Television series

Voice

Name: Voice
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Mystery
Released: 2017
Cast: Lee Ha Na, Son Eun Seo, Jang Hyeok, Lee Jin Wook, An Se Ha

A taut Korean thriller about two detectives—one a voice analyst, the other broken by personal tragedy—hunting a serial killer who destroyed both their lives. Tense, propulsive, and darkly intelligent, it moves like a hurtling train through moral compromise and obsession. For viewers who want crime procedural with real teeth and zero filler.

TVMaze rating

3.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love crime procedurals driven by voice analysis and a sharp, wounded partnership, where the case is a puzzle you solve by listening closely as much as by looking.

Skip it if you want a lighter watch, since the subject is murder of families and the mood stays grim and tense across its long run of episodes.

What it asks of you: Fifty-eight episodes over four seasons at about seventy minutes each, so it asks for a long commitment and steady attention to dialogue, with dark material throughout.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Signal2016

A cold-case thriller about detectives across time periods pursuing the same serial killer. Like Voice, it's Korean crime drama at its sharpest: clever procedural work married to genuine emotional stakes and jaw-tightening pacing.

But Spans decades and timelines, which means some viewers find the structure confusing rather than clever. Subtitles required if you're not fluent in Korean.

Tunnel2016

A detective haunted by an unsolved case from decades past gets a second chance. Shares Voice's obsession with personal trauma driving professional investigation, same dark tone, same Korean crime-thriller DNA executed with brutal efficiency.

But The protagonist's bitterness and moral erosion can feel relentless. The violence is graphic and not stylized away.

Memories of Murder2003

The gold standard: Korean procedural thriller following detectives hunting a serial killer in the 1980s. Methodical, tense, infinitely rewatchable. If Voice grabbed you, this is where Korean crime cinema proved itself on the world stage.

But Deliberately paced in ways modern viewers sometimes read as slow. The ambiguous ending frustrates people who want closure.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Voice

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Incomplete Life2014

Both are Korean television that prize character study and internal transformation over plot mechanics. Both show what happens when a person decides the goal justifies anything.

A Korean drama about an ambitious young man breaking into corporate life. Zero murders, no serial killers—but identical DNA: the obsessive work ethic, the moral choices in a rigged system, characters learning that success requires compromising who they are. Shares Voice's slow-burn intensity and refusal to make ambition romantic.

But It's a workplace drama without spectacle. If you watch Voice for the thriller mechanics, this will feel glacially slow. Subtitles required. The protagonist's humiliations are sometimes genuinely hard to watch.

Mystic River2003

Three childhood friends, now detectives, chase a killer while wrestling with their own damaged pasts. Like Voice, it understands that obsession is a disease and revenge is a poison. Masterclass in moral complexity and atmospheric dread.

But Clint Eastwood's control can feel cold. Some find the fatalism depressing rather than cathartic. It's long and doesn't rush.

Killing Eve2018

A British thriller about a detective obsessed with catching a brilliant psychopath. Shares Voice's addiction to the hunt, the psychological cat-and-mouse, and a protagonist willing to cross lines. Darkly funny where Voice is grim.

But Tonal shifts between thriller and dark comedy don't work for everyone. Later seasons lose focus. The protagonist's obsession can read as romantic rather than destructive.

MINDHUNTER2017

FBI agents develop criminal profiling in the 1970s while interviewing imprisoned killers. Similar intellectual satisfaction to Voice's voice analysis, same slow-burn investigation of psychology, same willingness to sit with moral unease.

But Procedurally heavy and deliberately unglamorous. The second season loses momentum. Some viewers find the meticulous pacing dull rather than gripping.

Gone Girl2014

A marriage and a murder mystery that peels back layers of deception. Like Voice, it trusts the audience to follow twists without hand-holding and understands that the people hunting the killer matter as much as the killer itself.

But The cynicism can feel manipulative. Ben Affleck gives a deliberately unlikeable performance that some find grating. The ending divides people sharply.

The Wailing2016

A Korean crime thriller spiraling into supernatural dread as a detective investigates a mysterious stranger tied to murders in a small town. Same Korean sensibility as Voice, same willingness to embrace ambiguity and unease over tidy solutions.

But Deliberately obscure and open to interpretation. Nearly three hours. If you want answers rather than questions, this will frustrate you. Subtitles required.

Bodyguard2018

A British political thriller about a war veteran assigned to protect a controversial politician. Sharp dialogue, high-wire tension, characters with moral shading. Less procedural than Voice but same investment in watching intelligent people under pressure.

But The plot depends on some convenient coincidences. Some viewers find the politics reductive. The twist ending is divisive.

Zodiac2007

Both are about the hunt more than the killer. Both understand that obsession is its own kind of violence, and both refuse to make it heroic—just inevitable.

David Fincher's obsessive true-crime epic about a detective, a cartoonist, and a journalist chasing the Zodiac killer across decades. Pure procedural immersion: Voice's voice analysis stretched into a paranoid masterpiece about how obsession rewires your brain and devours your life.

But Three hours with no catharsis. The killer is never caught. If you want resolution, this is deliberately, philosophically against you. Some find it glacial.

Nightcrawler2014

Both examine professionals who profit from crime scenes and dead bodies. Both ask: at what point does hunting justice become hunting thrills? Both refuse to let the audience feel clean.

A dark American character study about an unemployed man who becomes a freelance crime photographer, chasing accidents and murders for footage. Like Voice, it's about someone willing to exploit tragedy for personal gain, and it's unflinching about watching them rationalize it. Surgical precision, ethical rot.

But Jake Gyllenhaal's performance is deliberately unsettling in ways some find unwatchable. The film offers no redemption, no comeuppance, no catharsis—just a person getting more comfortable with corruption. Los Angeles at night might feel repetitive.