Chicken Nugget tells the bizarre tale of a father's quest to save his daughter from forever being snack food. Photo: Supplied / Netflix
One of the upsides to the streaming revolution is how accessible non-English TV has become. Back in the dark ages, if you wanted to watch programmes from Hungary or Thailand, you were out of luck.
South Korea's rich entertainment scene has been one of the biggest benefactors of the global widening, with K-Pop, Squid Game and an endless selection of K-dramas and comedies popping onto our screens.
One that caught my eye recently had the snackable title Chicken Nugget, about a woman who is accidentally turned into... well, a chicken nugget.
How can you not sample at least one episode with such a premise?
Based on a Korean webtoon, Chicken Nugget is by turns hilarious, insanely silly and occasionally deeply moving, in a story that ends up spanning centuries and incorporating everything from robot dogs to K-pop-styled kung fu to aliens and obsessed mad scientists.
One day, a strange closet-like machine is delivered to a small South Korean electronics firm. When the company president's daughter Min-ah enters the machine, she is suddenly, bafflingly, turned into a tiny chicken nugget. Her shocked father and the bumbling comic intern who has a crush on her embark on a bizarre quest to save her from a fate worse than death: nugget-hood.
It plays a bit like a combination of Being John Malkovich, a Looney Tunes cartoon and Squid Game, with a crazed energy (there's a lot of yelling in Korean), a premise that can only really be described as endearingly stupid, and a story that constantly swerves into unexpected detours.
If it were just totally nonstop lunacy Chicken Nugget would be irritating - but it's also got a warm heart at its core, and an ending to its many inventive mysteries that is bittersweet and satisfying at the same time.
Ryu Seung-ryong as the baffled, heartbroken father and Ahn Jae-hong as the awkward intern are particularly good, alternating between wacky comedy and moments of intense drama.
Some of the rest of the cast play things a bit too broadly, but then again, a show about a person turning into a chicken nugget isn't built for subtlety.
It's just a (chicken-flavoured) taste of the wild world of foreign entertainment filtering through streaming services these days, and even if its proud goofiness might turn some off, Chicken Nugget is worth snacking on for lovers of the offbeat.
The trailer:
Is it worth a watch?
Story: 3.5/5 (The twists and turns here may not be for everyone, but it's a fun ride)
Production: 3.5/5 (Although set in a lot of drab offices and warehouses, there's a colourful style here)
Bingeability: 4.5/5 (The 10 episodes are roughly 30 minutes each)
If I liked this one, what shall I watch next?
Beef - The story of two Asian Americans whose road rage encounter spirals into inspired chaos.
Parasite - Bong Joon-ho's Oscar-winning class satire captures a lot of the conflicts of Korean society.
SpongeBob SquarePants - Although Chicken Nugget is a fair bit more adult, there's something about its screaming mad energy that reminds me a lot of life under the sea.
Chicken Nugget is currently streaming on Netflix.
