''Secret Zoo'' (

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: 해치지않아, lit. ''I Don't Bully You'') is a 2020

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n comedy film directed by Son Jae-gon, starring

Ahn Jae-hong Ahn Jae-hong (, December 31, 1891 – March 1, 1965) was a Korean activist, politician, and journalist who participated in the Korean independence movement. See also * Korea Independence Party The Korea Independence Party (; KIP) was a p ...

Kang So-ra Kang So-ra (born February 18, 1990) is a South Korean actress. Career Kang made her acting debut in the 2009 thriller movie ''4th Period Mystery'', but rose to fame when she starred in the 2011 blockbuster '' Sunny'', a coming-of-age film abo ...

Park Yeong-gyu Park Yeong-gyu (born 28 October 1953) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Attack the Gas Station ''Attack the Gas Station!'' ( ko, 주유소 습격 사건) is a 1999 Korean crime-comedy film directed by Kim Sang-jin ...

Kim Sung-oh Kim Sung-oh (born September 15, 1978) is a South Korean actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as ...

and

Jeon Yeo-been Jeon Yeo-been (; born Jeon Bo-young on July 26, 1989) is a South Korean actress. Jeon rose to prominence for her performance in the independent film ''After My Death'' (2018) which earned her the Actress of the Year Award at the 22nd Busan Int ...

. Based on the

webtoon Webtoons (), are a type of digital comic that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones. While webtoons were mostly unknown outside of Korea during their inception, there has been a surge in popularity internationally ...

''I Don't Bully You'' by Hun, it was released on January 15, 2020 in South Korea and on January 24 in the United States.

Plot

Stuck in a dead-end temp position at a renowned law firm, attorney-at-law Tae Soo (

Ahn Jae-Hong Ahn Jae-hong (, December 31, 1891 – March 1, 1965) was a Korean activist, politician, and journalist who participated in the Korean independence movement. See also * Korea Independence Party The Korea Independence Party (; KIP) was a p ...

) dreams of one day landing a permanent position there. One day, he is given a special job to revitalize a failing zoo. The problem is, there are no animals. Moreover, he has exactly 3 months to do so. With the zookeepers’ help, he comes up with a brilliant idea of having the zookeepers dress up as animals. One by one, the zookeepers put on animal suits and masks and become polar bears, tigers, gorillas, and sloths. The new zoo opens and Tae Soo’s polar bear goes viral when a video of him drinking a can of coke hits the internet. Thanks to everyone’s help, the zoo with fake animals is a massive hit and Tae Soo can now go back to the law firm with a permanent job. But before he leaves the zoo, he finds out what his law firm was planning with the zoo. Can Tae Soo come up with another brilliant idea to save not only himself but the zookeepers and the zoo?

Cast

as Kang Tae-soo *

as Han So-won *

as Director Seo *

as Kim Gun-wook *

as Kim Hae-kyung *

Park Hyuk-kwon Park Hyuk-kwon (born July 11, 1971) is a South Korean actor. Park began his acting career in 1993 as a member of the theater troupe Sanulrim. He later became a well-regarded supporting actor in films such as '' Chaw'' (2009) and ''Secret Reunion ...

as President Hwang * Seo Hyeon-woo as Secretary Oh *

Jang Seung-jo Jang Hyun Deok (장현덕), known professionally as Jang Seung Jo is a South Korean actor, known for his roles in ''Money Flower'' (2017), ''Familiar Wife'' (2018) and ''Encounter'' (2018). In recent years, Jang also starred in several other dra ...

as Sungmin *

Park Hyung-soo Park Hyung-soo is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in dramas such as ''Arthdal Chronicles'', ''The Devil Judge'', ''Crash Landing on You'' and ''Happiness''. He also appeared in movies '' Confidential Assignment'', '' The Chase'', ...

as Barrister Song * Kim Heung-rae as Black Nose *

Lee Hyun-wook Lee Hyun-wook (born June 17, 1985) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in the television series '' Hell Is Other People'' (2019), ''Mine'' (2021) and ''Remarriage & Desires'' (2022). Early life and education Lee Hyun-wook be ...

as Min Chul-hyun *

Han Ye-ri Han Ye-ri (born Kim Ye-ri on December 23, 1984) is a South Korean actress. Career Han built her filmography by starring in short films and indies. She drew notice in the sports drama '' As One'' (2012), for which she learned the Hamgyŏng dial ...

as Min Chae-ryung * Kim Gi-cheon as Representative Go *

Song Duk-ho Song Duk-ho is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in dramas such as '' Tracer'', '' Moonshine'', '' Hotel del Luna'' , ''Juvenile Justice'', ''Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American film directed by Martin Scorsese, wr ...

as Person in audience * Kim Hyun as Dismissed employee

Production

Principal photography began on October 8, 2018 and filming was completed on January 19, 2019.

Reception

Box office

The film debuted in first place during its opening weekend. However, ticket sales decreased by 77% in its second week.

Critical response

''Secret Zoo'' holds approval rating on review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on reviews. Michael Rechtshaffen of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' said that "resistance might not be futile, but to deny oneself the amiably goofy charms of South Korea's ''Secret Zoo'', an inspired family comedy that gives fresh meaning to faux fur, would be a real shame." For Panos Kotzathanasis of HanCinema, "''Secret Zoo'' is a film that aims at providing fun for its audience, and in that regard, it succeeds to the fullest.

References

External links

* * {{hancinema film, Secret_Zoo 2020 films 2020s Korean-language films 2020 comedy films South Korean comedy films Films about animals Films based on South Korean webtoons Films set in zoos