The live-action adaptation of the webtoon Mousetrap has secured the top spot on Netflix's global rankings for non-English television series. Following a fifth-place debut, the show surged in popularity during the week of August 31 through September 6, accumulating 4.4 million views and appearing in the Top 10 lists across 45 different countries, ranging from South Korea and the Philippines to Argentina and Hungary.
Directed by Hong-sun Kim, the series centers on Moon-jae, a reclusive novelist whose life is thrown into chaos by a mysterious figure identified as "Field Mouse." To regain control of his life, Moon-jae forms an uneasy alliance with No-ja, a ruthless loan shark who previously hunted him. The cast features Jun-yeol Ryu as the protagonist Moon-jae, alongside Kyung-gu Sul as No-ja and Kyoo-hyung Lee as the detective Sun-yong.
The source material, the webtoon Field Mouse, was serialized by artist Ludovico between 2017 and 2020. The narrative draws thematic inspiration from the traditional Korean folktale "The Rat That Ate Fingernails," which chronicles a rat that assumes a human form after consuming discarded fingernails. While the live-action series has found significant international traction, an official English-language version of the original webtoon remains unavailable to readers.
Why it matters: The rapid climb from fifth place to the top spot suggests strong word-of-mouth growth, though it remains to be seen if the series can maintain this viewership level in its third week.
