Korean movies and drama series have an enormous fanbase, and it’s growing day by day. Whether its’s romantic, horror, comedy, war, or any other genre, it’s steadily expanding all over the world. Due to its creative growth, there has been a rising in the Korean movie industry between the 1990s and 2000s, which wasn’t seen before. It’s now streaming across every OTT platform.
Let’s fill up your bucket list with 6 best Korean films available on Amazon Prime and Netflix:
1. Minari
Lee Issac Chung is the director and writer of Academy Award Winner, ‘Minari’, starring Steven Yeun, Han Ye Ri, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho, Youn Yuh Jung, and Will Patton. The film focuses on a Korean-American immigrant family and their struggling life when they shift to rural Arkansas from California. It’s available on Amazon Prime.
2. Parasite
Released in 2019, ‘Parasite’ belongs to the genre of dark humour. It was directed by Bong Jun Hoo, who co-wrote the screenplay along with Han Jin Won. The film features Song Kang Ho, Lee Sun Kyun, Cho Yeo Jeong, Choi Woo Shik, Park So Dam, Jang Hye Jin, and Lee Jung Eun. The plot is about Kim’s family, who disguises themselves and enters the rich Park family, ultimately facing disaster. ‘Parasite’ is the first South Korean film to receive Academy Award recognition and it’s also one of three films to win both the Palme d’Or and the Academy Award for Best Picture. You can watch it on Amazon Prime.
3. Train to Busan
The first Korean film to break the audience record of over 10 million theatergoers, ‘Train to Busan’ is based on Zombie Apocalypse. Directed by Yeon Sang-ho, it starred Gong Yoo, Jung Yu Mi, Ma Dong Seok, Kim Su An, Choi Woo Shik, Ahn So Hee, and Kim Eui Sung. Not only it has action and horror elements, but also emotional aspects like the father-daughter end moment, which makes the audience cry. It’s streaming on Amazon Prime.
4. Psychokinesis
Yeon Sang-Ho, who was the director of ‘Train to Busan’, had written and directed ‘Psychokinesis’ The super-hero film features Ryu Seung Ryong, Shim Eun Kyung, Park Jung Min, Kim Min Jae, and Jung Yu Mi. The film involves telekinetic powers as a supernatural element, and the story revolves around Kim Min Jae and Jung Yu Mi, an estranged father-daughter pair who reconciles in the end after the father rescues his daughter from the clutches of a construction company. It’s available on Netflix.
5. Okja
Streaming on Netflix, ‘Okja’ is an action film on animal cruelty directed by Bong Joon-Hoo, who wrote the screenplay with Jon Ronson. The cast of the film are Ahn Seo-hyun, Byun Hee-bong, Yoon Je-moon, and Choi Woo-Shik from South Korea, and from Hollywood, there are Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Steven Yeun, Lily Collins, Shirley Henderson, Daniel Henshall, Devon Bostick, Giancarlo Esposito, and Jake Gyllenhaal. The story involves a genetically evolved super pig and a young girl, who saves the pig from mistreatment at hands of Mirando Corporation.
6. The Drug King
Based on the real-life story of Lee Hwang-Soon, ‘The Dug King’ featured Song Kang-Ho (Lee Doo-Sam) as the protagonist, Jo Jung-suk as the rival, and Bae Doona as Lee Doo-Sam’s lover. Set in the 1970s, the film reveals how from a small drug smuggler, Lee ultimately became the drug lord. You can watch it on Netflix.
The list of great Korean movies is unlimited, but here are six of them which you will surely appreciate. Go watch them and check out one by one from your bucket list!
