The 15 Best Korean Movies And TV Shows On Netflix
South Korean cinema finally got its due when Bong Joon-ho's Parasite won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the 2019 Oscar for Best Picture. However, there was a renaissance in Korean cinema thanks to directors like Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho, Yoon Sang-ho, and Lee Chang-dong. Now that international audiences are enjoying a flood of Korean TV shows, Squid Game and Hellbone have become instant Netflix hits.
Netflix has a good selection of Korean content divided between movies and TV shows, including some Netflix originals. From drama and action/adventure to sci-fi and horror, here are the 15 best Korean movies and TV shows on Netflix:
Year : 2021
Directed by Park Hoon-jung.
Actors: Uhm Tae-go, Jeon Yeo-bin, Cha Seung-won, Park Ho-san
Genre: Drama, Film noir
Duration: 131 minutes
Watch it on Netflix
Writer-director Park Hoon-jung's sixth feature film, Night in Paradise, reveals that revenge is a real dish. The characters eat mulhoe, a spicy raw seafood soup served cold, evoking childhood memories of delicious food and spoiled food, and family members who have since fallen victim to the violence of vicious criminals. Instead of serving as a site of catharsis, these memories render revenge meaningless. After his sister and terminally ill son become the new targets of the Bukseong gang, professional hit man and rival gang member Yang Tae-gu (Uhm Tae-gu) tries to settle the score by hiding the criminals he hears who are responsible for the murder. . When ruthless leader Ma (Cha Seung-won) mobilizes the entire Buksong gang to capture and kill Tae-gu, he is transported to Jeju Island, where he stays with a murderer-turned-trafficker before escaping and settling down for good. Russia. When elder Tae-gu arrives, instead of meeting her personally, he sends his sick niece Jeon (Jeon Yeo-bin) back to her island. Never beating around the bush or pretending to be polite, Jae-yeon initially condemns Tae-gu and is disappointed in her uncle's involvement in her escape. In their story, parents become needless sacrifices in the name of team rivalry, a point that unwittingly connects the two adversaries with untold losses and, of course, their shared love for Mulho. While the visual and thematic richness of Night in Paradise may be enough to make the film stand out on its own, the ambiguous humor that underpins even the darkest exchanges between the characters strengthens its overall emotional value. This is especially true for Jae-yoon and Wana Ma, who manage to become a huge audience in their lives despite death, leading to a sense of anxiety, whether after a near-death experience or after supervising orchestrated murders. . Park's unique focus on multifaceted and often intertwined emotions keeps the viewer engrossed in the woven narrative web, an undeniable advantage for a two-hour film. Night in Paradise is poignant in these complex moments of bitter ambivalence. Trying to find the best morally correct way to overcome the urge to take revenge on those harmed by this mortal shell would be impossible and ineffective. The park lives within these limits, literally. It is a matter of taste whether the viewer finds pangs of comfort appealing or ends up resenting misery .
Year: 2017
Director: Bong John Ho
Starring: Tilda Swinton , Paul Dano, Ahn Seo Hyun, Byun Hebong, Steven Yeun, Lily Collins, Yoon Jae Moon, Shirley Henderson, Daniel Henshall, Devon Bostick, Wow Shik Choi, Giancarlo Esposito, Jake Gyllenhaal.
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Action
Level: Yes
Duration: 118 minutes
Watch it on Netflix
Okja takes more creative risks in the first five minutes than most movies in their run, and it doesn't stop there. For some critics and audiences, especially Westerns, the seemingly unpredictable tone, from humor to suspense, fast-paced action, fantasy to horror, is almost like everything Jake does. But that's the essence of what makes Bong Joon-Ho movies, well, Bong Joon-Ho movies: they're complex and sophisticated, but not exactly subtle or understated. You have an eye for detail, but you don't get frustrated when dealing with people. They have many goals and combine those goals to cloud them . They are works of imagination that gain power through shifting semiotics, and Okja is perhaps the best example of a pendulum of rhythmic tonality swinging in a Bong film. Okja is not a movie about veganism, but rather a movie that asks how you can find wholeness and, more importantly, how you can behave humanely towards other living things, including humans. The answers Okja gets are simple and helpful, and without really saying it, hearing these answers yourself will help you, because it asks the right questions and it does so in a very engaging way. - Chadian base
Year : 2021
Creator : Hwang Dong-hyuk
Cast: Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wai Ha-joon
Genre: Thriller
Level: TV MA
Watch it on Netflix
Honey foods, candy-colored walls, and a larger-than-life toy seem like a child's fantasy. But in the world of Netflix's Squid game , 456 people fighting to the death in arcade games, innocent nostalgia comes with a body count for a grosser Korean of $45.6 billion (or $38.6 million) . All the players on the verge of financial ruin and looking for a way out are pitted against each other in the entertainment of the rich and powerful until there is only one winner left. The South Korean drama, which aired on September 17, is already receiving major awards. It is the first Korean series to enter the US Netflix top 10, is the number one series on the platform worldwide, and is currently on track to become the most popular Netflix series of all time , surpassing Bridgerton's Fake Race . Created by genre director Hwang Dong-hyeke, the story of the squid game that popularized the Battle Royale genre will sound familiar to anyone who has seen Japanese cult favorite The Hunger Games or Battle Royale. But instead of being set in a dystopian landscape, Squid Game is based in a real-world modern setting. The plot of "Last Man Standing" is predictable in how it all plays out, but Huang is less concerned with subverting the battle royale formula than exploring human stakes.
The participants in the squid game are initially unaware of the life and death consequences that they have marked in their fine print. After suffering a huge loss in the first game, a breach gives them a chance to get out of the game and safely return to their empty bank accounts. From the outside, the choice seems clear. But the second important part shows that there are no good opportunities for those on the fringes of society, and a carefree life where money is not a daily concern seems out of reach. . Games are bad, but who says the real world isn't worse? -Annie Lyons
Year : 2019-2020
Author: Lee Jeong-hyo, Park Ji-eun
Actors: Hyun Bin, Son Ye-jin, Seo Ji-hye
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Comedy, Romance
Rating: TV-14
Watch it on Netflix
Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin) is a successful businesswoman who owns her own fashion and beauty company, Seri's Choice, and is the woman chosen to succeed her father as president of a large corporation. But her strained relationship with her stepmother and overzealous siblings led to depression and a series of short-lived relationships. When a sudden storm crashes her glider in the wrong direction in the DMZ, she finds herself stranded in North Korea and decides to help her return home at the mercy of an army captain, Jong-Hyok (Hyun Bin). What follows is a thrilling romantic adventure set in the world's most repressive states. The North Korean soldiers of Company 5 and the women of Jeong-hyeok's village are as charming and attractive as the stars of the romantic comedy. The show only has 10 episodes, but those episodes are an average of 80 minutes each, from a fish out of water in North Korea to five in Seoul. -Josh Jackson
Year : 2019-21
Created by Kim Eun-hee, Kim Seong-hoon
Cast : Joo Ji-hoon, Ryu Seung-ryong, Bae Doo-nam, Kim Sung-kyu
Genre: Horror, Action
Level: TV MA
Watch it on Netflix
American (or simply Western) zombies almost always drive the narrative, portraying big, evil threats like fear of disease, nuclear war, capitalism, social collapse, and racism, often limiting the possibilities of the genre and focusing its plots on external forces. . . By contrast, in The Kingdom (which is set in Joseon-era South Korea), these stories focus on how existing structures (and the ordinary people who live there) deal with threat and how they cooperate with them. Armor better than the inevitable return is normal. Western zombie shows allow us to understand how society adapts to these horror ideals, creating the religious zeal of The Walking Dead (Alexandria, Hilltop, Woodbury) or the diet of An Garcia from Santa Clarita (Natalie Morales). Eventually, Korean zombies begin to invade a similar society. The evils of the latter are spread and exposed by the zombies, but the tainted undead fuel a satisfying hero's journey through flawed judges, fear-based isolation, and class warfare. -Jacob Oller
Year : 2021
Creator : Choi Kyu-seok
Starring : Yoo Ah-in, Kim Hyun-joo, Park Jeong-min
Genre: Supernatural Thriller
Level: TV MA
Watch it on Netflix
Based on Yeon Sang-ho's Hellbound webcomic, Netflix's second Korean series of the year follows angels who appear on Earth and tell people that they will soon be dragged to Hell by powerful smoke demons in Seoul and the world. surrounding. I only have one episode left, but the pilot is even more interesting than the original as the series grapples with questions of trust, judgment, and redemption while facing irrefutable evidence. Yoo Ah-in plays the leader of the New Truth Society cult and Young Ik-joon, a detective who always treats mysterious deaths as murders, when his daughter (played by Lee Rae) interferes with the cult. -Josh Jackson
Year : 2021
Directed by Jo Sung-hee.
Cast : Song Jung-ki, Kim Tae-ri, Jin Seon-kyu, Yoo Hae-jin
Genre: Science Fiction, Action
Level: Yes
Duration: 136 minutes
Watch it on Netflix
Netflix introduced audiences to the big-budget sci-fi Southeast Asian Chinese film The Wandering Earth , a riot of history that was always good to see. Korean director Jo Sung-hee's Space Sweepers is a more coherent and cohesive offering than The Flash. In a dystopian setting, the head of a giant tech company creates Eden on Mars, leaving most of humanity in poverty and pollution. A group of space lovers pursue their own interests when they discover a mysterious young woman involved in much bigger things. With interesting characters, action sequences, and an exciting story, it's a great debut for Korea's first sci-fi movie. -Josh Jackson
Year : 2009
Author: Jeon Ki-sung, Yoon Ji-ryun
Cast: Ku Hye-sun, Lee Min-ho, Kim Hyun-joong, Kim Beom
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Rating: TV-14
Watch it on Netflix
Meet Korean Chuck Bass: Jun-Pyo Company Legacy has Chuck's taunts and fancy clothes. The girls at Shinhwa High fall into Beatlesmania when Jun-pyo and his long-haired entourage enter class F4. But when the rebellious Jan-di stumbles upon a random scholarship to a special Korean high school, she treats F4 with contempt, infuriating him with his cruelty and promiscuous behavior. Isn't there such a thing as capturing the heart of a rich kid, at least in pictures? But while Jan-di melts Jun-pyo's cruel and cruel heart, she warms up to Ji-Hoo, the quiet and mysterious F4 sonata performed by Nate Archibald from the show. If Gossip Girl taught you about brutal TV nightmares, we bet you could predict who would win Cinderella's heart - some love and heartbreak stories are universal. -Dakota Kim
Year: 2018
Director: Yeon Sang Ho
Cast : Ryu Seung-ryong, Shim Eun-kyung, Park Jung-min
Genre: Superheroes, Action
Level: Yes
Duration: 101 minutes
Watch it on Netflix
Following a train to Busan , a kind of zombie with infinite lives, Yoon Sang-ho offers another take on the zeitgeist through psychokinesis, constructing a fragile and ambiguous political space within the South Korean superhero cinematic universe. Ryu Seung-ryong plays a male nobody who brings Shin Seok-hyun, a ditzy security guard estranged from his family, into the life of his son Romy (Shim Eun-kyung) after a group of factory workers construction ' Union. accidentally kill. Mom is trying to force a young fried chicken entrepreneur out of his little shop. Also: Seok-heon has superhuman powers that he contracts when he drinks from a public fountain contaminated with an alien substance recently released on Earth by a crushed space rock. Though Yoon (who wrote the movie) usually confuses comic book sensibilities with a lack of deeply written characters, Yoon isn't particularly driven by the same forces as the MCU or the DCEU: psychokinesis is revealed. Honest and worn melodrama, unlike these film brands, which are not burdened by the same economic pressure, while making it very clear that the police are bad. After Infinity War , this is all very refreshing. - Dom Sinacola
Year : 2022
Authors: Alex Pina, Ryu Yong-jae, Kim Hong-sun
Actors: Yoo Ji-tae, Park Hae-soo, Jeon Jong-seo, Lee Won-jong, Park Myung-hoon
Genre: Crime Drama
Watch it on Netflix
Netflix's Money Heist: Korea - A Shared Economy Environment , which averaged just 69.5 minutes in its impressive 6-episode first season, somehow manages to be too long and too short at the same time. Based on the setting of La Casa de Papel (also known as Money Heist ) by Alex Piña Madrid, the critically acclaimed series is the first of several international remakes of La Casa de Papel . The Joint Economic Zone takes the original "robbery as economic protest" premise and reimagines it in a distinctly Korean context, and has several advantages: compelling visuals; An interesting (if strange) cultural twist on theft; BTS integration. But while I'd like to focus on what these elements add to Pina's original premise, the scope of the deck they've taken on is so limited by Netflix's creativity and bad habits that it's hard to focus on anything else. The format is very clever in maintaining a meaningful narrative pace, especially in the context of a dense heist story! Each episode of the 70-minute shared economic environment pushes the viewer's patience beyond its limit. At the same time, the six-episode format is too limited to effectively build the tension or interrelationships that are so important to the success of Kasa , instead of keeping the same audience twisted, turned, and jaw-dropping with the plot/hero. . Rounds that La Casa de Papel took a long time to develop. When part 2 finally comes out, I'm sure I'll be joining the rest of Money Heist around the world without permission. After all , it is a global phenomenon. -Alexis Gunderson
Year : 2022
Director:
Actors : Kang Ha-neul, Han Hyo-joo, Lee Kwang-soo, Kwon Sang-woo
Genre: Adventure
Level: TV MA
Watch it on Netflix
This exciting new movie has loads of fun with epic sword fights, physical fights and penguin attacks. Han Hyo-joo plays a calm and collected pirate captain, and Kang Ha-neul is the leader of the loyal bandits who rescue him. The unlikely duo join forces to find the legendary gold of the fallen Goryeo dynasty. Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure is a sequel in the vein of 2014's Pirates , with both films topping the box office in Korea. -Josh Jackson
Year : 2022
Author: Joo Dong-kyun, Chun Sung-il
Actors: Park Ji-hoo, Yoon Chan-young, Cho Yi-hyun, Park Solomon
Genre: Horror
Level: TV MA
Watch it on Netflix
This isn't the first time Netflix has brought together high school kids and zombies; It will be a low-level, short-lived break . But South Korea's new apocalyptic series, We're All Dead , turns into a school battlefield for our protagonists when a biology teacher creates a virus that brings back dead classmates. Also, by the end of the Squid game , the US has succeeded in translating a growing interest in South Korean culture to a broader audience. -Josh Jackson
Year: 2016
Creator: Han Jihoon
Actors: Lee Yo - won, Jim Guo, Yoo-ie, Jung Hae-in, Jeon Kook-hwan, Jung Han-young
Genre: Drama
Rating: TV-14
Watch it on Netflix
Broken and seemingly innocent, Se-jin accidentally meets Yi-kyung, a man of steel and self-control, but their encounter seems doomed when Se-jin shows Yi-kyung that she has the courage to be a dangerous but brave woman. And reckless business. , Gallery CEO S. Yi-Kyung tries to free Se-Jin from her restrictive and bourgeois views on money so she can live fearlessly as a ruthless money killer and corporate warrior. But Yi-kyung's plans to mold and use Se-jin go beyond Se-jin's expectations and lead into a historic feud with her former lover Gun-woo, an unlikely and free-spirited corporate competitor. The drama is slow to build, but White Knights balances the mystery with bright, beautiful visuals, salty, insidious twists, and vulnerable characters to relate to. And of course, no Korean drama would be complete without a love triangle. -Dakota Kim
Year : 2020
Directed by Cho Il Hyung.
Cast : Yoo Ah-in, Park Shin-hye
Level: Yes
Duration: 99 minutes
Watch it on Netflix
Zombie movie fans have been eagerly awaiting at least one zombie movie from South Korea this year. The popular train to Busan was followed by much enthusiasm , but in the end, it was much less than the first. Fortunately, another Korean zombie movie was waiting to take its place, which was a huge hit (마이 호호 하다) #មក្រ . Fans of the first World War Z movie will definitely recognize this story because of its similarities to the more popular parts of the book, because it's set in Japan and it's set in Japan. . The world around him descends into a zombie apocalypse, before finally being forced to go offline and flee. Here, the same basic idea easily carries over to South Korea, where the main character must be thrown from the side of the apartment building to prevent the other survivors from hiding in the woods. It's a tighter, better-executed story than the underwhelming Pensula , which is perfect for seeing when it happened. -Jim Vorel
year 2022
Directed by Park Hyun- jin.
Actors: Seohyun, Lee Jun Yang
love comedy
Rating: TV- 14
Duration: 118 minutes
Watch on Netflix
I am a fan of love. I enjoyed watching K-dramas like The Imitation and Let Me Be Your Knight starring Lee Joon-yong, who started out with the K-pop group U- KISS . In both dramas, he often played his own bandmates and the whole world didn't understand the music. I know about Seohyun 's work after she started with the K-pop group Girls' Generation, and I tagged her personal K-drama life to watch it sometime. (So many K-dramas, so little time!) As one of my friends said, K-dramas with love stories can be cute: "So pink." Of course, they can be very dark. but they are usually very clean and well defined. Love and Straps Movie Trailer Starring Lee Joon-yong and Seohyun and based on the webtoon /manga The Sensual Em, this romantic comedy featured a BDSM subplot. How the story unfolds: - Jung Ji Hoo (Lee Joon-Yong) moved from the sales department to the PR department, which offers products for mothers or families. Jung Ji-woo (Seohyun) works for the public relations team and is not known for any reason. She especially doesn't deal with her sexual boss and her friend from the team often ignores him. When Jung Ji-woo accidentally receives a package meant for Jung Ji-hoo, she discovers that her colleague is hiding a secret. He may seem like a caring colleague, but - SURPRISED! - He's a curmudgeon. One thing leads to another, and Jung Ji-woo's obedience to the lead role of Jung Ji-hoo ends. "Fatan temari sambam," he said. Perhaps unsurprisingly, love and children are more descriptive of BDSM relationships than anything else that examines the actual relationship between these two partners . People looking for a romantic relationship in the office may be disappointed. As expected, the actors throw themselves into the role and look good bringing their fantasies to life - although there are some cold moments between the two - but in the end, their love ends in purity. If you are looking for some fun on a cold winter night and you like Korean dramas, Love and Thieves might tickle your fancy. But if you want more cool stuff, keep scrolling. - अपारिता भ़ंडारी
