The data has shown that Netflix subscribers prefer some genres a lot more than others, with the murder mystery ranking right up there alongside the likes of the humble erotic thriller and the star-studded action blockbuster, but that’s just one of the many elements folded into the streaming service’s latest smash hit original series Mask Girl.
Based on the webtoon of the same name, the seven-episode Korean exclusive follows an office worker left feeling insecure about her looks, causing her to adopt the titular persona by night during her side hustle as a livestreamer. Naturally, living two lives at the same time doesn’t end up well, drawing Go Hyun-jung’s Kim Mo-mi into an increasingly dangerous situation.
As well as the aforementioned murder and mystery, Mask Girl also incorporates certain tropes and trappings from prison-set stories and standard noir-tinged thrillers, as well as a rich vein of jet-black comedy that helps offset the seriousness, often at the most inopportune moments for the characters caught up in the maelstrom of twists, turns, deception, and deceit.
Based entirely on its eye-catching protagonist and promise of many threads needing to be unraveled, Mask Girl was always going to be a high priority for subscribers the second it landed on Netflix, so it shouldn’t be a shock to anyone that it’s only gone and done exactly what was expected.
Per FlixPatrol, the series has cracked the global Top 20 the day after its debut, and the smart money would be on Mask Girl flying even higher given the bulletproof appeal of anything that promises labyrinthine intrigue.