Best Korean Films of all Time : popular internationally

Korea, a country that has always provided dramas and films to enter the youngsters’ minds and steal hearts across all over the world. Korean cinema has its fanbase. In almost every group of friends, you will see one to be a lover of Korean dramas mostly in India. South Korean cinema has marked its name in the most exciting foreign markets for films now. Filmmakers like Bong Joon-ho, Park Chan-wook, and other has provided all of us with one of the best category films. So, here I have made a list of the best Korean films for you to watch. Read the full article and get to know the best Korean films of all time.

The best Korean films are:

  • Parasite
  • Old boy
  • The handmaiden
  • Memories of Murder
  • Mother
  • The wailing
  • Burning
  • The host.
  • Train to Busan
  • Poetry.
  • I saw the devil
  • Thirst
  • Always.

The above list comprises the best films of all categories, action, horror, comedy, war, etc. Read below their details to select which film to watch first.

The best Korean Film ever

Parasite (2019)

The film Parasite is in the position everywhere because this film has got 4 Oscar awards with 2 nominations at the 92nd Academy Awards, becoming the first foreign film to win the best picture award. The film starring Kang-Ho Song, Sun-Kyun Lee, and Yeo-Jeong Jo, is directed by Bong Joon-Ho.
The story of the film revolves around a family, Kims. They belong to a slum area and are very poor. They find an opportunity when the son gets a job in one of the wealthiest families, The Park family. Then all of the family members find different ways to work in the same family hiding their family relations and start living there like a parasitic life. But their fortune comes to the end when the ex-maid of the Park family threatens to expose them. This film holds a very deep message about how a poor human and a rich human can have the same dreams and necessities but only the rich one gets them fulfilled in their life so easily.

IMDb 8.6 | Rotten Tomatoes 98% | Available, Prime video |

Old boy (2013)

The ‘Old boy’ is a dramatic action mystery film. Starring Min-Sik Choi, Ji-Tae Yoo, and Hye Jeong Kang. The story of this film revolves around a man, Oh Dae-Su who spends his part of life in prison for apparently no reason for years. During imprisonment in a hotel room, he spends his time thinking about what led him here.
Oh get released after 15 years then he finds the person behind his capture. And the whole journey of Oh with his confinement and attempts searching for the responsible person or persons is so interesting that it never let the audience left its seat. The twist seems in the ending makes it one of the best Korean films of all time. People still talk about this film even after 18 years.

IMDb 8.4 | Rotten tomatoes 82% | Available on,

The Handmaiden (2016)

The Handmaiden is a Korean erotic psychological thriller film set in the 1930s time of Korea when there was a Japanese occupation. The film stars Min-hee Kim, Jung-woo Ha, and Jin-Woong Cho. The Handmaiden tells a story about Sookee and her relationship with a young Japanese woman Hideko. The handmaiden happens to be a part of a plan to trick the heiress and run away by frauding her wealthy employee. But her plan did not work as her emotions commence getting in her plans.

IMDb 8.1 | Rotten tomatoes 95% |

The memories of murder (2003)

The memory of murder is an action-packed crime drama film. This film is made by the most famous Bong Joon-ho who is the Korean filmmaker of many Best films. The film stars Kang-ho Song, Sang-Kyung Kim, and Roe-ha Kim. The story of the film revolves around two detectives who struggle to solve the mystery of multiple rapes and murders. This film is based on the real-life murders that took place in the 1980s in Korea. The film holds many of the dark mysteries. The film is one of the masterpieces ever made.

IMDb 8.1 | Rotten Tomatoes 99% |

Mother (2009)

Mother is a dramatic crime thriller film set in Korea. The film stars Hye-ja Kim, Won Bin, and Goo Jin. This film tells a story about a widow who lives in a small town with her mentally challenged mother. She sells herbal medicines to earn their living. Suddenly a murder takes place for which her son was blamed. She knows that her son is innocent but he becomes the prime suspect for the cops. Then the mother takes the law in her hand in terms of proving her son innocent. The film holds a very emotional but strong power of a mother. The power a mother holds with truth to his son and what a mother can do for her child.

The Wailing (2016)

The Wailing is a mystery horror-thriller film. The film stars Jun Kunimura, Jung-min Hwang, and do-wan Kwak was directed by Na Hong-jin. The story of the film is about a small village in Korea where a magical deadly epidemic takes place and the arrival of a suspicious stranger. Soon the situation in the infected village gets worse as people start killing each other. A police detective has been hired to protect the village and to find the mystery whose daughter also gets ill. The suspicious stranger is supposed to be an evil spirit. The desperate villagers have to suffer through supernatural entities with demons, witches, and other spiritual entities.
This Korean film can be the best Korean film if you are a fan of the genre.

Burning (2018)

burning a love triangle film that reminds you of your love. The burning film is directed by Lee Chang-dong starring Jeong Jong-Seo, Steven Yuen, and Yoo Ah-in and is one the best Korean love story film of all time. The plotting of the film includes a novelist Lee Jong-Su, his childhood friend Shin hae-mi, and Ben a mysterious wealthy man ( This character is performed by Steven Yuen who has done an American Series The Walking Dead). Shin goes on a trip to Africa and so handovers her cat o his friend Lee. While she returns she brings a man with Ben who is wealthy but strange to Lee. In a conversation with Lee Ben talks about his hobbies and that’s where everything starts in the film.
The name burning justifies many explanations to this film but one can take it easy with the burning that happens in love. There is something in this film that steals the heart of millions across the world.

IMDb 7.5 | Rotten Tomatoes 95% | Available on Prime Video

The Host (2006)

The host is a monster film directed by the one and only Bong Joon-ho. It is a dramatic action horror film that keeps the same balance in the story as one of a masterpiece keeps. The film stars Kang-ho Song, Hee-bong Byun, and Hae-il Park. The film is set in Seoul South Korea and revolves around the story of the Park family. Park Gang-du’s daughter is taken by a monster who lives in the nearby Han River. The family struggles to get her safe from the monster.
This masterpiece has received praise from all over the world at the international level. The film has many profound senses of humor to find out by yourself. And, yes definitely this monster masterpiece film is the best Korean monster film of all time.

IMDb 7.1 | Available on Prime Video | Rotten Tomatoes

Train To Busan (2016)

train to busan best Korean films ofall time

The Train to Busan is an action horror thriller film from South Korea. The film starring Yoo Gong, Yu-mi Jung and Dong-Seok Ma are directed by Yeon Sang-ho. This film includes a plot in a bullet train headed towards the city Busan. Train to Busan is a piece of profound emotions that deals with zombies and many other moral values like the standard that we set for impoverished citizens. This film shows a complexness of life like how death is a part but we neglect it and it comes definitely.
Though the story of the film is of a father and who is busy in his work life named Sok-woo and his daughter. The journey to Busan from Seoul leads to an apocalypse by zombies to the world. The passengers of the train survive to save their lives and protect their families. The sacrifice of lives for their loved ones is how easy Right, film will tell these values if you wish to find them because it’s hidden.

IMDb 7.6 | Rotten Tomatoes 94% | Available on Prime Video

Thirst (2009)

Thirst is a dramatic horror-thriller film starring Kang-ho Song, Ok-bin Kim, and Hee-jin Choi, directed by Park-chan work. The story of the film includes a Catholic Christian priest Sang-Hyun who works at a hospital in South Korea as a volunteer for a secret vaccination project to help find a cure to a deadly virus. The film is horror as mentioned and has every Kind of thrilling action with vampires, blood and death, and everything to satisfy you in terms of horrific expectations.
The priest develops feelings for his friend’s wife and turns into a Vampire causing him to be thirsty for blood. He fights with himself for his moral values. The film provides a unique kind of Vampire movie to watch.


IMDb 7.1| Rotten tomatoes 81% | Available on Prime Video

Poetry (2010)

Directed by Lee-Chand Dongs, the film stars Yeon Jeong-hee, Kin Hye-Jeong, and Lee-David. This film doesn’t take you to a world where everything goes wrong and then there starts a battle and war fights blood and all instead, this film holds the reality of this world where we live. This film provides genuine human feelings like love, peace, and tranquility.

The film’s story centers around an elderly woman who has just suffered from a disease called Alzheimer’s and has joined a poetry class for mental peace. She has a teenage grandson who is somehow linked to a crime in which a girl was assaulted sexually by a group of boys including her grandson. The girl student commits suicide because of them. Yang finds herself caught up in a conspiracy to pay hush coins to the dead girl’s family. This film has numerous poetry scenes. Overall this is a worth watch film.

IMDb 7.8 | rotten tomatoes 100% |

I Saw The Devil (2011)

I Saw The Devil, an action thriller South Korean film directed by Kim Jee-Woon is starred by Choi Min-Sik, Lee Byung-hun, In-seo Kim, and Cheon Ho-jin. This film is based on Revenge, yes just revenge and how far can you go for revenge, this film is the master of its kind of films. In Korean cinema, you will get a lot of films with action and bloody thrilling and yes this one is an intensive example of it. The story of the film centers around a special service agent Kim Soo-Hyeon who finds his fiancee dead in a river and seeks retribution against a man who killed his fiancee.
After he finds the man Kyung-Chul things become twisted as Kim lets him free just by beating him brutally. Then the most common game of cat and mouse takes place making the audience stick to the screen.

IMDb 7.8 | Rotten tomatoes 81% |

Always (2011)

Always is a love story film directed by Song Gon starring Ji-sobSo, Hyo-Joo Han, and Shin-il Kang. This story has action moments to catch your eyes.
The film follows the love story between an ex-boxer who has nothing to do with this world and just closed his heart to this world and a girl who is a telemarketer, fully alive and spirited while slowly going blind. Their past takes them closer and their relationship continues to get deeper. This is a beautiful love story and is very popular in Korea. This film has bunches of a remake in different countries. Also in India, this film has remakes in Kannada released in 2015 and Hindi named as Do lafzo ki kahani released in 2016.

IMDb 7.8 | rotten tomatoes 81% |

Final Thought on The Best Korean films of all time.

The above data must be enough for you to decide whether they are a good combination of films or not. Moreover, I have not listed all the best Korean films as it is not possible to derive them all here, Korean cinema has provided us various best films. Now we have seen as a final thought that most of the above films are available on Prime Video and that none of the films are too old. We are living in a generation where that films still matter because of their plotting and beautiful presentations. So, I hope this article has helped you. For this kind of information, you can enter liveakhbar anytime.

Also Read : Here’s The List Of Best Bollywood Oscar Winning Movies

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