A new action thriller series has arrived on streaming, and delivers all the twists, turns, and burly brawls that any genre fan could hope for. Debuting just last week, the assassin-slash-spy series is now climbing the streaming charts and has landed a seriously killer score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Led by Jun Ji-hyun (Assassination) as Seo Mun-ju, a well-respected diplomat and former ambassador to the United Nations; Gang Dong-won (Train to Busan presents Peninsula) as Baek San-ho as an enigmatic and highly skilled international mercenary; and John Cho (Star Trek) as Anderson Miller, the United States deputy Secretary of State, the series in question is Tempest and follows Jun Ji-hyun’s former diplomat as she uncovers a conspiracy that “threatens the stability of the Korean peninsula.”
Tempest combines conspiracy, espionage, and gritty action scenes to construct a gripping series that tackles the political tension between South and North Korea. Clearly, the series has combined all these ingredients expertly well, as Tempest is now climbing the streaming charts on Hulu despite little fanfare. The action thriller series has now made its way into the Top 5 on the platform’s global chart, where it stands alongside the likes of Only Murders in the Building, the hit crime series High Potential, the World War II series The Breslau Murders, and Noah Hawley’s Alien: Earth.
‘Tempest’ Now Has a Perfect 100% Rating on Rotten Tomatoes
While Tempest has largely flown under the radar (something that’s sure to change as it continues to climb the Hulu charts), the reviews that have emerged have been glowing. The series currently holds a perfect “score” of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, with Samuel R. Murrian of Collider awarding the series 9/10 and calling it “the first, freshest surprises of the fall TV season” while comparing it to such spy thrillers as “The Manchurian Candidate, The Bodyguard, and the spy fiction of Tom Clancy.”
If you’ve never watched a K-drama and are curious to dip a toe into the genre, it’s hard to imagine a more perfect place to start than this.
Similarly, Ben Morganti of CBR gave Tempest an impressive 8/10 and declared it a “Near-Perfect Look at Korean Political Tension.”
In Hulu’s newest thriller, Tempest, there are a lot of important topics on display both conceptually and thematically. On the surface, Tempest tells the story of a woman’s social and political journey as she works to bring peace to a divided Korean peninsula. But on a deeper level, Tempest explores protagonist Seo Mun-ju’s greater self-discovery. This aspect of the series is what holds it together and actually makes it a compelling drama as it tries to balance a lot of relevant social topics, political intrigue, mystery and action.
Tempest
- Release Date
-
September 10, 2025
- Network
-
Disney+, Hulu
- Directors
-
Kim Hee-won
- Writers
-
Chung Seo-kyung
