# Beyond Evil (2021)

> When a killing resembling a cold case resurfaces in a small South Korean town, two policemen hiding their own secrets are forced into a dangerous hunt for the truth.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/97095

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 16
- Episode runtime: 63 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, mystery, drama
- Created by: Sim Na-yeon, Kim Soo-jin
- Network: JTBC
- Cast: Shin Ha-kyun, Yeo Jin-goo, Choi Dae-hoon, Choi Sung-eun, Kim Shin-rock, Cheon Ho-jin, Park Ji-hoon, Choi Jin-ho
- TMDB rating: 8.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13634872/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: dark, tense, bleak, suspenseful, harrowing

## What critics say

Audiences rate the single season positively for its taut suspense, layered police investigation and strong lead performances.

## Synopsis

Beyond Evil (2021) is a South Korean crime thriller series created by Sim Na-yeon and Kim Soo-jin for JTBC, a single-season run of sixteen hour-long episodes. When a killing that resembles an old cold case resurfaces in a small town, the chase for the truth falls to two policemen, each carrying secrets of their own. Shin Ha-kyun plays detective Lee Dong-sik and Yeo Jin-goo plays Han Joo-won, and their uneasy partnership drives the investigation. The engine of the story is a stubborn hunt through local records, old evidence and tangled loyalties, where every lead threatens to expose the detectives' own pasts. Each episode peels back another layer of the case, building a dense, serialized mystery that moves at a deliberate pace. The mood is dark, tense and dread-filled, with a grim portrait of a provincial community and a police force unwilling to look too closely at itself. Viewers who enjoy Mindhunter, True Detective and the moody investigations of Signal will find resonance in its patient, unsettling atmosphere and its focus on damaged investigators. The series is intense and often harrowing, rewarding viewers who want a crime story that is as concerned with character as with the crime itself.

## Shows like Beyond Evil

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- [Vigilante (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/127814)
- [Stranger (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/61760)
- [Through the Darkness (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/115557)
- [Signal (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/57308)
- [Unmasked (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/155731)
- [The Good Detective (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/83609)
- [Mouse (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/97710)
- [The Hunt (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/184210)

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