# Life on Mars (2018)

> A modern detective wakes up in 1988 and tries to solve a serial murder case from the past to find his way back home.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/68360

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 16
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama, science fiction
- Network: OCN
- Cast: Jung Kyung-ho, Park Sung-woong, Ko Asung, Oh Dae-hwan, Ro Jong-hyun, Choi Seung-yoon, Kim Jae-kyung, Kim Ki-cheon
- TMDB rating: 8.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8236544/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: gritty, melancholic, wry, nostalgic, tense

## What critics say

Critics broadly praise the nostalgic 1980s atmosphere and the cast's performances, while finding the mystery uneven at times.

## Synopsis

Life on Mars (2018) is a South Korean crime drama created for OCN, a single-season series of sixteen one-hour episodes. Detective Han Tae Joo is a modern police officer whose life is upended during a serial murder investigation. He wakes up in 1988 at a provincial police station, where he is assigned to work with a rough-edged veteran, Kang Dong-Cheol, and a colleague, Yoon Na-Young. Believing he has been sent back for a reason, Han works to crack the old case in hopes of returning to 2018. The engine of the story is his struggle to outwit a killer with primitive investigative tools and entrenched habits while holding onto his present-day identity. Each episode mixes procedural case work with an emotional thread about friendship and loyalty. The tone is gritty and melancholic, with moments of wry humor and a nostalgic view of the late dictatorship era. Viewers who enjoy Life on Mars (2006), Signal and Dark will find resonance in its blend of time displacement, police work and atmospheric dread.

## Shows like Life on Mars

- [Miraculous Brothers (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/130725)
- [Sisyphus (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/94680)
- [Shadow Detective (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/119334)
- [Train (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/87630)
- [The Good Detective (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/83609)
- [The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/70478)
- [Beyond Evil (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/97095)
- [365: Repeat the Year (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/83608)
- [Signal (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/57308)
- [Kairos (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/93501)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt