Korean cinema isn’t just trending for a minute; it’s revolutionizing the world’s experience of watching films. From twisted thrillers that turn your stomach to tear-healing dramas, South Korean filmmakers have mastered the art of genre-bending, tone-splicing, and social commentary. Let’s dive into 10 must-see movies that rewrote the world film bible, starting with recent releases and moving backwards to the oldies.
10. Little Forest – Comfort on Screen
Little Forest is more of a work of emotion and less of a work of plot. It’s not really drama, no romance, and no food film; it’s something softer and finer. Pithily described as the cinematic equivalent of a warm dinner or a soft blanket, Little Forest gets to you at a glacial pace and makes you relish small joys. Yim Soon-rye’s direction lends the movie a serene mood that is virtually like a live-action Ghibli. It is reminiscent of “emotional umami,” soft, terroir, and powerfully subtle.
9. Extreme Job – Proof That Comedy Travels
They claim that comedy will not be going global, but Extreme Job is the exception that proves the rule. A squad of detectives opens a fried chicken restaurant as a front for a sting operation and ends up the talk of the town’s hottest restaurant. The mix of slapstick comedies, breakneck action, and universal absurdity made this the second-highest-grossing Korean movie in history. This just goes to show that laughter is truly an international language.
8. The Admiral: Roaring Currents – Korea’s Grand Spectacle
Hollywood is not the sole domain of gigantic budget blockbusters. The Admiral: Roaring Currents franchise broke domestic box office records with its retelling of Admiral Yi Sun-sin’s famous naval battle. The sea battle, an hour in length, is awe-inspiring and tense, demonstrating technical ability and emotional investment. It’s not entertainment alone – it’s a demonstration of how Korean cinema can achieve epic scope on a budget of deep cultural pride.
7. Burning – Enigma and Suspense
Burning does not scream—it simmers. Adapted loosely from a Haruki Murakami short story, this is a movie about a young man caught in a bizarre love triangle with his old friend and a wealthy stranger. It’s unsettling, inscrutable, and rather disturbing. This precise, magical sense of psychological unease was enough to render the movie an international hit and the first-ever Korean film to make it onto the Oscars’ shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film.
6. Memories of Murder – A Thriller That Cuts Deep
In the years leading up to Parasite, Bong Joon Ho stunned audiences with Memories of Murder, based on Korea’s first serial murder case. It’s a half-police-procedure, half-dark-comedy, half-social-critique thriller that is entirely memorable. Quentin Tarantino once called it one of his favorite films, and deservedly so. Bong’s combination of suspense, satire, and humanity rewrote what audiences have come to expect from crime thrillers.
5. The Handmaiden – A Seductive Puzzle Box
The Handmaiden of Park Chan-wook is stunning and bold. The backdrop of 1930s colonial Korea is used to remake Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith as a luxurious, queer thriller of plot twists and cinematic beauty. Each shot is a work of art, each twist a knife. With its blend of sensuality, tension, and artistry, the film cemented Park as one of the most creative storytellers in cinema.
4. Oldboy – Revenge at Its Rawest
Oldboy was the movie that brought the world to Korean thrillers. A guy kidnapped and held for 15 years in captivity is unexpectedly let out, and he sets out to find answers that trigger a cycle of revenge and discovery. Aside from its legendary hammer hallway fight, the emotional impact and mind-bending twist in the movie made it a work of art in contemporary films.
3. Train to Busan – Humanity on a Train
A zombie movie was so tired until Train to Busan. By putting the action on a racing train and casting the pandemonium in family dynamics and sacrifice, director Yeon Sang-ho reinvented horror as heartbreak. The mix of non-stop action and shocking sensitivity proved it to be a worldwide phenomenon and revealed to the world that Korean horror has teeth and soul.
2. Parasite – A Film That Breaks Glass
Parasite won, but it did a great deal more than that. Bong Joon Ho’s genre-defying masterwork was the first non-English language film to ever receive the Best Picture Oscar, breaking Hollywood’s glass ceiling into a thousand shards. It’s biting satire on class, packaged in black humor and tension, that floats effortlessly across cultures. Parasite is enjoyable; it’s a cultural reference point.
1. Bong Joon Ho – The Visionary Behind It All
While not a single film, Bong Joon Ho himself deserves a mention at the top. From Memories of Murder to The Host, Snowpiercer, Okja, and Parasite, his body of work is a masterclass in blending genres for a reason. Bong refuses to be narrowed down; his movies are comedies, are gory, are profound, and are completely bonkers all at once. His international success opened the doors of Korean cinema and reminded viewers everywhere that films can be populist and art.
Korean cinema is not riding a wave; it’s making one. Whether you’re in the mood for comfort, anarchy, or catharsis, there is a Korean film waiting to surprise, move, and redefine the way you watch films.