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Essential South Korean Cinema

Parasite (2019)
Bong Joon-ho · 40 critic votes
Streaming on Kanopy
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.
Memories of Murder (2003)
Bong Joon-ho · 11 critic votes
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.
Oldboy (2003)
Park Chan-wook · 8 critic votes
Free on Plex Channel · Streaming on Kanopy
With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate man seeks revenge on his captors.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)
Kim Ki-duk · 6 critic votes
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.
Mother (2009)
Bong Joon-ho · 5 critic votes
Free on Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, YouTube Free · Streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla, Philo
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.
Right Now, Wrong Then (2015)
Hong Sang-soo · 5 critic votes
Streaming on Fandor, Kanopy, Hoopla
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...
The Day He Arrives (2011)
Hong Sang-soo · 4 critic votes
Streaming on Kanopy
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.
Burning (2018)
Lee Chang-dong · 4 critic votes
Free on YOW.tv, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel · Streaming on MUBI, Kanopy, Fandor Amazon Channel
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.
The Housemaid (1960)
Kim Ki-young · 3 critic votes
Streaming on Criterion Channel
A piano composer's family moves into a new house; when his pregnant wife collapses from working to support the family, he hires a housemaid to help with housework.
Secret Sunshine (2007)
Lee Chang-dong · 3 critic votes
Streaming on Sundance Now, Kanopy, AMC+
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.
Bad Movie (1997)
Jang Sun-woo · 2 critic votes
Children who refuse to live with their families or give up on the streets work at a bar or steal money. When you don't have money, you'd rather starve than give up playing. Several people have to bowl as much as they want, jump out of the window with their lives, and dance with real dancers at a rock cafe.
Peppermint Candy (2000)
Lee Chang-dong · 2 critic votes
Streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla, Film Movement Plus
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.
Oasis (2002)
Lee Chang-dong · 2 critic votes
Streaming on Kanopy, Film Movement Plus, Metrograph
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.
Tale of Cinema (2005)
Hong Sang-soo · 2 critic votes
Free on Rakuten Viki
In Seoul, a suicidal student meets a young woman who decides to join him in his fatal gesture. Dongsoo, an unsuccessful filmmaker, spots a beautiful young woman, who happens to be the lead actress in the film he has just seen. Their stories will cross paths thanks to their love for cinema.
The Host (2006)
Bong Joon-ho · 2 critic votes
Free on YouTube Free, Fandango at Home Free, Xumo Play · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Kanopy, Hoopla
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.
Oki's Movie (2010)
Hong Sang-soo · 2 critic votes
Streaming on Kanopy
Oki, a film student, gets involved in two relationships as she navigates the advances of a fellow student and grapples with her feelings for her much older professor.
A Girl at My Door (2014)
July Jung · 2 critic votes
Sent from Seoul to serve in a remote coastal village, a policewoman gets involved in the life of a mysterious teenage girl who is abused by both her father and her grandmother.
Yourself and Yours (2016)
Hong Sang-soo · 2 critic votes
Streaming on Kanopy
While a South Korean man wanders the city in search of the woman he just broke up with, she successively meets and flirts with two men who claim to have met her before.
The Day After (2017)
Hong Sang-soo · 2 critic votes
Streaming on Kanopy
On her first day at work, Areum replaces a woman who broke up with the boss. The wife of the boss finds a love note, bursts into the office, and mistakes Areum for the other woman.
House of Hummingbird (2019)
Kim Bora · 2 critic votes
Free on Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Kanopy, Fandor Amazon Channel
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.
Madame Freedom (1956)
Han Hyeong-mo · 1 critic vote
Oh starts working at a boutique to help her make a living. Professor Jang begins dating the typist Miss Park, but decides to break up with her to protect her family. Han's wife anonymously sends a letter to Jang to reveal Oh's affair.
The Aimless Bullet (1961)
Yu Hyun-mok · 1 critic vote
Two brothers—Chul-ho, an accountant with a toothache and a pregnant wife, and Yong-ho, an unemployed ex-soldier wounded in battle—navigate life in post-war Korea.
A Day Off (1968)
Lee Man-hee · 1 critic vote
One Sunday, a penniless unmarried young South Korean couple meet, as they do every Sunday; while the pregnant young woman believes they are not ready to bring a child into the world, the young man decides to go visit his friends to borrow money for delivery.
Mandala (1981)
Im Kwon-taek · 1 critic vote
A story that follows the lives and interactions of two Buddhist monks living in South Korea.
Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? (1989)
Bae Yong-kyun · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Kanopy, OVID
About three monks in a remote monastery; an aging master, a small orphan and a young man who left his city life to seek Enlightenment.
Sanggye-Dong Olympic (1991)
Kim Dong-won · 1 critic vote
When it was decided that the 88 Olympics would be held in Seoul, the residents of Sanggye-dong were forced from their homes and they struggled against the government to at least guarantee them new residences.
Dachimawa Lee (1998)
Ryoo Seung-wan · 1 critic vote
Hwa-nyeo and Chung-nyeo, two country girls who have come to Seoul with big dreams. They are thrilled just to see the wondrous Seoul landscape, but a group of thugs, including Shanghai Park, appears before them. Just as they face a terrible fate, a man by the name of Dachimawa Lee appears like a comet. He suavely fights off the thugs and rescues Hwa-nyeo and Chung-nyeo. The two girls become infatuated with his manly image, and Hwa-nyeo and Dachimawa Lee fall in love. Meanwhile, the head of the thugs, the Nameless Man of the East, hears that his underlings have been harshly beaten and decides to make Dachimawa Lee pay. Finally, there is a battle between Dachimawa Lee and the gang of the Nameless Man of the East.
Chunhyang (2000)
Im Kwon-taek · 1 critic vote
Once at a pagoda Mongryong Lee, a scion of a well-to-do family, meets Chunhyang, the young daughter of a courtesan and an aristocrat. Despite her low social standing she is smart and well-educated. The young people fall in love and think about marriage so that they could always be together. Mongryong is soon to go to the capital to take the state civil service exam. They part and in Chunhyang's life there appears the greedy and lustful Byun Hak-do, who tries to seduce her.
On the Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate (2002)
Hong Sang-soo · 1 critic vote
After being rejected for a film role, a stage actor leaves Seoul to visit a friend and, in his travels, winds up getting involved with two women.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)
Park Chan-wook · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Shudder, Shudder Amazon Channel, AMC+
A deaf man and his girlfriend resort to desperate measures in order to fund a kidney transplant for his sister. Things go horribly wrong, and the situation spirals rapidly into a cycle of violence and revenge.
3-Iron (2004)
Kim Ki-duk · 1 critic vote
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.
Spider Forest (2004)
Song Il-gon · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla
TV Producer Kang Min enters Spider Forest for a documentary. He enters a cabin and discovers two brutally murdered bodies. One is his girlfriend Hwang Soo-Young and the other is his colleague Choi Jong-Pil. Kang Min also senses someone watching him and runs after that person into to the forest. He's soon knocked unconscious. When he awakens again he continues his chase into a tunnel. Kang Min is then struck by a speeding car.
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005)
Park Chan-wook · 1 critic vote
Free on Pluto TV · Streaming on Shudder, Shudder Amazon Channel, AMC+
Released after being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for 13 years, a woman begins executing her elaborate plan of retribution.
Crush and Blush (2008)
Lee Kyoung-mi · 1 critic vote
After being demoted from teaching Russian to middle-school English students, Me-sook is literally red-faced with shame, because on top of all her other issues — unrequited love, unpopularity — Me-sook has a blushing problem.
On the Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate (2009)
Hong Sang-soo · 1 critic vote
After being rejected for a film role, a stage actor leaves Seoul to visit a friend and, in his travels, winds up getting involved with two women.
Poetry (2010)
Lee Chang-dong · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Hoopla, Criterion Channel
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.
The Handmaiden (2016)
Park Chan-wook · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
1930s Korea, in the period of Japanese occupation, a new girl, Sook-hee, 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.
Train to Busan (2016)
Yeon Sang-ho · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Hoopla
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.
On the Beach at Night Alone (2017)
Hong Sang-soo · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Kanopy
In a foreign city, an actress wanders through a seaside town, reflecting on her relationship with a married man. How important is love in one’s life? Younghee wants to find out.
The Woman Who Ran (2020)
Hong Sang-soo · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Kanopy
While her husband is on a business trip, Gamhee meets three of her friends. She visits the first two at their homes, and the third she encounters by chance at a theater. While they make friendly conversation, as always, several currents flow independently above and below the surface of the sea.
In Front of Your Face (2021)
Hong Sang-soo · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Kanopy
She has never lived in a high-rise apartment, and she wonders how her sister can live at this height every day. A few days ago she kind of burst in to stay with her sister, and she is now becoming re-accustomed to life in Korea. While seeming to keep a grave secret to herself, she manages life one day at a time with a sense of mindfulness. Meanwhile a certain director, some years younger than her, has asked her to join his project, and after a polite refusal, they have agreed to meet for the first time today. Downtown Seoul is filled with narrow alleys that harbor tiny old bars, and that's where they meet. As they are getting drunk, there is sudden rainfall and thunder.
Introduction (2022)
Hong Sang-soo · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Kanopy
Youngho is summoned by his father, who is a doctor. Finding him busy with his patients, one of whom is a famous actor, Youngho has to wait. When his girlfriend Juwon moves to Berlin for her studies, Youngho shows up in the city to surprise her. Through her mother, Juwon has found accommodation at the home of an artist whose beauty intimidates her. Some time later, Youngho goes to lunch with his mother who wants to introduce him to a colleague – it is the same man Youngho met at his father’s clinic. Youngho asks his friend Jeongsoo to accompany him, and after lunch they go to the beach. Youngho falls asleep, and dreams of Juwon. When he wakes up, he braves the considerable cold and goes swimming, while Jeongsoo watches.
The Novelist's Film (2022)
Hong Sang-soo · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Kanopy
A novelist visits a bookstore run by a young colleague who's been out of touch, then takes a walk with a film director and his wife. She meets an actress and tries to convince her to make a film together.
No Other Choice (2025)
Park Chan-wook · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Hulu
After being laid off and humiliated by a ruthless job market, a veteran paper mill manager descends into violence in a desperate bid to reclaim his dignity.

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Essential South Korean Cinema

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