“One Ordinary Day” (2021) is a crime-thriller Korean series starring Kim Soo-hyun and Cha Seung-won. It is an eight-part series that explores the society’s twisted system and injustice based on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) television show in 2008, “Criminal Justice” written by Peter Moffat.
It successfully attained the #1 spot for the most watched show on Coupang Play. It is also drawing much attention from international viewers through the streaming platform, Viu, as well as generated buzz on Twitter for weeks with trending hashtags and topics.
Moreover, it garnered an average score of 8.8/10 through IMDb with 625 votes and a rating of 8.5/10 on My Drama List from 1,404 users. Google shows a 4.9/5 rating with 594 votes.
The original version of “Criminal Justice” from UK has two seasons. Its first series has been remade in America in 2016 entitled, “The Night Of” and in India in 2019 with the same original title.
On January 2021, the South Korean adaptation was announced by the producers and BBC studios. It premiered on November 27th and ended on December 18th.
Here’s what the audience is saying about the Korean adaptation:
“The Korean version hits differently on the emotional side. Superb acting and cinematically.” – Myhanh Nguyen
“I’ve already watched all other adaptations of this series but this Korea adaptation is the best. The lead actor acting is incredible, his gazes, expression, voice and everything he express the character is stunning and mind blowing. Everything is perfect in this series. Among drama this year, this one has highest quality.” – wwmxepy
“I have watched The original version and The night of.. but One Ordinary Day gives us different vibes from the cinematography, character of each casts, background music and many more. I enjoy it very much” – daniamygeisha
“This is the best remake. Powerful cast and great lighting and cinematography. Congratulations!” – katesmith-54529
“Having watched the UK and US version I was eager to see whether or not the Korean remake lived up to its predecessors and all I can say this will not disappoint. Yes the story is the same, however the slight changes in the characters makes it more interesting. Stellar casting and amazing cinematography.” – Curiositykilleddia
“This korean version is more intense and good.” – kalyanbhandari
“Although it is an adaption, the Korean version is seriously world class. The actors and supporting casts all gave their 110%. Kim Soo Hyun was amazing in this one. Every single of his body, heart and soul went into this drama. You can see the director had so much angles, expressions to choose from. Kim soo Hyun had what people are calling micro expressions that brings you deep into the drama. Cha Seung Won and the rest of the supporting cast down to every prisoner was truly groundbreaking. This drama is indeed difficult to top. Well done to the Director.” – meiyin_wong
“Yes it is a remake of The Night Of starring Riz Ahmed and John Turturro which won a number of awards. This Korean version though is not bad though. Kim Soo Hyun carried a strong performance and the guy who played his Attorney. Good job overall!” – jg_unlb
“I thoroughly enjoyed watching One Ordinary Day. I see people saying its similar to the UK one, of course it will be similar because this is an adaptation of that film. I love this Korean version so much. Kim Soo Hyun portrayed the role of Kim Hyun Soo so well that I also cried when he cried, that’s how good he is in acting.” – ytaisf
“Yes, I have seen the Indian version of Criminal justice, but except main plot & story – Nothing is similar. There is a great cultural difference ,the colour grading & supporting characters are different. This Korean Version is just released now. It is fast paced, the direction is good. Production design & Cinematography are some strongest point of show. Lastly the Acting by all the actors is Solid. Specially by the Main Lead – KimSooHyun – His performance is heartwrenching.” – aparnab-48004
“Episode 1 which is almost 1 hour long seems only 20 minutes as you are so engrossed watching it . Best quality series happened this year . The guy playing the main role is a really good actor . I know the story of original but still feel very engrossed into it.” – gudddi
“Having seen both the BBC original and the HBO remake (“The Night of”) some years ago, this Korean adaptation has left me speechless so far, up to episode 4. The whole cast does a fine job but Kim Soo-hyun’s acting is simply OUTSTANDING! Direction, cinematography, OST, everything is remarkable! Kudos to everyone in this production.” – evangeliaspireli
“The lead actor kim soohyun does a an excellent job in portraying naive college kid. I’m glad he didn’t copy other actors from previous versions and bought his own version into this. His performance really hits you in the gut.” – adhiravaswani
“Indeed this is the best remake. I have watched ep 1-4 and i can say that aside from the perfect cinematography and lighting the cast from main to supporting are all good and did their own part to make this drama a MASTERPIECE. Everyone small and big role are topnotch in acting. Good job to the director and producers.” – oreocruz-54336
“I know the drama is a remake from the BBC original show “Criminal Justice” but recreating it with Korean elements and making changes with relation to Korean laws would have not been as easy as it seems. The elements used to connect plots, underlaying Hyun Soo’s subconscious is something that intrigued me to be honest. Morever, the steady progression was gripping and several revelations made were at appropriate timing.” – the_sapio_nerd
“Remake dramas can often go down two selective routes; diverging from the originality of its predecessor, or offering viewers a production en par with the original. Thankfully Coupang Play’s first series led by director Lee Myung-woo, ‘ One Ordinary Day ‘ (a remake of the original BBC series ‘ Criminal Justice’), offered viewers a fairly knockout adaptation with arguably darker explorations of the criminal judicial system, an intriguing setup as well as a brilliant cast lineup (most notably A-list actor Kim Soo-Hyun as the main lead).” – Marshmallow-Chocoholic
“One Ordinary Day is a remake of the British Show “Criminal Justice” and it also had a American remake “The Night Of” and even an Indian remake with the same name. The plot isn’t something unique. It’s been done before and being the previous versions being critically acclaimed it had big shoes to fill. What carries One Ordinary Day isn’t the plot itself but the acting from all of the cast.” – isa
“This should be the first K-Drama which successfully give picture of the failure of criminal justice system, since it takes “Criminal Justice – 2008 (UK)” as story structure. Many aspect can be added since the original drama only last for 5 episodes, but again, the director and writer of this drama has failed. The title, “One Ordinary Day”, only last for 20 minutes at the first episode, and the rest are dumb anecdotes.” – m4rkeso
“Best remake of the original criminal justice.” – Swapnil Ghosh
Synopsis: A remake of the BBC drama “Criminal Justice” that delves into the criminal justice system through the story of two men surrounding a woman’s murder.
Based on: Criminal Justice by Peter Moffat
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Legal
No. of episodes: 8
Starring: Kim Soo-hyun, Cha Seung-won, and Kim Sung-kyuo
Written by: Kwon Soon-kyu
Directed by: Lee Myung-woo
Date: November 27, 2021 – present
Network: Coupang Play and Viu
KORB 