Stream It Or Skip It?

In Low Life, a new period drama streaming all seven of its episodes streaming at once on Hulu, everyone’s trying to get their own piece of the action, even if they’re ostensibly working together. The action in question: a tranche of ancient pottery, its value limitless. Finding it could provide the financial windfall an uncle-nephew hustler duo have been scratching at for years. But getting to it will require risk and resources, not to mention outsmarting their competitors in this play, some of whom they’re technically in business with. It’s like the crime version of that meme with all the Spidermen pointing at each other. Low Life, written and directed by Kang Yun-seong, is based on the webtoon Hooligans by Yoon Tae-ho.

LOW LIFE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A brief preamble brings us all the way back to 1323, and a raging storm in the Yellow Sea. There was once a grand ship traveling from China to Japan, but it sank off the coast of Sinan in what is now South Korea, taking to the bottom millions in coins and thousands of pieces of fine pottery from the Song and Yuan dynasties. 

The Gist: Before they ever knew about said pottery, Oh Gwan-seok (Ryu Seung-ryong) and his nephew Oh Hee-dong (Yang Se-jong) were already low-level crimers. We meet them in 1962, just after the Korean War, when Gwan-seok first takes Hee-dong under his enterprising robber’s wing, and before long it’s 1977, when the real hustle of Low Life begins. A stint behind bars didn’t deter them – and in fact that’s where they hooked up with Mr. Song (Kim Jong-soo), a dealer in antiques who brings them in on this potentially huge pottery play.

“I want you to fish them out of the sea,” Song tells Gwan-seok. “You know how to make things happen.” But while Hee-dong hears “$400,000 won” and nothing else, Gwan-seok is more cautious. Why does Song want them specifically? And with so many unknowns surrounding the pottery haul – its true size and value is a matter of lost history and wild rumor – where is the piece he and his nephew can exploit for themselves? 

As the operation ramps up, Hee-dong is sent to Mokpo to secure a vessel and captain. No problem there, except for the fact that local gangsters like Beol-gu (Jung Yun-ho) know all about the pottery, too. And while Hee-dong’s down there, Gwan-seok is tailing Mr. Song through a nicely-rendered slice of 1970s Seoul. Song meets with Chairman Cheon (Jang Gwang), a wealthy mogul with his own financial interest in finding the pottery. Yang Jung-sook (Im Soo-young), Cheon’s wife, takes one look at Gwan-seok and reads him for what he is: a hooligan. But she’s also on board with the pottery heist, because – wait for it – she has her own agenda outside of her husband’s. 

Everybody in this thing needs the job to get done in order to get paid. But it seems like everybody could also be planning their own double or even triple-cross. Song even added his own guy to the team, a shuffling amateur boxer called Dae-sik (Lee Sang-jun), and to ensure their own eyes on the op, so did the chairman and his wife. Oh Hee-dong, already not the most friendly of guys, decides instantly that Im Jeon-chul (Kim Sung-oh) will be his personal enemy. That shouldn’t be an issue at all once all these dudes are sharing the hold of a cramped fishing boat off Sinan!

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Ryu Seung-ryong, who leads the cast of Low Life with a blend of smarts and understated cool – honestly Gwan-seok reminds us a little of Neil McCauley, the ultimate fictional heister – is also a veteran of Kingdom, the gripping South Korean series that crossed the zombie trend with historical fiction. 

And watching Low Life also brought us back to Narco-Saints, a great Korean crime drama from 2022. It combines 20th century history with another potentially huge payday – if only the businessman at the center of it can survive long enough to reach it.  

Our Take: In Low Life, we really dig how unapologetically hustle-mode its main uncle-nephew duo really is. Gwan-seok and Hee-dong have been on the prowl for decades together, and while they spend every other moment griping about their financials, going out and getting any kind of straight job is anathema. They’re in it to win it, always, and their camaraderie makes them easy to root for, especially in a show where pretty much every character is some gradient of bad person. 

Which is another way of saying: who knows how this thing plays out. While we believe in Gwan-seok’s smarts and Hee-dong’s willingness to punch anyone who gets in their way, in no way are we sure they’ll come out on top. Any heist caper worth its weight in lost fine china will throw in twists and late-innings obstacles. But Low Life throws a bunch of curveballs even in its first episode. Figure in the level of difficulty of the job – a boat, dive teams, 600-year-old pottery resting on the sea floor, and a crew assembled from rival factions in a supposed partnership – and the possibility for trouble is as huge as the possibility of winning it all.  

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: Gwan-seok, Hee-dong, Dae-sik, and Jeon-chul aren’t on the train to Mokpo five minutes when the bad blood between them starts to flow. We’re in for a wild ride with this crew.

Sleeper Star: In Low Life, Kim Min is Park Seon-ja, a cashier at a tea shop in Mokpo. But is she something more than that? Seon-ja could be a love interest for Hee-dong. Then again, she could be in league with the local gangster contingent.

Most Pilot-y Line: Back in the early 60s, when Hee-dong was just a boy, his uncle told him how their world works. Gwan-seok draws a crumpled bill from his suitcoat pocket. “You know what matters most? This. It’s behind every little thing in this world. This is life. This is everything.”

Our Call: Stream It! Low Life has a fun heist vibe and nicely-realized 70s period setting, plus plenty of unpredictable moving parts. With everybody in this operation trying for their own angle, it’s pure dangerous potential who actually ends up with an ancient pottery payday.

Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.