The mystery about her life/death starts to unravel gradually. One can never figure out who ‘bbbfamous’ truly is, how Ah-ri died, and if she really rose back from the dead! Through everything, the show concludes how the influencer culture is big and everywhere. Anyone not part of it may feel like they don’t belong. Sadly, even being a part of that world doesn’t make one feel accepted or acknowledged.

Also Read: Lust Stories 2 Review: Mixed Bag of Hot and Cold Stories

Celebrity series on Netflix might have exaggerated the extremity of internet celebrity culture. But it shows the possibility of how things can go severely wrong. A person might start losing their mind and questioning their existence if they don’t get many likes or attention from their followers. Is it okay to have a world full of young people who alter their reality for strangers online, earn money via brands they don’t even use, and base their moods and existence on people’s attention? We’ve already seen a horrifying side of it in Black Mirror’s Nosedive episode.

The Kdrama also proved that e-celeb culture is something we cannot escape. It’s there around us, and no one knows for how long. There will always be people who work hard day and night and wonder what they lack in themselves that they cannot make easy money as some on the internet do. Alongside, it constantly highlights many wealthy people’s sick mentality of seeing people for their status and class and not as humans. Even the influencers describe their followers as “lackeys”.

Coming to performances, Park Gyu-young as Seo Ah-ri is such a layered and powerful character. The actor embodies the rebel and vulnerable side of Ah-ri with conviction. Even though the constant monologues of Ah-ri calling out others get tiring at one point, her character makes valid points. Ah-ri’s character exemplifies how some people become the problem they decided to fight. The trajectory of Ah-ri and other jealous influencers reminded me of Madhur Bhandarkar’s Fashion. You will have a big downfall if you don’t know how to handle success and think you’re the best by belittling others. Sadly, it’s always too late until you realise it.

Actors King Min-hyuk brings charm and intensity to his character Han Jun-kyung. He starts as a typical, bratty rich and handsome Korean man. He’s cited as the ‘Princess Maker’, known for dating women who do not belong to his “status”. But towards the end, his character also has a positive transformation.

Celebrity Review: Final Thoughts

Overall, Celebrity (2023) Kdrama on Netflix is a worthy watch. However, makers could’ve cut short the episodes by focusing majorly and constantly on the obvious influencers’ drama. It wouldn’t have slowed down the main mystery and Ah-ri’s rise to success. But is it a riveting and crucial subject? Yes. Despite glorifying the e-celebrity life in several episodes, the Kdrama delivers a powerful message on how the influencer is nasty.

Also Read: Korean Dramas Releasing in July 2023: D P Season 2, The Uncanny Counter 2, My Lovely Liar and More!