# Happiness (2021)

> When a deadly virus seals off an apartment building, residents of different social classes must survive together while trust collapses.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/111782

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 12
- Episode runtime: 67 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, science fiction, horror
- Created by: Han Sang-un
- Network: tvN
- Cast: Han Hyo-joo, Park Hyung-sik, Joo Jong-hyuk, Lee Ju-seung, Jo Woo-jin, Lee Jun-hyeok, Park Joo-hee, Bek Hyun-jin
- TMDB rating: 7.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14979052/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: tense, claustrophobic, grim, melancholic, suspenseful

## What critics say

Critics broadly agree that Happiness is a tense, claustrophobic survival drama whose class commentary and lead performances outweigh its uneven genre execution.

## Synopsis

Happiness is a South Korean tvN drama from 2021, created by Han Sang-un and produced by Studio Dragon. Across twelve episodes, a mysterious deadly virus seals off a Seoul apartment building whose residents come from very different social classes, and they must endure together behind its doors. Han Hyo-joo and Park Hyung-sik anchor a shifting romance at the heart of the crisis, while a community of neighbors, each carrying secrets, is pushed toward suspicion as food runs short, rumors of infection spread and fear decides who is expendable. The tone is tense and claustrophobic, with grim dread and a melancholic undercurrent of love growing in the wreckage of trust. Its blend of survival drama, outbreak horror and class-conscious social critique makes the confined setting feel like a pressure chamber in which ordinary decency is tested. Viewers who appreciate Korean apocalypse stories and confined-society suspense will find much to hold onto in its emotional intensity and sharp observation of who gets protected and who gets left behind.

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