Ranking: Best Korean Movies
by felipecaro_16 | created - 15 Feb 2015 | updated - 07 Aug 2021 | PublicList of my favorites korean movies I've seen in order.
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1. Memories of Murder (2003)
Not Rated | 132 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Kim Sang-kyung, Kim Roe-ha, Song Jae-ho
Votes: 216,526 | Gross: $0.01M
2. Parasite (2019)
R | 132 min | Drama, Thriller
Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly-formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-sik
Votes: 959,977 | Gross: $53.37M
3. Oldboy (2003)
R | 120 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
After being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must track down his captor in five days.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong, Kim Byeong-Ok
Votes: 636,074 | Gross: $0.71M
4. The Handmaiden (2016)
Not Rated | 145 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
A woman is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, but secretly she is involved in a plot to defraud her.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Kim Min-hee, Ha Jung-woo, Cho Jin-woong, Moon So-ri
Votes: 172,823 | Gross: $2.01M
5. Peppermint Candy (1999)
Not Rated | 129 min | Drama
Following a man's suicide, time traverses back to reveal six chapters of his life on why he committed suicide.
Director: Lee Chang-dong | Stars: Sol Kyung-gu, Kim Yeo-jin, Moon So-ri, Se-beom Park
Votes: 10,839
6. Oasis (2002)
133 min | Drama, Romance
An irresponsible and childish ex-con befriends a girl with cerebral palsy and develops a progressively stronger bond with her.
Director: Lee Chang-dong | Stars: Sol Kyung-gu, Moon So-ri, Ahn Nae-sang, Ryu Seung-wan
Votes: 10,405
7. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A recently laid off factory worker kidnaps his former boss' friend's daughter, hoping to use the ransom money to pay for his sister's kidney transplant.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Shin Ha-kyun, Bae Doona, Lim Ji-eun
Votes: 75,155 | Gross: $0.05M
8. 3-Iron (2004)
R | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A transient young man breaks into empty homes to partake of the vacationing residents' lives for a few days.
Director: Kim Ki-duk | Stars: Lee Seung-yun, Jae Hee, Hyuk-ho Kwon, Joo Jin-mo
Votes: 58,285 | Gross: $0.24M
9. Train to Busan (2016)
Not Rated | 118 min | Action, Horror, Thriller
While a zombie virus breaks out in South Korea, passengers struggle to survive on the train from Seoul to Busan.
Director: Yeon Sang-ho | Stars: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Su-an
Votes: 258,863 | Gross: $2.13M
10. I Saw the Devil (2010)
Not Rated | 144 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A secret agent exacts revenge on a serial killer through a series of captures and releases.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik, Jeon Gook-hwan, Chun Ho-jin
Votes: 146,278 | Gross: $0.13M
11. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)
R | 103 min | Drama, Romance
A boy is raised by a Buddhist monk in an isolated floating temple where the years pass like the seasons.
Director: Kim Ki-duk | Stars: Kim Ki-duk, Oh Yeong-su, Jong-ho Kim, Kim Young-min
Votes: 86,830 | Gross: $2.38M
12. Mother (2009)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A mother desperately searches for the killer who framed her son for a girl's horrific murder.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin, Jin Goo, Yun Je-mun
Votes: 71,666 | Gross: $0.55M
13. The Chaser (2008)
Not Rated | 125 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A disgraced ex-policeman who runs a small ring of prostitutes finds himself in a race against time when one of his women goes missing.
Director: Na Hong-jin | Stars: Kim Yoon-seok, Ha Jung-woo, Seo Yeong-hie, Kim Yoo-jung
Votes: 72,788
14. The Man from Nowhere (2010)
R | 119 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past takes on a drug-and-organ trafficking ring in hope of saving the child who is his only friend.
Director: Lee Jeong-beom | Stars: Won Bin, Kim Sae-ron, Kim Tae-hoon, Kim Hee-won
Votes: 74,868 | Gross: $0.01M
15. The Host (2006)
R | 120 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A monster emerges from Seoul's Han River and begins attacking people. One victim's loving family does what it can to rescue her from its clutches.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Byun Hee-Bong, Park Hae-il, Bae Doona
Votes: 132,763 | Gross: $2.20M
16. Lady Vengeance (2005)
R | 115 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After being wrongfully imprisoned for thirteen years and having her child taken away from her, a woman seeks revenge through increasingly brutal means.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Nam-mi Kang, Jeong-nam Choi, Hye-Sook Go, Bok-hwa Baek
Votes: 86,129 | Gross: $0.21M
17. A Bittersweet Life (2005)
Not Rated | 119 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Things go wrong for a high ranking mobster when he doesn't follow his boss's orders.
Directors: Jung Doo Hong, Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Shin Min-a, Kim Yeong-cheol, Hwang Jung-min
Votes: 42,926
18. Poetry (2010)
TV-PG | 139 min | Drama
A sixty-something woman, faced with the discovery of a heinous family crime and in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, finds strength and purpose when she enrolls in a poetry class.
Director: Lee Chang-dong | Stars: Yun Jeong-hie, Lee Da-wit, Kim Hee-ra, Ahn Nae-sang
Votes: 13,543 | Gross: $0.36M
19. Jo Pil-ho: The Dawning Rage (2019)
Not Rated | 127 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A corrupt cop enlists a teenage girl's help to expose a corporate scandal and eventually becomes her unlikely protector.
Director: Lee Jeong-beom | Stars: Song Boo-gun, Park Hae-joon, Kwon Han-sol, Philip Hersh
Votes: 2,756
20. Burning (2018)
Not Rated | 148 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
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.
Director: Lee Chang-dong | Stars: Yoo Ah-in, Steven Yeun, Jeon Jong-seo, Kim Soo-Kyung
Votes: 76,371 | Gross: $0.72M
21. Thirst (2009)
R | 134 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Through a failed medical experiment, a priest is stricken with vampirism and is forced to abandon his ascetic ways.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Kim Ok-bin, Choi Hee-jin, Seo Dong-soo
Votes: 51,419 | Gross: $0.30M
22. A Hard Day (2014)
Not Rated | 111 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
After trying to cover up a car accident that left a man dead, a crooked homicide detective is stalked by a mysterious man claiming to have witnessed the event.
Director: Kim Seong-hun | Stars: Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Jin-woong, Jeong Man-sik, Shin Jeong-geun
Votes: 16,605
23. The Drug King (2018)
Not Rated | 139 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Set in Busan, South Korea during the 1970s, Lee Doo-sam builds an empire as a drug smuggler in the Busan underworld, while public prosecutor Kim In-goo attempts to take down Lee Doo-sam.
Director: Min-ho Woo | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Jo Jung-Suk, Bae Doona, Jeon Ah-hee
Votes: 3,783
24. Okja (2017)
TV-MA | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A young girl risks everything to prevent a powerful, multinational company from kidnapping her best friend - a fascinating beast named Okja.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Ahn Seo-hyun, Jake Gyllenhaal
Votes: 132,182
25. Svaha: The Sixth Finger (2019)
Not Rated | 122 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
Pastor Park works to expose suspicious religious groups. He's hired to look into the cult group Deer Mount. Meanwhile, Police Captain Hwang investigates a murder case and the main suspect is a member of the Deer Mount cult.
Director: Jae-hyun Jang | Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Jung Jin-young, Yoo Ji-tae, Min Tanaka
Votes: 4,899
26. The Chase (2017)
110 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Sim Deok-soo is a grumpy landlord running a run-down apartment complex. Suddenly his tenants begin disappearing under suspicious circumstances. A retired ex-detective shows up, claiming a serial murderer from 30 years back has returned.
Director: Kim Hong Sun | Stars: Baek Yun-shik, Sung Dong-il, Chun Ho-jin, Hye-In Kim
Votes: 3,600
27. #Alive (2020)
TV-MA | 98 min | Action, Drama, Horror
The rapid spread of an unknown infection has left an entire city in ungovernable chaos, but one survivor remains alive in isolation. It is his story.
Directors: Il Cho, Jo Il Hyung, Madeleine Martin, Jimmy Olsson | Stars: Yoo Ah-in, Park Shin-hye, Jeon Bae-soo, Lee Hyun-wook
Votes: 47,753
28. Night in Paradise (2020)
TV-MA | 131 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Hiding out in Jeju Island following a brutal tragedy, a wronged mobster with a target on his back connects with a woman who has her own demons.
Director: Park Hoon-jung | Stars: Eom Tae-goo, Jeon Yeo-been, Cha Seung-won, Cho Dong-in
Votes: 8,798
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