25 South Korean Movies You Should Watch Before They’re Ruined by an American Remake
To quote “Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho, “…once you get past the 1-inch subtitle barrier, you’ll be introduced to many more amazing films.” Luckily, the streaming industry has made many of the films mentioned more accessible than ever, and there’s certainly no shortage of great films from South Korea’s Bong Joon Ho available at the click of a button.
Naturally, American producers are well aware of this and are planning to create English-language remakes that will make these foreign language films “more accessible” to American audiences, which usually means removing everything that makes them unique cultural artifacts. As evidence, I cite: the Korean “A Tale of Two Sisters” became the American “The Uninvited” , “Il Mare” became “The Lake House” , “Oldboy” became… “Oldboy” , but worse. A remake of Train to Busan called Last Train to New York has been in the works for a while now, but honestly, you might just want to watch Train to Busan . It is excellent.
Remakes can be good, of course, but there’s usually a reason the original was popular enough to inspire a remake. Remakes of some of these 25 South Korean films are in the works, some are heavily speculated about, and the rest are popular enough internationally that someone is no doubt thinking about how to tame them. Each of them is worth watching in the original version.
Train to Busan (2016)
Before Parasite , Yeon Sang-ho’s film was perhaps the biggest South Korean film to make its way into the American market, sparking an immediate bidding war for the remake rights, ultimately won by New Line. The (maybe) upcoming American version (it’s been delayed) generically titled Last Train to New York may well be quite good, but the title suggests that some of the subtext of the original will be lost. Busan, for example, was a refuge for refugees during the Korean War, and it’s hard to imagine an American film that carries over the original’s critique of capitalism and hint of working-class solidarity. I can’t imagine a remake improving on this thoughtful, heartfelt, and bloody zombie masterpiece.
Where to watch: Peacock , Tubi, Hi-YAH!, digital rental .
Hunters of the Badlands (2024)
Supporting Train to Busan ‘s MVP, Ma Dong-seok plays a hunter in post-apocalyptic Seoul, obtaining the resources needed to keep his small community afloat. The village barely survives when a scientist kidnaps a young girl looking for test subjects for his radical experiments. While it’s not exactly a new take on a brutal, brutal wasteland, it’s nonetheless an effective survival story, with touches of humor that keep things moving along. (It’s a completely standalone sequel to Concrete Utopia , which is also good, but much harder to find on streaming.)
Where to watch: Netflix
Exhuma (2024)
This creepy supernatural horror film follows a shaman and her protégé as they are called upon to help a wealthy Korean-American family uncover the source of their newborn’s illness. Its deep dive into traditional Korean shamanic practices combined with a contemporary and compellingly realistic setting earned rave reviews and sold huge numbers of tickets; it is ranked among the top ten films of all time at the South Korean box office. Americans love remaking Asian horror films, and the success of this film is undoubtedly in someone’s sights.
Where to watch: Shudder, digital rental.
Villainess (2017)
When we’re not looking through the eyes of the mysterious killer Sook-hee (played by Ok Bin Kim), we’re still drawn in by a level of kinetic, sometimes frantic, you-are-there immediacy. It was announced in July that Amazon Studios was working on an English-language TV series based on the film, but director Jung Byung-gil brings a unique, visceral and gory style to the original that will be difficult to replicate, and even more difficult. improve.
Where to watch: Peacock , Hi-YAH!, digital rental
I Saw the Devil (2010)
Action? Thriller? Raw horror? Yeah. The cult classic I Saw the Devil hits all those notes, combining truly gruesome torture porn with strong emotional beats. Choi Min-sik ( Oldboy ) plays Kyung-cheol, a serial killer who chooses his latest victim rather poorly: her boyfriend Soo-hyun is an intelligence officer, and when he figures out who killed her, he has no intention of turning the killer. before the authorities. Instead, he plans to torture Kyung Chul with a torturous game of cat and mouse. Given its cult status and similar atmosphere to Oldboy , it’s surprising that American filmmakers haven’t given this film a try. More.
Where to watch: Hulu , digital rental.
Night in Paradise (2020)
There’s a noir element to writer-director Park Hoon-jung’s bloody tale of a fugitive gangster who begins a relationship with the terminally ill niece of an arms dealer. It’s an interesting mix of ultra-violence and quiet musings (over a variety of carefully thought out and exquisitely presented dishes), though there’s a grim inevitability to it all that would make a remake appealing either in its rare and complete refusal to offer an easy way out… or a complete turn-off just for this.
Where to watch: Netflix
The Ring (2020)
In this timely sci-fi thriller, Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye) visits her childhood home in 2019 and discovers that an old cordless phone still works and connects her to Yeon-sook (Jung Jong-seo). they live in this house in 1999. They bond over their shared experiences, but things go wrong when So-yeon tells another young woman about the future and pressures her to make changes. Some events seem best left alone. Smart and suspenseful, with a solid high concept.
Where to watch: Netflix
Alienoid (2022)
Stupid title aside (and I have no idea if it’s better in Korean), Alienoid is a very effective thrill ride, even if the plot is confusing (involving multiple overlapping timelines, aliens, shamans, cat people and robots) are often difficult to understand. follow. It all begins with the warrior monks trying to return the holy sword to the year 1380, but they cross paths with alien hunters from 2012 through a time portal. If you dig into what’s on offer here, a 2024 sequel will immediately follow. Transpose past action from the Goryeo dynasty to, say, medieval France, and you’ve got a remake (not that I’m encouraging it).
Where to watch: Tubi, Hi-YAH!, digital rental .
Broker (2022)
The feel of this sweet, sensual road movie will be familiar to fans of American indie road films (think Little Miss Sunshine ), so a remake is out of the question. Song Kang-ho ( Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance , Snowpiercer ) plays a laundry owner with a grim side job: he occasionally takes babies from a church crate and sells them on the adoption market. He had no particular doubts about this until a mother approached him and changed her mind about giving up her child. Together with his friend, they went in search of the child’s adoptive mother, and a pair of detectives followed on their heels.
Where to watch: Hulu , digital rental.
Right Now, Not Then (2015)
An arthouse take on Groundhog Day , the romantic drama Right Now, Not Then follows a famous film director who begins a flirtatious relationship with a young artist while visiting a small town for a film showing. All goes well until the drinks start flowing and the artist discovers his reputation as a womanizer. Then the day starts over again and he gets another shot – but this is not a film that embraces standard definition, combining its high concept with real human drama.
Where to watch: digital rental.
Deciding to Leave (2022)
Like most of writer-director Park Chan-wook’s films ( Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance , Oldboy , The Handmaiden ), this one is difficult to categorize into genres. It alternates between romance, thriller and mystery – or all three at once. Insomniac detective Jang Hae-joon doesn’t miss a clue until he begins to fall in love with (and then become obsessed with , Vertigo- style) a recently widowed woman who doesn’t seem all that upset about her husband’s death. The enigmatic and beautifully shot film won Park the Best Director award at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
Where to watch: Mubi, digital rental.
Miss Granny (2014)
A cute fantasy comedy that was a big hit in South Korea. The US is just about the only country that hasn’t (yet) tried to remake it – seriously: China, Japan, India and Mexico are just a few of the countries that have made their own versions. Oh Mal Sun is a 74-year-old widow living with her son and daughter-in-law. She is bossy and generally mean, so much so that her son plans to put her in a nursing home to get her away from his increasingly depressed and anxious wife. One day, while trying to take preliminary photographs of a funeral, Mel-soon stumbles upon a mysterious photography studio… and a 20-year-old woman emerges. Her new life forces her to face her views on life and the problems of her youth.
Where to watch: Netflix, digital rental.
Speechless (2011)
Based on a true story, Silence is a complex but powerful drama about a new teacher at a school for the deaf who gradually uncovers the insidious practices of physical and sexual abuse that the school is trying to hide. It started a national conversation about child sexual abuse in private schools and inspired new laws eliminating statutes of limitations for victims to sue. Unfortunately, I am sure there are similar cases in the United States that deserve attention.
Where to watch: Netflix, Tubi
Psychokinesis (2018)
Train to Busan director Yeon Sang Ho followed up this zombie film with another reimagining of the genre, taking cues from superhero films with a similar approach to reimagining. There’s no spandex here, just a delinquent father who drinks meteorite-infused water that grants him the ability to move objects with his mind. Given the ever-increasing stakes for major superhero films, it’s not unusual to find a film that follows a middle-aged clubber who decides to use his powers to save his daughter’s trendy but failing chicken restaurant and the other tenants in her neighborhood who are being forced out. in favor of a new shopping center. It’s not quite the same as Busan , but it’s a refreshingly light-hearted take on an increasingly serious genre.
Where to watch: Netflix
Extreme Job (2019)
Want another action-comedy set in a chicken restaurant? No problem. Director Lee Byung Hun’s A Job Extraordinary is sitting somewhere near the top of all-time Korean box office records, so naturally Universal Pictures is interested in a remake. The idea is pretty dumb but clever: a group of narcotics officers are given one last chance to stop failing their assignments. They manage to find a great surveillance spot at a local chicken restaurant, but find that the business is failing. Only decision? Save the business by taking over operations – a plan that will lead to unexpected consequences when their new marinade becomes a sensation.
Where to watch: digital rental.
Space Cleaners (2021)
It doesn’t completely reinvent the wheel, but it does put a refreshing emphasis on the lower classes of the future without going too far into dystopia. I’m not the first to compare Space Sweepers and Cowboy Bebop , but given the quick failure of the Netflix live-action version of this cartoon, it’s not a stretch to say that you’ll find a better incarnation of Bebop. The spirit of diversity found family and its cosmic Western environment here, on the game show that bore its name. What it lacks in originality, it makes up for with engaging characters and extravagant special effects. It’s also nice to see a less American-centric view of the future, which will inevitably be lost in the remake.
Where to watch: Netflix
Box (2021)
The jukebox-style musical The Box , which gained wild popularity upon its release in South Korea, has already gained an international flair: it finds a wise and up-and-coming singer on a road trip across Korea with a down-on-his-luck producer (think A Star Is Born , without the doomed love story). During their journey, they either perform or are introduced to modern Korean pop songs, as well as American standards and modern hits from Coldplay, Billie Eilish, Pharrell Williams, etc., proving that it doesn’t have to be a remake. . cross boundaries and connect with audiences.
Where to watch: Prime Video
Pandora (2016)
Pandora is a lot like a classic disaster movie: it’s a loud, crowded and slightly overblown story about a small group of ordinary people heroically fighting to prevent nuclear holocaust. The promise, however, is how the film will stand out (especially) to American audiences. Pandora, more interested in (some truly impressive) action sequences, doesn’t tackle government incompetence and class as hard as Korean productions tend to, but there is a subtle undercurrent of anti-capitalist social commentary throughout the film.
Where to watch: Netflix
The next day (2017)
With shades of Scenes from a Marriage, prolific director Hong Sang-soo’s film tracks the decline of a relationship after a case of mistaken identity. It may not be at the top of anyone’s list of remakes, but it’s a good reminder that Korean cinema isn’t just about high-concept genre films—they’re just the biggest sellers overseas. Hong’s quiet, emotional drama is as emblematic of what Korean cinema is capable of as any action or horror film.
Where to watch: Digital rental via Apple TV or YouTube.
Gonjiam: The Haunted Asylum (2018)
I’d say it’s more a case of Korean filmmakers playing with Western horror tropes… except there’s an American remake in the works, so. The Gonjiam original was incredibly popular in South Korea, and deservedly so: the format is familiar, but it’s a particularly effective and well-made example of the subgenre. The key here, as in real estate, is location, location, location: director Jung Bum-sik and the rest of the filmmakers have painstakingly recreated the real-life Gongjiam Psychiatric Hospital in Gwangju, reputedly one of the most haunted places in Korea. . It’s an incredibly bizarre setting to take down a doomed web series team.
Where to watch: Prime Video , Peacock , Hi-YAH!, Tubi
#Live (2020)
The film, released back in June 2020, has already seen its American remake come and go (sort of): both #Alive and the film Alone starring Tyler Posey and Donald Sutherland were filmed around the same time the same time according to the same scenario. It ‘s about a charming gamer (Yoo Ah-in) who tries to survive a zombie apocalypse by locking himself away (i.e., quarantined) in his apartment, and ends up forming a bond with a woman living in the apartment across the street. It might or might not be fun to make a double feature out of it. (You can watch the confusing 2020 thriller also called Alone , but I’m not sure what that will do for you.)
Where to watch: Netflix
Night Flight (2014)
To be fair, American producers probably aren’t desperate to remake this strange melodrama, but they could probably learn a thing or two from the courage of gay director Leesung Hee-il. Pushing the boundaries of his films that others were reluctant to push, his film Night Flight, which follows the changing relationships between three high school friends when one of the boys is revealed to be gay, made it clear that there is a decent market in Korea for LGBTQ+ content. By depicting the costs of social stigma, the film dramatizes some of the darker images of cinematic gay men, but nevertheless opens the door for Asian filmmakers.
Where to watch: Plex
Lament (2016)
While things have been quiet on the remake front for a few years, it could still happen: Ridley Scott’s production company immediately took notice of The Cry when it first came out in 2016. The horror film was a commercial and critical success. the spread of a raging plague that has struck a remote village – a plague of extraterrestrial origin. The concerns expressed by the film’s producer at the time remain valid: the film’s religious overtones are grounded in Korea’s religious pluralism, making direct translation difficult, if not impossible.
Where to watch: Peacock , Netflix, Hi-YAH!, digital rental .
Midnight (2021)
Squid Game ‘s Wi Ha Joon plays the role of a serial killer playing cat and mouse with Kim Kyung Mi (Jin Ki Joo), a deaf woman who works late at a call center. Ha-joon pursues first Kyungmi and then her mother, while the former victim’s brother tries to find the killer and stop him from committing another murder. The plot, which unfolds over the course of the night and is full of twists and turns, is worth watching.
Where to watch: Prime Video , Peacock , Tubi
Parasite (2019)
You may have heard of this little-known film, but only if you watch the little independent film awards show called the Oscars. Adam McKay ( The Big Short ) is developing an HBO television series adaptation with the participation and collaboration of Parasite director Bong Joon-ho. He promises to create an original story based on the film, but Bong is such an unusual director and his style of deeply biting social satire is so specific that it’s hard to understand the appeal of an Americanized spin-off. It’s a bit like the TNT series based on Bong’s Snowpiercer – the show is okay, sure, but it lacks the focus and edge of the original.
Where to watch: Max , digital rental