Mysterious and hair-raising, Revenant is a supernatural drama whose demonic possession deals with modern-day detectives and Korean folklore. This strange mix of genres makes the show’s premise slow to unfold, taking time to introduce the complex agents in each part. At front-and-center is working-class woman Gu San-yeong, who gets possessed by a demon. Kim Tae-ri’s expert acting makes both believable, simultaneously terrified and terrifying in equal measure. To be free, Gu accepts the help of folklore professor Yeom Hae-sang, who has been hunting down this demon after his mom's death. With his mom's death, as well as many others, being dismissed by the police as suicides, the show questions the reasons behind Korea's high suicide rate. Acknowledging the struggles of Hell Joseon, Revenant suggests what Yeom advises: To listen, pay attention, and learn the reasons why they're here.

Ghost stories tend to deal with dead characters with personal unfinished business. Revenant starts with this understanding, with its first. However, writer Kim Eun-hee (whose 2019 Netflix hit Kingdom might be familiar) cleverly links this motif with issues persisting in modern-day South Korea. Child abuse, suicide, and economic hardship are a few of today’s problems already depicted in the series– and the folklore suggests that the root of these have been present in the country long ago. As Gu and Yeom explore the folklore surrounding the demon, Kim suggests that what might be personally haunting them is also societal.