Korean Movies - Highly Rated, a list by Christian

8.5

/1134173/

85

/43995/

85

/19948/

4.5

/4844739/

99

/485/

90

/2503/

97

/56/

4.0

age 16+

All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.

88

8.1

/198228/

82

/7817/

81

/4149/

4.4

/713069/

96

/226/

91

/449/

85

/40/

4.0

1930s Korea, in the period of Japanese occupation, a new girl, Sookee, is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, Hideko, who lives a secluded life on a large countryside estate with her domineering Uncle Kouzuki. But the maid has a secret. She is a pickpocket recruited by a swindler posing as a Japanese Count to help him seduce the Lady to steal her fortune.

87

8.1

/259118/

80

/7538/

80

/4355/

4.4

/860281/

95

/80/

92

/1039/

82

/18/

4.0

age 16+

A sadistic serial rapist and murderer of young women terrorizes a small province in 1980s South Korea. To prevent further crimes, three increasingly desperate detectives with conflicting methods race against time to unravel the violent mind of the killer in a futile effort to solve the case.

86

IMDb 22

7.6

/24783/

75

/835/

77

/389/

4.2

/228999/

98

/172/

94

/26/

85

/39/

4.0

age 16+

Looking for a job? When a happy family man is dismissed after twenty-five years of loyal service at a paper company, he finds the perfect solution to land his next role: truly eliminate the competition.

86

8.0

/26651/

82

/1026/

81

/733/

4.2

/72573/

100

/5/

93

/76/

Based on actual events that took place at Gwangju Inhwa School for the hearing-impaired, where young deaf students were the victims of repeated sexual assaults by faculty members over a period of five years in the early 2000s.

86

8.3

/706418/

83

/17721/

82

/9465/

4.4

/1352385/

82

/160/

94

/11750/

78

/33/

4.0

age 17+

With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate man seeks revenge on his captors.

86

8.0

/90222/

78

/1455/

78

/1153/

4.2

/64421/

94

/98/

92

/1473/

85

/29/

4.0

An isolated lake, where an old monk lives in a small floating temple. The monk has a young boy living with him, learning to become a monk. We watch as seasons and years pass by.

84

7.8

/14604/

77

/346/

76

/322/

4.2

/34593/

100

/72/

86

/6642/

87

/24/

3.5

A South Korean woman in her sixties enrolls in a poetry class as she grapples with her faltering memory and her grandson's appalling wrongdoing.

83

7.4

/84487/

73

/3280/

73

/1750/

4.0

/303820/

95

/197/

80

/209/

91

/39/

4.0

age 17+

Deliveryman Jong-su is out on a job when he runs into Hae-mi, a girl who once lived in his neighborhood. She asks if he'd mind looking after her cat while she's away on a trip to Africa. On her return, she introduces to Jong-su an enigmatic young man named Ben, who she met during her trip. One day Ben tells Jong-su about his most unusual hobby.

83

7.7

/79332/

76

/2262/

77

/1632/

4.2

/179070/

96

/121/

89

/974/

79

/31/

3.5

age 15+

A mother lives quietly with her son. One day, a girl is brutally killed, and the boy is charged with the murder. Now, it's his mother's mission to prove him innocent.

83

7.7

/79697/

78

/3056/

77

/1425/

3.9

/55467/

100

/8/

90

/854/

An ex-special agent is involved in a convoluted drug ring drama. He has to save a drug smuggler's innocent daughter from being the victim of her parents' fight.

82

7.9

/20781/

79

/880/

79

/719/

4.1

/20498/

93

/184/

Mr. Kim is jobless, lost in debt and has been dumped by his girlfriend. He decides to end it all by jumping into the Han River – only to find himself washed up on a small, mid-river island. He soon abandons thoughts of suicide or rescue and begins a new life as a castaway. His antics catch the attention of a young woman whose apartment overlooks the river. Her discovery changes both their lives.

82

7.4

/4296/

76

/196/

75

/112/

4.1

/31428/

98

/49/

74

/12/

82

/10/

4.0

age 14+

14-year-old Eun-hee moves through life like a hummingbird searching for a taste of sweetness wherever she may find it. Ignored by her parents and abused by her brother, she finds her escape by roaming the neighborhood with her best friend, going on adventures, and exploring young love.

82

8.1

/25835/

82

/863/

78

/477/

4.0

/37214/

89

/75/

A story about a mentally ill man wrongfully imprisoned for murder and his relationship with his 6 year old daughter.

82

7.5

/46588/

75

/1415/

74

/952/

3.9

/51409/

100

/12/

90

/872/

Kim Sun-woo is an enforcer and manager for a hotel owned by a cold, calculative crime boss, Kang who assigns Sun-woo to a simple errand while he is away on a business trip; to shadow his young mistress, Hee-soo, for fear that she may be cheating on him with a younger man with the mandate that he must kill them both if he discovers their affair.

81

7.9

/60878/

77

/1323/

78

/1220/

4.1

/65593/

87

/93/

94

/1464/

72

/28/

A drifter lives in people's houses while they are away and repays them by doing chores for them. His life changes when he meets a beautiful woman who wants to escape her unhappy marriage.

81

8.1

/27129/

80

/520/

78

/347/

3.9

/16460/

90

/564/

A young couple's love is tested when Sun-jin is diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease.

80

7.2

/9653/

79

/468/

76

/280/

3.5

/13574/

100

/5/

85

/75/

An unexpected phone call brings an elderly woman to her childhood country cottage, and memories of an orphan boy she knew 47 years ago come flooding back to her.

80

7.6

/299689/

78

/18569/

77

/8103/

4.0

/1065524/

95

/128/

89

/1380/

73

/17/

3.0

age 15+

When a zombie virus pushes Korea into a state of emergency, those trapped on an express train to Busan must fight for their own survival.

79

7.1

/20235/

72

/922/

71

/516/

3.8

/100322/

94

/157/

73

/65/

77

/31/

4.0

age 13+

Sang-hyun is always struggling from debt, and Dong-soo works at a baby box facility. On a rainy night, they steal the baby Woo-sung, who was left in the baby box, to sell him at a good price. Meanwhile, detectives were watching, and they quietly track them down to capture the crucial evidence.

79

7.3

/66578/

73

/2907/

73

/1409/

4.0

/369460/

94

/246/

84

/125/

85

/44/

3.0

age 15+

From a mountain peak in South Korea, a man plummets to his death. Did he jump, or was he pushed? When detective Hae-joon arrives on the scene, he begins to suspect the dead man’s wife Seo-rae. But as he digs deeper into the investigation, he finds himself trapped in a web of deception and desire.

79

7.2

/21873/

76

/1734/

78

/693/

3.6

/58316/

89

/18/

87

/59/

Ja-yoon is a high school student who struggles with memory loss after she endured some unknown trauma during her childhood. While trying to uncover the truth, she is unwittingly dragged into a world of crime and finds herself on a journey that will awaken many secrets hidden deep within.

79

7.5

/10592/

72

/461/

72

/223/

4.1

/28068/

94

/32/

76

/372/

84

/6/

Shin-ae moves to her recently late husband’s hometown. Despite her efforts to settle in this unfamiliar and too-normal place, she finds that she can’t fit in. After a sudden tragedy, Shin-ae turns to Christianity to relieve her pain, but when even this is not permitted, she wages a war against God.

79

7.9

/52570/

77

/1151/

75

/620/

3.7

/33525/

93

/2468/

A dweeby, mild-mannered man comes to the aid of a drunk young woman on a subway platform. Little does he know how much trouble he’s in for.

79

7.8

/79255/

77

/2329/

77

/1448/

4.0

/79003/

82

/33/

89

/873/

64

/11/

3.5

Joong-ho is a dirty detective turned pimp, who's in financial trouble as several of his girls have recently disappeared without clearing their debts. While trying to track them down, he finds a clue that the vanished girls were all called up by the same client, whom one of his girls is meeting with right now.

79

7.4

/96394/

74

/4561/

73

/1955/

4.0

/267435/

99

/87/

81

/394/

81

/19/

3.0

A stranger arrives in a little village and soon after a mysterious sickness starts spreading. A policeman is drawn into the incident and is forced to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter.

78

7.7

/37905/

77

/1200/

78

/777/

4.2

/75825/

88

/25/

89

/605/

58

/7/

Two North Korean soldiers are killed in the border area between North and South Korea, prompting an investigation by a neutral body. The sergeant is the shooter, but the lead investigator, a Swiss-Korean woman, receives differing accounts from the two sides.

78

7.1

/51688/

72

/2450/

75

/921/

3.6

/167745/

100

/12/

79

/114/

age 16+

Connected by phone in the same home but 20 years apart, a caller puts a woman’s past — and life — on the line to change her own fate.

78

7.0

/31927/

74

/1928/

78

/1381/

3.5

/67421/

97

/36/

94

65

/7/

After barely surviving a brutal attack by a sadistic serial killer, crime boss Jang Dong-su is left humiliated. Determined to catch the killer known as K, he forms an uneasy alliance with Jung Tae-seok, a relentless and incorruptible detective who often disrupts his illegal business. However, while Jang Dong-su wants K dead, Jung Tae-suk is determined to bring him to justice. With a deal in place—whoever finds K first will decide his fate—the hunt begins, blurring the lines between crime and law.

80

78

7.8

/11344/

77

/275/

77

/267/

4.1

/21711/

90

/30/

83

/78/

79

/14/

A young man released from prison visits the widow of the man he killed drunk-driving and becomes infatuated with his cerebral palsy-stricken daughter.

82

78

7.8

/7969/

76

/234/

77

/155/

3.7

/5874/

100

/9/

89

/56/

Though it places his own life in danger, a look-alike commoner secretly takes the place of a poisoned king to save his country from falling into chaos.

78

8.0

/42200/

78

/696/

79

/741/

3.8

/12002/

79

/43/

93

/1545/

64

/19/

When two brothers are forced to fight in the Korean War, the elder decides to take the riskiest missions if it will help shield the younger from battle.

78

7.1

/141784/

70

/4943/

70

/3017/

3.8

/297312/

93

/155/

72

/7811/

85

/35/

3.5

age 17+

A teenage girl is captured by a giant mutated squid-like creature that appears from Seoul's Han River after toxic waste was dumped in it, prompting her family into a frantic search for her.

78

7.8

/162672/

78

/5514/

77

/2874/

4.0

/282375/

83

/86/

87

/1737/

67

/19/

Kyung-chul is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. Soo-hyeon, a top-secret agent, decides to track down the murderer himself. He promises himself that he will do everything in his power to take vengeance against the killer, even if it means that he must become a monster himself.

77

7.5

/91764/

75

/2725/

75

/1819/

4.0

/184825/

76

/87/

87

/3249/

75

/23/

Released after being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for 13 years, a woman begins executing her elaborate plan of retribution.

77

7.4

/59197/

75

/2274/

78

/1264/

3.8

/202570/

82

/68/

age 17+

Seoul, South Korea, 1997. When the young but extremely anxious student Jin-seok, his parents and his successful older brother Yoo-seok move to a new home, mysterious and frightening events begin to happen around them, unexplained events that threaten to ruin their seemingly happy lives. Unable to understand what is happening, Jin-seok wonders if he is losing his mind.

77

7.9

/37113/

80

/1631/

80

/1102/

4.2

/98736/

97

/30/

83

/90/

69

/7/

2.0

May, 1980. Man-seob is a taxi driver in Seoul who lives from hand to mouth, raising his young daughter alone. One day, he hears that there is a foreigner who will pay big money for a drive down to Gwangju city. Not knowing that he’s a German journalist with a hidden agenda, Man-seob takes the job.

77

7.0

/2971/

71

/84/

69

/82/

3.8

/10623/

91

/22/

70

/25/

83

/11/

3.5

A film director who no longer makes films arrives in Seoul to meet a close friend. When the friend doesn't show up, he wanders the city aimlessly for three days, grabbing drinks and meeting women, with each day playing out like a version of the last.

77

7.1

/11903/

73

/598/

72

/355/

3.7

/14570/

100

/49/

73

/44/

78

/14/

3.0

Set in the late 1920s, The Age of Shadows follows the cat-and-mouse game that unfolds between a group of resistance fighters trying to bring in explosives from Shanghai to destroy key Japanese facilities in Seoul, and Japanese agents trying to stop them.

77

7.1

/416470/

70

/23033/

69

/10155/

3.7

/817986/

94

/266/

72

/4158/

84

/38/

3.5

age 16+

In a future where a failed global-warming experiment kills off most life on the planet, a class system evolves aboard the Snowpiercer; a train that travels around the globe via a perpetual-motion engine.

76

7.2

/19123/

72

/705/

71

/463/

3.6

/21227/

89

/9/

82

/98/

A disillusioned Seoul woman visits a remote island to reconnect with a childhood friend, only to find her trapped in an oppressive cycle of physical, mental, and sexual abuse. As tensions escalate, the situation spirals into a harrowing tale of survival and retribution.

77

76

7.1

/13219/

71

/493/

72

/275/

3.5

/4564/

100

/5/

78

/166/

After the death of their father, two siblings are raised by their father's best friend. However, when one gets kidnapped just before her wedding, the other rises against the Manchus.

79

75

7.7

/6990/

80

/298/

78

/179/

4.1

/17467/

Seven girls become good friends in high school, then events pull them apart for 25 years. When one of the friends lies dying in a hospital, she wishes to see each of them one last time.

78

75

7.6

/12236/

73

/289/

74

/275/

4.0

/26298/

86

/7/

83

/110/

In the spring of 1999, a group of old friends gather to celebrate their 20 year reunion. Among the group is Yeong-ho, a cold, unhappy man, whose demeanor puts a damper on the festivities. The seriousness of Yeong-ho's depression becomes apparent when he climbs a railroad bridge and looks like he might jump. At this crucial moment, memories of seven crucial episodes from Yeong-ho's past flood his mind.

75

7.1

/5421/

72

/239/

70

/159/

3.9

/25729/

92

/49/

66

/14/

81

/16/

3.0

By mistake, film director Ham Chunsu arrives in Suwon a day early. With time to kill before his lecture the next day, Chunsu stops by a restored, old palace and meets an artist named Yoon Heejung. Together, they go to Heejung's workshop to look at her paintings, have Sushi with Soju for dinner, and get close. Later, they go to another café and have more drinks with Heejung's acquaintances. When asked if he is married, Chunsu is forced to reveal the fact that he is, and Heejung gets deeply disappointed...

75

7.3

/24488/

74

/795/

73

/540/

3.7

/18864/

88

/25/

78

/143/

70

/10/

A Korean man in China takes an assassination job in South Korea to make money and find his missing wife. But when the job is botched, he is forced to go on the run from the police and the gangsters who paid him.

81

74

7.4

/14416/

78

/901/

81

/782/

4.0

/229452/

86

/7/

88

/18/

age 13+

In 1999, a teen girl keeps close tabs on a boy in school on behalf of her deeply smitten best friend – then she gets swept up in a love story of her own.

74

7.0

/8349/

72

/442/

71

/185/

3.5

/11130/

95

/44/

87

/17/

71

/9/