''Secret Zoo'' () is a 2020 South Korean

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by Son Jae-gon, starring Ahn Jae-hong, Kang So-ra,

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'', in which he plays the owner of the titular gas station, and '' Break Out'', in which he plays a corrupt politician. F ...

, Kim Sung-oh, 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 I ...

. Based the

webtoon Webtoons () are a type of episodic digital comics that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allo ...

''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) 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, lions, 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

* Ahn Jae-hong as Kang Tae-soo * Kang So-ra as Han So-won *

as Director Seo * Kim Sung-oh 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 Reu ...

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

Jang Seung-jo Jang Hyun-deok (; born December 13, 1981), known professionally as Jang Seung-jo, is a South Korean actor, known for his roles in ''Money Flower'' (2017–2018), ''Snowdrop'' (2021-2022),''Familiar Wife'' (2018) and ''Encounter (South Korean TV ...

as Sungmin *

Park Hyung-soo Park Hyung-soo (born December 3, 1980) is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in dramas such as ''Arthdal Chronicles'', ''The Devil Judge'', Ballerina (2023 film), Ballerina, ''Crash Landing on You'' and ''Happiness (South Korean TV ...

as Barrister Song * Kim Heung-rae as Black Nose * Lee Hyun-wook as Min Chul-hyun *

Han Ye-ri Kim Ye-ri (; born December 23, 1984), known professionally as Han Ye-ri (), is a South Korean actress. Career Han built her filmography by starring in short films and independent film, indies. She drew notice in the sports drama ''As One (fil ...

as Min Chae-ryung * Kim Gi-cheon as Representative Go * Song Duk-ho 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 the review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

, based on reviews. Michael Rechtshaffen of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' 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 HanCinema () is an online South Korean movie and drama database created by Cédric Collemine during the summer of 2003 in Korea. It provides information related to Korean movies, television dramas, actors, and other related information. It is a ...

, "''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 Acemaker Movieworks films Korean-language comedy films