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Nine Puzzles

2025 South Korean television series

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Nine Puzzles (Korean: 나인 퍼즐) is a South Korean mystery crime thriller television series written by Lee Eun-mi, directed by Yoon Jong-bin and Kim Jung-ho, and starring Kim Da-mi and Son Suk-ku. The series follows a ten-year-old cold case that involves a new string of baffling murders, all related to mysterious puzzles. It was released on Disney+ on May 21, 2025.

01Synopsis

As a high school student, Yoon E-na discovered her murdered uncle's body, with a peculiar puzzle piece found at the scene. As the only eyewitness, she found herself unable to recall how she ended up there, making her the primary suspect in the eyes of Detective Kim Han-saem. A decade later, E-na has become an exceptional criminal profiler, working for the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's criminal analysis team. However, she is still tormented by the unresolved murder of her uncle. A new wave of serial killings surfaces, each one accompanied by identical enigmatic puzzle pieces, echoing the incident that transformed her life. This prompts E-na to collaborate with Han-saem once more, who, despite their tense partnership, still carries doubts regarding her role in her uncle's murder case.

02Cast and characters

Main

A criminal profiler, working for the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's criminal analysis team.

Supporting

A psychiatrist doctor therapist at Sunshine Mental Health Clinic
Director at Sunshine Mental Health Medicine
Captain of Violent Crimes Unit 2 at Hangang Police Station.

Special appearances

Yoon E-na's uncle and a former superintendent officer. He was killed in the beginning and his niece has been trying to uncover his death ever since.

03Production

Development

The series is directed by Yoon Jong-bin, who helmed and produced Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time (2012), Kundo: Age of the Rampant (2014), The Spy Gone North (2018), and Narco-Saints (2022), written by Lee Eun-mi, who wrote Tunnel (2017) and Navillera (2021), and produced by Kakao Entertainment and Moonlight Film. The total budget of the series cost 30 billion.

Casting

According to Kakao Entertainment in May 2024, Kim Da-mi and Son Suk-ku were cast to lead the series and positively considering to appear.

04Release

Nine Puzzles which consists of 11 episodes, premiered its first six episodes on May 21, 2025, followed by three episodes on May 28, and the last two episodes on June 4.

05Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 5 critics gave the series a positive review.

Viewership

In December 2025, Disney announced that Nine Puzzles was among the most-watched international original series released on Disney+ in 2025.

Accolades

Award ceremony Year Category Nominee Result Ref.
Clio Entertainment Awards 2025 Motion Poster Nine Puzzles Motion Poster: Memories of the Day Won
Silver Award
Global OTT Awards 2025 Best OTT Original Nine Puzzles Won
Seoul International Drama Awards 2025 Best Actress Kim Da-mi Nominated
Watch videos about Nine PuzzlesExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Nine Puzzles, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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