‘Ballerina’ scores big on non-English film chart in 62 countries, No. 3 globally

A scene from the Netflix film โ€ณBallerina,โ€ณ starring Jeon Jong-seo as Ok-ju, a former bodyguard who seeks revenge for her deceased best friend against the head of a sex trafficking ring. [NETFLIX]
A scene from the Netflix film โ€ณBallerina,โ€ณ starring Jeon Jong-seo as Ok-ju, a former bodyguard who seeks revenge for her deceased best friend against the head of a sex trafficking ring. [NETFLIX]

Netflix original film “Ballerina” landed high on the streaming service’s weekly non-English charts in 62 countries and climbed to third place in weekly film rankings released on Tuesday since the film’s release on Netflix on Friday.

โ€œBallerinaโ€ landed in the top 10 list of 62 countries on Netflix, including France, Germany, Italy and Japan. The film is about a former bodyguard named Ok-ju who sets out to avenge the death of her best friend against a sex trafficking ring leader.
โ€œBallerinaโ€ stars Jeon Jong-seo as Ok-ju, along with Park Yu-rim, Kim Ji-hoon, Shin Se-hwi and Kim Mu-yeol, and is directed by Lee Chung-hyun, one of Koreaโ€™s rising directors whose debut short film โ€œBargainโ€ was made into an extended series and won an award at this yearโ€™s Cannes International Series Festival.

โ€œBallerinaโ€ has gained a 100 percent rating on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 7.1 out of 10. It also has a 6.3 rating out of 10 on IMDb.

Main poster for โ€ณBallerinaโ€ณ [NETFLIX]
Main poster for โ€ณBallerinaโ€ณ [NETFLIX]

โ€œ[โ€˜Ballerinaโ€™ is] a lean and unflinching exercise in neon and blood-wrenched action that should sate fans of such movies,โ€ critic James Marsh wrote in the South China Morning Post.

โ€œThereโ€™s certainly an exciting action movie here, make no mistake about that,โ€ critic Jonathan Wilson wrote in Ready Steady Cut.

A special making film featuring ย Lee, artistic director Kim Min-hye and music director Gray was released Wednesday on Netflix and YouTube, where the creators talk about the behind-the-scenes stories of making โ€œBallerinaโ€ and offer commentary on the scenes.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]