The Best Korean Movies Of The 2010s
What are the best Korean movies of the decade? You get to help make that call. Korea has a vibrant filmmaking scene, and their movies are popular around the world. Due to the phenomenal recent success of Bong Joon-ho's Parasite, both critically and commercially, eyes are increasingly focused on Korean cinema. For good reason, too. There's an emphasis on challenging and absorbing stories that pull viewers right in.
Parasite is definitely one of the most popular Korean movies of the 2010s. Others that have achieved a measure of acclaim in North America include Kim Ji-woon's I Saw the Devil, Lee Chang-dong's Burning, and Park Chan-wook's The Handmaiden. Bong Joon-ho's two prior films, Okja and Snowpiercer, are also among the finest movies to come out of Korea in the last ten years. There are plenty of others. We've assembled a list of Korean films from every genre -- drama to comedy, horror to romance. Aside from ranking the finest titles, this will also serve as a jumping-off point for anyone wanting to experience what Korean cinema has to offer.
Vote up the top 2010s Korean movies from the list below, and if there are some highly-ranked ones you haven't seen, plan a night of viewing entertainment.
- Burning is a 2018 South Korean mystery drama film directed by Lee Chang-dong, based on the short story "Barn Burning" by Haruki Murakami. A part-time worker hoping to spend more time with a childhood ...more
- Parasite is a 2019 South Korean dark comedy thriller film directed by Bong Joon-ho. An unemployed driver (Song Kang-ho) and his out-of-work family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous ...more
- The Wailing is a 2016 South Korean supernatural horror film directed by Na Hong-jin. Suspicion leads to hysteria when rural villagers link a series of brutal murders to the arrival of a mysterious ...more
- A Taxi Driver is a 2017 South Korean historical action drama film directed by Jang Hoon. A taxi driver from Seoul (Song Kang-ho) unintentionally becomes involved in the events of the Gwangju ...more
- Veteran is a 2015 South Korean action crime comedy film directed by Ryoo Seung-wan. A tough detective hunts down a young and successful man who has bad intentions.
- Train to Busan is a 2016 South Korean zombie apocalypse action thriller film directed by Yeon Sang-ho. A man, his estranged daughter and other passengers become trapped on a speeding train during a ...more
- Masquerade is a 2012 South Korean historical drama film directed by Choo Chang-min. Though it places his own life in danger, a look-alike commoner secretly takes the place of a poisoned king to save ...more
- A post-apocalyptic ice age forces humanity's last survivors aboard a globe-spanning supertrain. One man (Chris Evans) will risk everything to lead a revolt for control of the engine and the future of ...more
- The Age of Shadows is a 2016 South Korean period action thriller film directed by Kim Jee-woon. Korean resistance fighters smuggle explosives to destroy facilities controlled by Japanese forces in ...more
- The Yellow Sea is a 2011 crime action film directed by Na Hong-jin. A taxi driver goes on the run after an attempt to carry out a hit on a professor goes terribly awry.
- The Face Reader is a 2013 South Korean historical drama film directed by Han Jae-rim. A Korean face-reader learns of a prince's plan to seize his country's throne.
- New World is a 2013 South Korean crime drama film directed by Park Hoon-jung. Posing as the right-hand man of a ruthless gangster, an undercover cop finds it difficult to play both parts, even with ...more
- Assassination is a 2015 South Korean espionage action film directed by Choi Dong-hoon. While Korea is occupied by the Japanese Army in 1933, the resistance plans to kill the Japanese Commander, but ...more
- The Handmaiden is a 2016 South Korean erotic psychological thriller film directed by Park Chan-wook. A woman is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, but secretly she is involved in a plot to ...more
- On a dark road, taxi driver Kyung-chul (Choi Min-sik) comes across a scared female motorist stranded in a broken-down vehicle. He pulls over -- but not to help her. When the woman's head is ...more
- Han Gong-ju is a 2013 South Korean drama film directed by Lee Su-jin. A young woman is forced to confront a traumatic event from her youth as the result of a police investigation.
- Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds is a 2017 South Korean fantasy drama film directed by Kim Yong-hwa, based on the webcomic. Having died unexpectedly, firefighter Ja-hong (Cha Tae-hyun) is taken to ...more
- A Hard Day is a 2014 South Korean crime action thriller film directed by Kim Seong-hun. A homicide detective accidentally kills a man with his car, then tries to hide the body in his mother's coffin ...more
- Eun-yi (Jeon Do-yeon), a poor Korean woman, takes a job as a domestic servant in the lavish home of Hoon Goh (Lee Jung-jae), a handsome businessman whose wife Hae-ra (Seo Woo) is pregnant. Under the ...more
- The Man from Nowhere is a 2010 South Korean action thriller film directed by Lee Jeong-beom. When a young girl (Kim Sae-ron) is kidnapped, a mysterious man (Won Bin) embarks on a bloody rampage to ...more
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Inside Men
Inside Men is a 2015 South Korean political crime-action film directed by Woo Min-ho, based on the webtoon by Yoon Tae-ho.
- Ode to My Father is a 2014 South Korean family-drama war film directed by Yoon Je-kyoon. Amid the time of Korean War, a young boy vows to take care of his family, marking the beginning of a lifelong ...more
- The Unjust is a 2010 crime thriller film directed by Ryoo Seung-wan. When the most probable serial killer suspect dies and the case looks like it's reached a dead end, the police decide to create a ...more
- Miracle in Cell No. 7 is a 2013 South Korean film starring Ryu Seung-ryong, Kal So-won and Park Shin-hye. The film is a heartwarming comedy and family melodrama about a mentally challenged man ...more
- The King of Pigs is a 2011 South Korean animated drama film directed by Yeon Sang-ho. Haunted by their troubled childhoods, Jung Jong-suk and Hwang Kyung-min reunite one evening and recall their ...more
