The 45 Best Korean Movies You Should Watch Right Now

Director Bong Joon Ho’s second feature film, Memories of Murder, marked his first collaboration with actor Song Kang-ho, who would go on to star in the director’s Oscar-winning Parasite. The gritty murder mystery stars Song Kang-ho as a detective determined to solve a series of murders of young women.

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This romantic thriller from director Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden) follows an insomniac detective who becomes infatuated with a widow suspected of killing her husband. Like many of Park Chan-wook’s films, Decision to Leave will keep you guessing until the very end.

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This Best Picture winner follows the Kims, a poor family with big dreams trying to do everything they can to move up in society and out of their dingy basement apartment. They finally get their chance when the son connects with a wealthy family, but things end up taking a v dark turn. Just watch it—you won't regret it.

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Yet another A+ film directed by Boon Joon-ho, this tense thriller follows the great lengths a mother goes to in order to prove her learning disabled son's innocence after he's falsely accused of murdering a young girl.

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In this action thriller, a secret agent's pregnant fiancée is brutally murdered by a bus driver/psychopathic serial killer. And when her body is discovered, the agent becomes fully obsessed with hunting her killer down.

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Based on the short story "Barn Burning" by Haruki Murakami, this psychological drama follows a hiiiighly unusual love triangle between a young delivery man, his childhood friend who asks him to look after her cat while she goes on a trip, and the mysterious man she meets while away. Expect the unexpected with this one.

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Set in the remote Korean village of Gokseong, The Wailing tells the story of Jong-goo, a policeman who must risk his life to investigate the mysterious illness spreading in the village, which causes its victims to become violent and even lethal.

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Based on a real-life story, this drama takes place during the events of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, following a widowed taxi driver who agrees to drive a German journalist from Seoul to Gwangju for a large sum, only to find the city under siege.

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In The Handmaiden, a woman named Sook-Hee is hired as the new handmaiden to Japanese heiress Lady Hideko. What Hideko doesn't know is that Sook-Hee is part of a conman's plot to try and defraud her and gain her fortune. But once the two ladies develop unexpected feelings for each other, things go majorly off-course.

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By accident, a film director arrives in town a day early. While killing time, he meets a young artist who isn't familiar with his work but knows he is famous. The two wind up spending a lot of time together. And as soju, friends, and secrets get involved—they may or may not end up falling for each other. Then, unexpectedly, things rewind and we begin again.

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When a divorced dad boards the train from Seoul to Busan with his daughter, he has zero idea that, outside the train, a zombie apocalypse has already begun. He and his daughter—along with the rest of the colorful characters on the train —must then work together and fight their way for survival.

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In the mood for a good cry? Then you should probs watch this heartbreaking drama, which follows Shin-ae, a widow who moves with her son to her husband's hometown to start a new life after he's killed in a car accident.

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Okay, this one is a tearjerker. In it, a woman in her 60s coping with early-onset Alzheimer's disease finds herself caught up in a conspiracy after her teen grandson is blamed for the violent death of his classmate, and her only escape is through poetry.

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An oldie but a goodie, A Tale of Two Sisters is inspired by a Joseon Dynasty-era folktale, following a recently released patient from a mental institution who returns home with her sister, only to find herself at odds with her father's new wife...and also the strange events that seem to plague their house.

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This award-winning coming-of-age movie follows a bullied girl who becomes friends with a new kid during the school break. But when the class is back in session and bullying starts up again, their friendship is put to the test.

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Set in 1994 Seoul, House of Hummingbird follows a shy 14-year-old named Eun-hee as she deals with family drama, a secret boyfriend, a complicated friendship, a scary medical problem, and a devastating loss following the Seongsu Bridge collapse.

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Directed by Parasite's Boon Joon-ho, this truly bonkers horror flick tells the story of a monster living in the Han River (which was created as a result of chemicals dumped by American military personnel) and a local vendor who must save his daughter after she's snatched up by the creature.

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In this gorgeous romance, a teen named Sae-bom discovers a secret love letter written to her recently divorced mom...and unexpectedly, it's from a Japanese woman. To help her mom overcome her post-divorce depression, Sae-bom decides to play matchmaker and convinces her mom to go on a trip to Japan with her, which ends up changing both of their lives forever.

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