Upon sweeping the Oscars with his film Parasite, writer-director Bong Joon-ho asked the audience to watch more of Korean cinema. At the Golden Globes, Bong also said one of the greatest lines at the show this year: “Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” And you can start with Korean films.
I came to the Korean cinema in the 2010s after watching Old Boy for the first time. The first film in his Vengeance Trilogy, writer-director Park Chan-wook was my gateway. I worked my through Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Lady Vengeance next. After that, I ran through the rest of his filmography, finding gems like I’m a Cyborg, But That’s Ok, a fantasy set in a mental hospital with equal amounts of romance and perceived science fiction.
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Now, I’m excited to see the conversation ignited across social media, with people excited to see more of Bong’s films and other Korean films as well. To do my part, I made a Twitter thread with some of my favorite films from South Korea. So, I wanted to expand on this and pick 10 Korean films currently available on streaming platforms for more people to get into Korean cinema.
These films aren’t ranked because they’re all amazing, and there are many more films not available on streaming platforms. Also, to avoid spoilers, I’ve included the official IMDb synopsis and a line referencing why you should watch it. From action to horror, romance, and revenge, here are 13 Korean films you can stream right now.
The Villainess
Director: Byung-gil Jung
Writers: Byeong-sik Jung, Byung-gil Jung
Stars: Ok-bin Kim, Ha-kyun Shin, Jun Sung
Platform: Hulu
Watch if you loved John Wick 3 and its motorcycle fight scene – that’s from this film.
“A female assassin leaves a trail of bodies behind her as she seeks revenge.”
Our Love Story
Director: Hyun-ju Lee
Writers: Hyun-ju Lee
Stars: Lee Sang-hee, Sun-young Ryu, Park Keun-rok
Platform: Roku
Watch if you love queer stories about falling in love in spite of everything.
“Yoon-ju, a fine art student, encounters Ji-soo at a junk place and feels something special at first sight. After meeting Ji-soo again in a convenience store, Yoon-ju becomes closer to her and eventually they start to fall in love.”
Burning
Director: Chang-dong Lee
Writers: Jungmi Oh (screenplay by), Chang-dong Lee (screenplay by,) Haruki Murakami (based on the short story “Barn Burning” by)
Stars: Ah-in Yoo, Steven Yeun, Jong-seo Jun
Platform: Netflix
Watch if you love slow-burn psychological thrillers.
“Jong-su bumps into a girl who used to live in the same neighborhood, who asks him to look after her cat while she’s on a trip to Africa. When back, she introduces Ben, a mysterious guy she met there, who confesses his secret hobby.”
Night In Paradise
Director: Park Hoon-jung
Writers: Park Hoon-jung
Stars: Eom Tae-goo, Jeon Yeo-bin, Cha Seung-Won
Platform: Netflix
Watch if you love gangster stories that slowly burn into sad but fulfilling ends.
“Hiding out on Jeju Island after a brutal tragedy, a mobster with a target on his back connects with a woman who’s given up on life.”
The Good, The Bad, The Weird
Director: Jee-woon Kim
Writers: Jee-woon Kim (screenplay) (as Kim Jee-woon), Min-suk Kim (screenplay)
Stars: Kang-ho Song, Byung-Hun Lee, Woo-sung Jung
Platform: Hulu
Watch if you love Westerns and martial arts and absurdity.
“The story of two outlaws and a bounty hunter in 1940s Manchuria and their rivalry to possess a treasure map while being pursued by the Japanese army and Chinese bandits.”
A Taxi Driver
Director: Jang Hun
Writers: Eom Yu-na
Stars: Song Kang-ho, Yoo Hae-Jin, Ryu Jun-Yeol, Thomas Kretschmann
Platform: Hulu/Prime Video
Watch if you enjoy journeys into history and an ordinary man doing extraordinary things.
“In 1980, a foreign journalist hires a down-on-his-luck taxi driver to take him to Gwangju, South Korea. They soon arrive to find a city under siege by student protesters and the military.”
I Saw The Devil
Director: Jee-woon Kim
Writers: Jee-woon Kim, Park Hoon-jung
Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik, Jeon Gook-hwan
Platform: Netflix
Watch if you like obsessed detectives and vengeance —oh, and violent ends.
“On a dark road, taxi driver Kyung-chul (Choi Min-sik) comes across a scared female motorist stranded in a broken-down vehicle. He pulls over — but not to help her. When the woman’s head is discovered in a local river, her devastated fiancé, Kim Soo-hyeon (Lee Byung-hun), a trained secret agent, becomes obsessed with hunting down her killer. Once he finds Kyung-chul, things get twisted. After brutally beating the murderer, Kim lets him go free, and a demented game of cat and mouse begins.”
A Tale of Two Sisters
Director: Jee-woon Kim
Writers: Jee-woon Kim
Stars: Kap-su Kim, Jung-ah Yum, Soo-jung Lim
Platform: Shudder
Watch if you like stories about grief and ones that never go as they seem.
“A family is haunted by the tragedies of deaths within the family.”
Decision to Leave
Director: Park Chan-wook
Writer: Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong
Stars: Park Hae-il, Tang Wei, Lee Jung-hyun, Go Kyung-Pyo, Shin-Young Kim
Platform: MUBI
Watch if you love yearning, bleak endings, and good detective stories.
“A detective investigating a man’s death in the mountains ends up meeting and developing feelings for the dead man’s mysterious wife in the course of his dogged sleuthing.”
Tune in For Love
Director: Ji-woo Jung
Writers: Ji-woo Jung
Stars: Go-eun Kim, Hae-In Jung, Hae-Joon Park
Platform: Netflix
Watch if you love long romances that never seem to work out right until the moment it has to.
“In 1997 during the IMF crisis, two people meet while exchanging stories on a radio program. They fall in love, but can’t quite seem to get the timing right.”
Lady Vengeance
Director: Chan-wook Park
Writers:Seo-kyeong Jeong (as Seo-gyeong Jeong), Chan-wook Park
Stars: Yeong-ae Lee, Min-sik Choi, Shi-hoo Kim
Platform: MUBI
Watch if you’re drawn to stories of revenge and how women experience it differently and how they enact it.
“After being wrongfully imprisoned for thirteen years and having her child taken away from her, a woman seeks revenge through increasingly brutal means.”
The Wailing
Director: Hong-jin Na
Writers: Hong-jin Na
Stars: Jun Kunimura, Jung-min Hwang, Do-won Kwak
Platform: Prime Video
Watch if you like exorcism stories but are burnt out on the same formula.
“Soon after a stranger arrives in a little village, a mysterious sickness starts spreading. A policeman, drawn into the incident, is forced to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter.”
Memoir of a Murderer
Director: Shin-yeon Won
Writers: Jo-yun Hwang, Young-ha Kim (novel)
Stars: Kyung-gu Sol, Nam-gil Kim, Seol-Hyun Kim
Platform: Netflix
Watch if you like slow-burning twisting and turning thrillers.
“A former serial killer with Alzheimer’s fights to protect his daughter from her psychotic boyfriend.”
These 13 Korean films are just the tip of the iceberg and showcase a variety of storytelling. Start streaming and start watching more of them.
All information on these 13 Korean films, including names and synopsis, was taken directly from IMDb.
