Cyber Hell – Netflix’s documentary about Korea’s “Nth chat room”: a banal yet adequate recap
The “Nth chat room” crime that once shocked Korea was recently summarized in Netflix’s new documentary – but is it good enough?
This May, Netflix has released several great documentary projects, including “Cyber Hell: Exposing an Internet Horror”, which aimed to recap Korea’s Nth room case. In this horrifying scandal, over 100 young women, including 26 minors, became victims of blackmail wans was forced to take sexually exploitative videos, with some containing nonconsensual elements. These women basically became “toys” for at least 8th cybersex trafficking chat rooms on the messenger platform Telegram.
Like its name, “Cyber Hell” took its audience into a true Internet hellhole, where all crimes went unnoticed and justice was treated as a mere joke. However, while the documentary did a fine job at laying out all information about the Nth room case, its delivery fell short.
Adequate, yet with many unanswered questions
Similar to other recent Netflix documentaries, such as “Our Father”, “Cyber Hell” listed out details in a sequential order. However, there’s no separated chapters nor segregation between different sections, and the audience could only watch continuously from the victim to the final perpetrator.
The documentary would be enough for those who only need to know the most important information, such as how the first victim got blackmailed, how the news site Hankyoreh discovered the crime, the involvement of broadcasting stations JTBC and SBS, and of course, the identity of the criminal. “Cyber Hell” had its share of unpredictability and a somewhat satisfying, but not happy ending.
“Cyber Hell” is simply a journey to seek for the real identity of perpetrators GodGod and Baksa, as well as their tactics using the confidentiality and complexity of Telegram. There were little to no details about the victims, their emotions and lives before and after the case, nor were there any discussion of similar crimes prevalent in the presence. In addition, the relationship between GodGod and Baksa, as well as the fates of other chat rooms, were left out entirely.
Through “Cyber Hell”, viewers can see that the good thing that came out from months of working on the case is the perpetrator paying the price behind bars, and that the shocking crime being brought to light by The Hankyoreh. “Cyber Hell” provides enough information to satisfy the audience with a specific perspective, the perspective of breaking down the case, but it does not show all aspects of the horrific scandal that heavily impacted Korea.
The editing and pacing can make you feel bored
“Cyber Hell” is about crimes that were facilitated through the Internet, so the editing style is also “digitized”. The documentary compiles various simulated images, recreating an internet network similar to well-known screen-based thriller films like “Searching” or “Unfriended”. Sometimes it entices viewers to experience the Telegram app and how chat rooms work, sometimes it displays news websites, or the victim’s message frame, GPS signals to track down the criminals.
However, this has inadvertently made “Cyber Hell” somewhat harder to enjoy when a lot of data is provided in the form of images, infographics and subtitles. The audience will have to “digest” at the same time plenty of information through the eyes (and ears), easily causing them to be confused and lose interest.
“Cyber Hell” also has a lot of illustrative animation scenes, so much so that the pace is not cohesive, leading to the viewer’s process of receiving information being distracted. With dense illustrations, “Cyber Hell” can be like an academic experience that is not for everyone.
After all, “Cyber Hell: Exposing an Internet Horror” is still a true-crime documentary worth watching, explaining relatively thoroughly about what happened in the Nth Room case that you’ve probably heard of, but haven’t had a chance to look into the details. But after an hour and 45 minutes, there were still so many questions left unanswered.
“Cyber Hell: Exposing an Internet Horror” is now available to stream on Netflix.
