25 best Korean movies
Parasite (2019)
This 2020 Academy Awards winner in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film needs no introduction, but suffice to say that Bong Joon-Ho’s story of a covert war between a rich family and a poor family in their employment gets better the second and third times you watch it. You’ll notice Easter eggs Bong left for viewers and appreciate the masterful Hitchcock-like writing, cinematography and acting even more. If it’s your maiden voyage into this wild universe, keep your eyes wide open as you watch the wretchedly poor yet conniving Kims pierce the cold, pristine universe of the rich and innocuously cruel Parks.
Minari (2020)
Lee Isaac Chung’s deceptively simple film about an Arkansas Korean-American Yi family has struck a resonant chord among many Americans with its virtual cinema release in February of this year. Chung’s family drama depicts resilient immigrants who, like the film’s namesake plant, manage to grow in poor conditions. Father Jacob (StevenYeun) desperately wants to get his family away from their factory jobs, but his wife Monica (HanYe-ri) has her doubts about his scheme to start a farm in Arkansas. Their young son David (the adorable scene-stealer Alan Kim) and his older sister Anne (Noel Kate Cho) hear their parents hurling bitter insults at one another. When tough, humorous grandmother Soon-ja (the incomparable Korean actor Youn Yuh-jung) arrives from South Korea to babysit the kids and teach them culture and resilience, life begins to change for the Yi family.
Train to Busan (2016)
This jumpy horror film, a nail-biting thrill ride from start to finish, plays on the moving claustrophobia of a train full of zombies. Seok-woo (Gong Yoo), is a divorced father whose daughter Su-an (Kim Su-an) wants to spend her birthday with her mother in Busan. Boarding a train together, they soon find themselves trapped with zombies on board. A chemical leak at a biotech plant associated with Seok-woo’s workplace is the cause of the zombie spread. When the train conductor hears that Busan has been established as a safe zone, it’s a race to the city as the passengers struggle to survive the ride. But there are emotional notes too, as Seok-woo puts his life on the line to save his daughter.
House of Hummingbird (2018)
Fans of Lady Bird, Ghost World and Eighth Grade will appreciate this stunning coming-of-age story by director Bora Kim. It’s 1994, and Eun-hee (Park Ji-hoo) is a 14-year-old who can’t seem to get anything right. Her parents are exhausted from work but still have enough time to lecture her and fight with one another. Her older brother beats her up and her boyfriend loses interest in her. When she starts attending an academy to learn Chinese characters, her tutor Yeong-ji (Kim Sae-buk), becomes her new confidante and helps her express herself. This beautiful bildungsroman makes director Bora Kim one to watch in coming years.
Shiri (1999)
This big-budget action flick kicked off a blockbuster era in South Korean film. Mu-young (Choi Min-sik) and his team of elite North Korean secret agents are part of a sleeper cell in South Korea that suddenly awakens to commit a series of devastating attacks. Jong-won (Han Suk-kyu) is the South Korean secret agent on their tails, but he soon discovers that his girlfriend Myung-hyun (Yunjin Kim), is hiding just as much from him as he is from her. Jong-won and his partner Jang-gil (Song Kang-ho) are racing the clock to stop the terrorist cell before their destruction kills too many.
#Alive (2020)
Fans of Warm Bodies and Dawn of the Dead will enjoy this clever film directed by Cho Il-hyung portraying the quick-witted struggle of an avid video gamer named Joon-woo (Yoo Ah-in) to survive the zombie apocalypse using technology, social media and human cooperation. Joon-woo wakes up one morning in his family’s apartment to find that they are gone, and the outside world is plagued with zombies. Starving and thirsty and having posted a rescue request on social media, he discovers a woman named Yoo-bin (Park Shin-hye) living in the apartment building across from his, who attempts to send him food via drone. Communicating via walkie-talkie, the two become close, seeking to rescue one another from the hordes by using their wits.
Mother (2009)
Those who enjoyed We Need to Talk About Kevin will find this tale of a mother’s conflicted love absolutely gripping. This film follows an unnamed mother (Kim Hye-ja) who seeks to free her son Do-joon (Won Bin) from a criminal charge that she believes he was falsely accused of–the murder of Ah-jung (Moon Hee-ra). Desperate to vindicate her son, the mother finds herself committing actions she never thought she would. In prison, Do-joon begins to recall traumatic childhood memories that make him question his relationship with his mother.
The Host (2013)
Bong Joon-Ho’s monster masterpiece is a thrill-seeking ride through conspiracy theories, military corruption, class inequality, family unity and even warfare via archery. Bong is a director obsessed with families, both biological and chosen; in this film, Gang-du (played by Song Kang-ho, the main character from Bong’s film Parasite) and his family, the Parks, battle a huge sea monster that rises out of Seoul’s Han River. In order to defeat the monster, they must marshal all their wits and brute strength against not only the monster but the government as well.
The Handmaiden (2016)
This embroiled romance thriller set in Japanese-occupied Korea is inspired by a Victorian-themed novel called Fingersmith. Heiress Lady Hideko (Kim Min-hee) is set to marry Count Fujiwara (Ha Jung-woo), but falls in love with her handmaiden, Sook-hee (Kim Tae-ri). There’s backstage plotting in this love triangle, as all three turn out to be disingenuous swindlers trying to defraud one another. Most fearsome, however, is Lady Hideko’s uncle, Kouzuki (Cho Jin-woong), a rare book dealer with a secret dungeon that has more than just books.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (2003)
This achingly beautiful and sorrowful film portrays a tiny floating monastery island in the middle of a lake, where time passes differently than in the bustling world outside it. Through the seasons of a year, director Kim Ki-duk displays the inevitability of time, the violence of human desire, and the joy of life’s beauty. The island plays a peaceful home to a Buddhist monk (Oh Yeong-su) and his apprentice (Jae-kyeong Seo), but when a young female visitor arrives, the apprentice finds that Buddhist lack of attachment is easier to practice in isolation.
A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
If you enjoyed TheOthers starring Nicole Kidman, you’ll enjoy this The Turn of the Screw-like psychological horror thriller about two sisters named Su-mi (Im Soo-jung) and Su-yeon (Moon Geun-young). Su-mi lives in a cold and punitive familial universe, having survived mental treatment after a psychotic break and made a homecoming to her father (Kim Kap-soo), sister and stepmother, Eun-joo (Yum Jung-ah). Without spoiling it for you, Su-mi’s ongoing war with her stepmother builds to a shocking revelation of familial loss and scenes of vengeance from which there can be no return.
Oldboy (2003)
This twisted tale of vengeance directed by Park Chan-wook is not for the faint of heart. Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is a man imprisoned for 15 years, but he knows not why. He can’t see who’s holding him prisoner, but when he finally gains his freedom, he vows revenge and seeks his daughter who was adopted. By coincidence, Dae-su meets a pretty young chef named Mi-do (Kang Hye-jung) and begins to fall in love with her. When he discovers his imprisoner is the wealthy Woo-jin, he demands to know why he was his captive for 15 years. What he finds out could ruin his sense of selfhood–and Woo-jin’s–forever.
Lady Vengeance (2005)
The third installment in Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance Trilogy, this story of anger and revenge tells the tale of Geum-ja (Lee Young-ae), a woman imprisoned for a murder she did not commit. Though she was accused and convicted of killing a young boy, the film rewinds in time to show us that when she was a high school student, she relied on a teacher named Mr. Baek (Choi Min-sik) to help her when she got pregnant. Instead, Mr. Baek takes advantage of her. When Geum-ja finds out the full extent of Mr. Baek’s crimes, she knows she can’t rest until she has punished him for what he has done.
Burning (2018)
Lee Chang-dong’s uneasy treatise on a love triangle fed by jealousy and distrust will captivate viewers who don’t like their stories neatly wrapped-up. Based on a story by Haruki Murakami, a novelist famous for his mysterious tales, this film explores the relationship between Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in), Jong-seo (Shin Hae-mi) and Ben (Steven Yeun). Jong-su is a chronically underemployed young man who stumbles upon former classmate Jong-seo as she’s working as a promotions girl at a streetside stall. Jong-seo asks Jong-su to watch her cat while she’s away traveling, and the two quickly get physical. When Jong-seo returns, she has a new handsome friend named Ben in tow–one with an odd predilection for burning down greenhouses. When Jong-seo disappears, Jong-su is determined to make Ben pay.
The Wailing (2016)
This terrifying, atmospherically haunting horror film will linger in your consciousness for days. When a mysterious zombie-like possession strikes a small town, police officer Jong-goo (Kwak Do-won) starts searching for the cause. When his own daughter, Hyo-Jin (Kim Hwan-hee) is struck with the illness, he starts to grow more fearful. The villagers begin to fear that a local Japanese man is the cause of the illness, but a local woman named Moo-myeong is also suspected. Director Na Hong-jin develops a theme of the intense xenophobia that can consume you when faced with communication barriers, as well as teasing out Jong-goo’s confusion when he isn’t sure who to believe.
Snowpiercer (2013)
Bong Joon-ho strikes again with this futuristic sci-fi chiller, a story of a world devastated by global warming. A ragtag crew of revolutionaries struggle to gain their freedom aboard a train circling frozen earth. The front of the train holds the elites, while the back end houses the poorest passengers, who subsist on suspicious protein-bar-like blocks. As the rebellion, led by Curtis (Chris Evans), Edgar (Jamie Bell) and Namgoong (Song Kang-ho), hurtles through the cars toward the front of the train, its leader must resist being co-opted by the train’s evil mastermind, Wilford (Ed Harris).
The Spy Gone North (2018)
This espionage saga inspired by the real-life story of South Korean agent Chae-seo is a slow burn. The film takes us undercover to North Korea, where Seok-young (Hwang Jung-min) is a former South Korean military official who now poses as a cash-thirsty businessman looking for opportunities to augment his wealth. His goal is to gain entrance to a North Korean nuclear facility by gaining high-ranking officials’ trust, including the Supreme Leader himself. As he woos the leaders, he ends up influencing the vital South Korean election of real-life 1998 South Korean president Kim Dae-jung.
Taegukgi (2004)
Audiences who connected with Saving Private Ryan and 1917 will appreciate this war film detailing the lives of two brothers drafted into the South Korean Army during the Korean War. Set in 1950 at the onset of the war, two Korean brothers, Jin-tae (JangDong-gun) and his younger brother Jin-seok (WonBin), are drafted into the infantry division to fight North Korea. When Jin-tae is told that if he distinguishes himself in missions, he can win the right for his brother to go home, he sacrifices his own safety to save his brother. But Jin-seok defects to North Korea, and when the brothers face each other on opposite sides of the battlefield, tragedy ensues.
Joint Security Area (2000)
When two North Korean soldiers are killed at the DMZ, Swiss military official Sophie (LeeYoung-ae) is assigned to investigate. Each side tells different stories of what happened, with South Korea stating that its soldier was abducted, while North Korea says it was a random shooting. When an illicit friendship between North Korean and South Korean soldiers at the border is found to be the real reason behind the conflict, Sophie must get to the bottom of the case.
Sopyonje (1993)
Pansori is the classical Korean art of folk singing, and this fictional film aptly describes the life of traditional pansori singers in the modern world. Dong-ho (KimKyu-chul) is the adopted son of Yu-bong (KimMyung-gon), a pansori singer. Yu-bong’s daughter Song-hwa (OhJung-hae) is a natural, but the singers still struggle to survive in a time when pansori lost much of its popularity to pop music. Yu-bong’s temper and snobbery is no help, as he seems to get into fights everywhere he goes. When Dong-ho leaves the trio in a rage one day, unsure if he’ll ever be reunited with his sister, each sibling must find his or her own way as a singer of ancient tradition in a modern world.
Spa Night (2016)
The LGBT-friendly Korean film is a rare thing, and this film by Andrew Ahn adds a much-needed page in the story of the Korean-American experience. David (JoeSeo) is an 18-year-old trying to find himself within his berating family and his freewheeling peer group. He feels torn between various experiences, comparing and contrasting his party-filled visit to USC with his desire to support and obey his parents when their restaurant goes under. The gorgeous, blue-toned cinematography adds hues to David’s search for himself in this coming-of-age story.
The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014)
This rousing historical war film will engage naval fans with its depiction of a famous 1597 conflict called the Battle of Myeongnyang. Admiral Yi Sun-sin (ChoiMin-sik) is an embattled man who barely escaped impeachment with his own head due to Japanese influence on Joseon Dynasty court politics. Returning to the military, he finds himself with only a dozen ships to fight off the Japanese navy off the coast of southwestern Korea. Employing his wits, he uses the fast-moving currents in a narrow strait and his few cannons to defeat the much larger Japanese navy.
My Sassy Girl (2001)
Lest you think that all Korean films are full of espionage, military battles and murder, this rom-com is made for lovers of Before Sunrise and When Harry Met Sally. Gyeon-woo (ChaTae-hyun) is a guy who can’t catch a break in love when he saves a drunk girl (JunJi-hyun) from falling on the subway tracks. Though this “sassy girl” rudely teases and tortures him, he falls in love with her because she’s wickedly funny, smart and of course, not bad to look at. The Girl, who wants to be a screenwriter, tells him of her screenplays, which are as whip-smart and unconventional as she is. But the girl thinks the pair should split up, so they bury a time capsule under a tree in the country and vow to meet there again two years later. Though they brush paths numerous times, the girl doesn’t show up at their reunion, and Gyeon-woo wonders if the stars will ever bring them together again.
Save the Green Planet! (2003)
Preposterous storylines are no roadblock for Korean films–in fact, the more preposterous the plot, the more fodder for the actors to unfurl their wings and fly with it. Fans of Dogma and Tank Girl will love this punky sci-fi comedy starring ShinHa-kyun as Byeong-gu, a delusional man who thinks aliens are about to invade Earth. Determined to save his green planet, Byeong-gu kidnaps an executive he believes to be an alien and demands to know his plans. Soon, the executive discovers all of Byeong-gu’s mad scribblings, discovering how his captor was surrounded by violence from an early age. But in a world gone mad with violence and corruption, Byeong-gu might actually be the only sane person on the planet.
Moving On (2020)
Yoon Dan-Bi’s film Moving On details the life of Incheon siblings Okju (ChoiJung-woon) and Dong-ju (ParkSeung-joo), whose parents have divorced. After they move into a cramped apartment with their quiet, physically-ailing grandfather, their spirited aunt moves in too. It’s a full house to say the least, but this motley crew finds moments of affection and bonding from being thrown together in the same small space. Okju finds that riding her bike, at least, offers her some space of freedom, and since it’s summer, the kids try to spend time outside to amuse themselves. Though the plot is simple, following Okju’s growth as she matures and learns from her family is entertainment enough, and the film ends with a twist. Next, get to know Chloé Zhao, director of Nomadland.
