'Parasite' and Other Awesome Korean Movies You Need To Watch ASAP
This year, Parasite made history as the first non-English language film to take the top prize of "Best Picture" at the Academy Awards. The film's win proves that world-class talent doesn't just come from the West, and that international films deserve recognition at the Oscars beyond the "foreign" category. It also shows the rest of the world that there's so much more to Korean entertainment than the more familiar K-Pop music and K-Dramas.
The Korean filmmaking industry has produced some of the best horror movies, tear-jerking dramas, spine-chilling mysteries, feel-good films, and genre-defying works of art. And all of them are worthy of the little extra effort it takes to read some subtitles. Here are some of the best Korean movies you need to watch, if you haven't already.
1 Parasite
The Kims are a poor family with big aspirations in life, trying to do everything they can to literally move up in society and out of their dingy basement apartment. So when Ki Woo (Choi Woo Shik) is given the chance to sub for his friend as a tutor to a wealthy family, he gladly takes it — though he fakes a few documents here and there to get the job. This then opens opportunities for the rest of the family. But things turn for the worse, and this movie takes you on a ride you won't soon forget.
2 Train to Busan
Divorced dad Seok-Woo (Gong Yoo) boards the train from Seoul to Busan with his young daughter Soo-Ahn (Kim S00-Ahn) so she can go to her mother's. But little do they and the rest of the train's passengers know that outside, the zombie apocalypse has already begun. The two, and the rest of the colorful characters on the train with stories of their own, try to work together and fight their way for survival.
3 Miracle in Cell No. 7
This movie tells the story of Yong-Goo (Ryu Seung-Ryong) a mentally-challenged father who's been wrongly accused and imprisoned for murder. But he doesn't understand why he's been framed, and he wants to get out of jail so he can go back to caring for his daughter Ye-Seung (Kal So-Won). That's when his cellmates sneak her into the prison so he can see her. Together they form a familial bond, and do their best to prove Yong-Goo's innocence.
4 My Sassy Girl
Kyun-Woo (Cha Tae-Hyun) saves a drunk young woman (Jun Ji-Hyun) from falling down to the train tracks at a metro station. He feels bad about potentially leaving her in her drunken state, so he brings her to a hotel where she can spend the night. Through weird twist of fate, police end up raiding the hotel room and sending him to jail. To his surprise, the unnamed girl calls him the next day, and she begins to open up to him about her breakup over soju. Thus begins their unusual relationship, which later unveils secrets about their personal lives.
5 Oldboy
Oh Dae-Su (Choi Min-Sik) was abducted by mysterious captors in 1988, and since then he's been stuck in a windowless hotel room. But after 15 years of being imprisoned, he's surprisingly set free. He's then challenged to find the mastermind who plotted his kidnapping within the span of five days.
6 The Handmaiden
Sook-Hee (Kim Tae-Ri) has been hired to be the new handmaiden to Japanese heiress Lady Hideko (Kim Min-Hee). What Hideko doesn't know is that Sook-Hee is part of a con man's plot to try and defraud her and gain her fortune. But once the two ladies develop unexpected feelings for one another, things blow off-course.
7 Always
HB Entertainment
Cheol-Min (So Ji-sub) is a former boxer who takes on a new job as a parking lot attendant. He then meets blind telemarketer Jung-Hwa (Han Hyo-Joo), who walks into his booth thinking that he's the attendant who worked there before he took the job. From that point on they become a part of each other's lives, learn life lessons from one another, and fall in love.
8 A Moment to Remember
CJ Entertainment
Twenty-seven-year-old fashion designer Kim Su-Jin (Son Ye-Jin) is betrayed when she finds out her lover is married. She decides to quit fashion and pursue her role as heiress to her dad's construction company, where she meets a familiar handsome face. Choi Chul-Soo (Jung Woo-Sung) is a construction site foreman, whom Su-Jin then begins to court. Despite their social class differences, they wind up getting married. But fate gets in the way of their happy ending.
9 Finding Mr. Destiny
Han Gi-Joon (Gong Yoo) starts an agency that helps people find their long-lost first loves. Seo Ji-Woo (Lim Soo-Jung) becomes his first customer after her father learns that she's still hung up on a man she met on a trip to India in her early 20s. In order to find her lost love Kim Jung-Wook, they travel the country and find multiple men of the same name. They lose hope, but during the process of hunting down this man, the two develop feelings for one another. But a call from a second customer changes everything.
10 Waikiki Brothers
A washed-up cover band called Waikiki Brothers plays one depressing gig after another, until their saxophonist decides to quit. This then leaves lead singer and guitarist Sung-Woo (Lee Eol), keyboardist Jung-Seok (Park Won-Sang), and drummer Kang-Soo (Hwang Jung-Min) to continue down the road as a trio. They wind up in Sung-Woo's hometown, a once-popular resort town in the '80s. During their time there, Sung-Woo revisits old friends and a lost love.
11 Windstruck
CJ Entertainment
Police officer Kyung-Jin (Jun Ji-Hyun) meets teacher Myung-Woo (Jang Hyuk) when she wrongfully arrests him, thinking he's a purse snatcher. But soon she realizes her mistake, and sees him for the nice guy that he is. They wind up working on a mission together, and soon fall in love. But one tragic run-in with a criminal leads to Myung-Woo's death, which makes Kyung-Jin fall into a depression. Still, Myung-Woo makes his presence known by coming back in spirit-form as the wind, guiding her and sending her messages before he moves on.
12 More Than Blue
Kay (Kwon Sang-Woo) has always been in love with his best friend Cream (Lee Bo-Young), but because he knows he has terminal cancer, he keeps his feelings a secret. Instead, he makes it his mission to help her find her perfect partner before he dies.
13 Welcome to Dongmagkol
In this movie set during the Korean War, a U.S. fighter jet pilot, three North Korean soldiers, and two South Korean soldiers wind up in the same small village where none of the residents understand war. The groups have standoffs and fights, but soon learn how to work with one another as time passes. Soon, they let go of their hatred, and unite to protect the village against an impending air strike.
14 The Truth Beneath
Yeon-Hong (Son Ye-Jin) is a committed wife to her politician husband Jong-Chan (Kim Ju-Hyuk). So when their daughter Min-Jin (Shin Ji-Hoon) goes missing, she obeys when he asks her not to report anything to the authorities to prevent negative publicity. She then decides to take matters into her own hands, and investigates her daughter's disappearance. Soon, she finds a web of conspiracies and lies that lead to an ugly truth she didn't expect.
15 Save the Green Planet
In this comedy, Lee Byeong-Gu (Shin Ha-Kyun) believes that the world is about to be invaded by aliens. So he makes it his quest to go out and save the world by abducting said "aliens." He first kidnaps a pharmaceutical executive, thinking he's an alien from the planet Andromeda. He proceeds to kidnap more politicians and businesspeople with the help of his girlfriend, who sometimes questions his sanity. But a detective gets involved, and gets in the way of his plans. We find out later that Byeong-Gu might not be crazy after all.
Jasmine Ting Jasmine is a journalist struggling to adult by day... This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io