# A Model Family (2022)

> A cash-strapped professor becomes a drug courier after unknowingly stealing cartel money to save his broken family.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/109222

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 10
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama, thriller
- Created by: Lee Jae-gon, Kim Jin-woo
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Jung Woo, Park Hee-soon, Yoon Jin-seo, Park Ji-yeon, Choi Mu-sung, Kim Seung-oh, Oh Kwang-rok, Kim Shin-rock
- TMDB rating: 6.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21289712/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: tense, bleak, gritty, suspenseful

## What critics say

Audience reception is mixed, with a strong first-season rating offset by viewers who found the writing sloppy and the family dynamic underdeveloped.

## Synopsis

A Model Family (2022) is a South Korean crime thriller miniseries created by Lee Jae-gon and Kim Jin-woo for Netflix. Cash-strapped professor Park Dong-ha (Jung Woo) unwittingly steals money belonging to a cartel, and to save his fractured household he takes work as a drug courier. Ma Kwang-chul (Park Hee-soon) and Kang Eun-ju (Yoon Jin-seo) sit at the center of the household, while Kang Joo-hyun (Park Ji-yeon) and Hwang Yong-soo (Choi Mu-sung) add further pressure from outside. The engine of the series is a desperate father's improvised attempts to keep one step ahead of dangerous criminals while the bills, lies, and loyalties pile up. Across a single ten-episode season, the story unfolds as one continuous serialized run, with each episode tightening the vise. Tone is suspenseful and gritty, with bursts of brutal action and a bleak, uneasy atmosphere in the vein of Breaking Bad and Ozark. Fans of Korean crime drama and morally compromised family stories will find resonance here, with a sharp, suspense-driven rhythm and a constant sense of dread.

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