"It Hit Me Right in the Heart" Why Director Byun Young-joo Chose 'The Mantis' & Why It Is a Must-Watch

Director Byun Young-joo is opening up about why he signed on to helm "The Mantis: Original Sin", his next high-stakes thriller.

SBS’s new Friday-Saturday drama "The Mantis: Original Sin" premieres September 5. Set more than two decades after a notorious serial killer nicknamed "Mantis" was caught, a string of copycat murders forces a detective to do the unthinkable: team up with the very killer he’s loathed his entire life ― his own mother.

The series brings together screen icon Ko Hyun-jung (as Jung Yi-shin), rising star Jang Dong-yoon (as Cha Soo-yeol), "Helpless" director Byun Young-joo, and writer Lee Young-jong of "12.12: The Day" ― a lineup drawing “genre dream team” buzz.

In an interview released on the 25th, Byun talked about what kind of drama "The Mantis: Original Sin" is, why he chose it, and what he emphasized in the director’s chair.

“The show is a thriller with a distinctive hook: Jung Yi-shin, a serial killer who once terrorized the nation by brutally murdering five men, crosses paths 23 years later with his son, detective Cha Soo-yeol. He became a cop to atone for his mother’s sins ― and now the two have to work together to hunt down a copycat,” Byun said.

“It originated in France, but I read Lee Young-jong’s script before seeing that version,” he continued, referencing the French hit "La Mante."

“The premise was fresh and the casework was meticulously constructed ― that drew me in. I also heard where it stayed true to the original and where it pushed forward in new ways; those bold departures hit me right in the heart. That’s when I knew I could trust the writer ― and that I could do this well.”

As for his creative focus, Byun noted he steered away from familiar melodrama. “A mother-son bond marked by maternal love and longing can feel predictable. I was more interested in how two people ― mother and son ― with different worlds and environments actually look at each other and solve a case together. In other words, I wanted to capture, in detail, the clash between someone who thinks ‘you kill the monster for the sake of the world’ and someone who believes ‘you save people for the sake of the world.’”

With Byun’s confident direction, Lee’s tightly woven script, and a powerhouse cast led by Ko Hyun-jung and Jang Dong-yoon, "The Mantis: Original Sin" is already shaping up to be appointment TV.

Following "The Winning Try," "The Mantis: Original Sin" premieres Friday, September 5 at 9:50 p.m. KST on SBS.

(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)