Compared to earlier than coronavirus, South Korean cinema become in a much less illustrious kingdom all through 2021, with theaters closed for much of the 12 months because of nearby outbreaks. Despite this, a few Korean movies still managed to debut.
You is probably thinking: what are the Best Korean Movies of 2021?
Cinema Escapist‘s workforce have curated this listing of the pinnacle eleven Korean movies from 2021 to satisfy your curiosity. We chose those 11 Korean films primarily based on their narrative craft, entertainment price, and societal importance. We’ve additionally protected streaming links whilst films are to be had on global platforms like Netflix.
Our picks consist of movies from genres such as comedy, movement, romance, horror, and extra. K-celebrity trackers will even discover titles proposing top stars like Seo Ye-ji, Im Yoon-ah (Yoona), Byun Yo-han, Jo In-sung, and Jeon Yeo-been.
Let’s dive into 2021’s best Korean movies!
• • •eleven. Hard Hit</iframe>”>
Korean identify: 발신제한 the top of a financial institution branch in Busan gets a limited smartphone call that warns him that a bomb will burst off underneath his vehicle seat and kill him if he stops the car. Thus starts offevolved the 2021 Korean mystery movie Hard Hit, which stars Jo Woo-jin as the aforementioned bank head.
Not that many thriller movies came out in Korea at some stage in 2021, which probable helped Hard Hit advantage enormous traction with Korean audiences. It hit #1 on the field workplace upon its launch, and is the 5th highest grossing Korean movie of 2021. With pumping background song and excessive stakes, Hard Hit does create a dynamic environment that have to get you excited as a minimum for its first quantities.10. Spiritwalker</iframe>”>
Korean name Director: Yoon Jae-geun movement movie Spiritwalker facilities on a person who’s misplaced his reminiscence and awakens in a brand new frame each twelve hours, pressured to rediscover his identification on every occasion. Soon, he meets a girl who says she recognizes him—and begins to understand that a mysterious employer is chasing after him.
Filled with dynamic movement sequences tinged with comedic elements, Spiritwalker feels like an interesting combo between Memento and The Beauty Inside. Korean audiences gave the movie a warm reception upon its theatrical launch in November 2021; Spiritwalker topped Korea’s container office for two weeks in a row.9. Waiting for Rain</iframe>”>
Korean name Genre: Romance, Melodrama
Waiting for the Rain chronicles the romance of a person named Young-ho and a lady named So-hee. The two meet by using risk through the mail, and begin to broaden a connection thru the ordinary change of handwritten letters.
With this mail-primarily based premise, Waiting for the Rain distinguishes itself from other Korean romances. It does a terrific activity of tracing the evolution of a relationship over the years and distance, in place of serving up romance in a moved quickly saccharine explosion. Furthermore, the movie’s ability to rouse nostalgia is well worth noting; it’s in reality rather harking back to pinnacle Chinese tragi-romances like Us and Them.eight. On the Line</iframe>”>
Korean title Genre: Crime, Action, Mystery
Phone scams afflict humans all around the global, South Korea blanketed. 2021 movement film On the Line imagines what may show up if sufferers of such scams decided to take revenge.
The film stars Byun Yo-han (well-known for his function in K-drama Mr. Sunshine) as a former detective named Seo Joon, who now runs a creation website online. When smartphone scammers goal him and his fellow employees, he vows retribution. Seo manages to music down the pinnacle of the syndicate (played by using Kim Mu-yeol) who focused him, and unravels a larger operation than he had even imagined.
There are many Korean movies related to ex-police officers taking revenge, so On the Line treads on mounted territory. However, its premise about telephone scams and rapid pace need to fulfill many audiences, just as YouTube movies of people getting revenge on scammers often go viral. Indeed, On the Line did pretty nicely at South Korea’s container workplace during 2021, ranking fourth basic for profits.7. Mission: Possible</iframe>”>
Korean identify: 미션 파서블 searching out a mix of a laugh and motion, check out Mission: Possible.
This comedy-action film centers on a undercover agent named Yoo Da-hee, who’s tasked with stopping an palms smuggling operation in South Korea. Yoo is meant to cooperate with a South Korean spy, but she instead links up with a hapless detective named Woo Soo-han because of a case of fallacious identification. When some key witnesses to the hands smuggling case turn out to be lifeless, this bizarre couple must cooperate to survive and locate justice.
In their roles as Yoo and Woo, lead actors Lee Sun-bin and Kim Young-kwang have great chemistry. The film is complete of action and doesn’t require lots of intellectual investment; it offers solid amusement for its two hour runtime.
Stream Mission: Possible on Viki6. Recalled</iframe>”>
Korean title: 내일의 기억 at the heels of her fulfillment in last year’s hit K-drama It’s OK to Not Be OK, actress Seo Ye-ji headlined the 2021 mystery-mystery Recalled. In this film, Seo stars as a female who wakes up one day to locate that she’s lost her memory. When she starts experiencing hallucinations that portend murderous destiny occasions, she realizes no longer the whole thing is because it appears.
Recalled is a extraordinarily suspenseful affair, one which reconstitutes many acquainted K-enjoyment tropes but in a novel way. It doesn’t take tons effort to enjoy this entertaining movie, specifically in case you experience plot twists. Learn more approximately Recalled in our full-length evaluation!
Stream Recalled on Viki.five. Sinkhole</iframe>”>
Korean title Starring: Cha Seung-gained, Kim Sung-kyun, Lee Kwang-soo eleven lengthy years, an office employee named Park Dong-received has eventually stored up enough to buy a domestic in Seoul. However, the night of his housewarming celebration, a big downpour plunges his new house right into a large sinkhole. Together with his hostile neighbor Jeong Man-soo, Park have to find a way to get his housewarming visitors to safety.
Such is the premise of Sinkhole — which became the second-highest grossing South Korean movie of 2021. This disaster comedy is full of hilarious moments, and also gives jabs at sky-excessive housing prices in Seoul. Altogether, Sinkhole is a chunk harking back to Exit, which combined comedy, disaster, and veiled social evaluations efficiently enough to be one in every of 2019’s pinnacle Korean movies.4. Night in Paradise</iframe>”>
Korean title: 낙원의 밤 won maximum acknowledged for directing 2013 gangster-themed hit New World and writing 2010’s famend motion mystery I Saw the Devil. In 2021, he again to direct Night in Paradise—a moody gangster revenge movie that you can without difficulty flow on Netflix.
The movie makes a speciality of a gangster enforcer named Tae-goo, who gets exiled to the “paradise island” of Jeju after happening a bloody stabbing spree of a rival gang. On Jeju, Tae-goo ends up living with an hands supplier and his niece, a young girl named Jae-yeon. Tae-goo soon discovers there’s greater to Jae-yeon than meets the attention, and the two begin to shape a bond that receives tested whilst the outcomes of Tae-goo’s earlier violent movements trap as much as him on Jeju.
With stylistic coloration grading and cinematography, Night in Paradise is a visible ceremonial dinner. It carries hundreds of movement, and its precise putting of Jeju should show fascinating especially for Asians greater acquainted with the island’s touristic reputation. Learn extra approximately Night in Paradise in our whole assessment.
Stream Night in Paradise on Netflix3. Miracle: Letters to the President</iframe>”>
Korean name Starring: Park Jeong-min, Im Yoon-ah (Yoona), Lee Sung-min