If you liked “Parasite”, here are 24 other films to know more about South Korean cinema

the south korean movie Parasite made history by winning the Oscar for “Best Film” and “Best Foreign Language Film” at the same ceremony. However, the cinema of this Asian country has been producing incredibly interesting films for years, which, unfortunately, are not so well known in this part of the world.

O awesome.club want to share with you a list of over 20 movies that defined cinema in South Korea and are worth watching. At the end of the post, a bonus with more recommendations awaits you.

Directed by Kim Ki-young, Hanyo the Maid is considered one of the best South Korean films of all time, according to the specialized website Koreanfilm.org. That is one thriller psychological, whose argument is the destruction of a family. The breakdown occurs when the group hires a woman to do the housework. The story is disturbing and at the same time melodramatic.

Directed by Yu Hyun-mok, Obaltan is a tragic film based on the novel of the same name written by Yi Beomseon. The story deals with a family scarred by the Korean War. Characters move between their own emotional issues and the social tension created by the conflict.

Directed by Yim Soon-rye, Sechinku shows the lives of three young Koreans who are about to take the university entrance exam, on which their destiny depends. Kim Tae-Moo is a brilliant cartoonist whose work is plagiarized, which gets him into trouble at school and even in the military. Cho Sein has an alcoholic father and his desire is to become a hairdresser, despite the attacks he receives for doing so. Kong Seungho is visibly overweight and addicted to food and watching videos. The film delves into their friendship, their families, and their experiences in South Korean social reality.

bakha satang is a film directed by Lee Chang-dong that portrays the different stages in the life of a man, Young Ho. The order in which the story is told is reversed and starts with the protagonist’s suicide going all the way to the moment he reaches his college days. The story is quite interesting, as it shows, in part, what the militarized society of the 1980s was like and what the economic crisis of the 1990s was like.

Lee Hyun-seung adapted Jiro Asada’s novel and brought it to the big screen. siworae deals with a girl named Kim who lives by a lake. When she needs to change her address, she leaves a note for the next resident in her mailbox, letting them know she is expecting a letter and leaving her new address for him to send it to. The next owner is Han, who, upon reading the letter, is surprised, as no one has lived there before. However, he decides to write and communicate with the girl. Although, at first, the viewer believes it to be a joke, he suddenly discovers that both lived in the house at different times. The film was so popular in South Korea that, six years later, Argentine filmmaker Alejandro Agresti directed the American adaptation. The Lake Housestarring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock.

Written and directed by Lee Jeong-hyang and translated into Portuguese as way home, this story portrays the tenderness of a grandmother, as sweet as she is generous, who takes care of her grandson. Living in rural South Korea, the elderly woman is far from modern; however, one day, her daughter shows up to ask her to look after Sang-woo, her spoiled little son, while she tries to get a job in the city. Through an innovative and avant-garde look, we see the characters, grandmother and grandson, interact emotionally, despite their obvious differences.

Memoirs of an Assassin is a film directed by Bong Joon-ho, from Parasite. The feature is a crime thriller inspired by a true story of the first serial killer known in Korea, whose crimes took place between 1986 and 1991 in Gyeonggi Province. The story follows the detectives tasked with solving the case, who try to find clues through their own tools. Despite containing all the essential elements of a detective film, the feature also involves other plot resources, such as the historical reality of the country, institutional violence, etc.

Nae meorisokui jiwoogae is a love story directed by Lee Jae Han. Immersed in deep depression, Su Jin lives the consequences of having a relationship with a married man, who, after a while, rejects her. Ashamed, she returns to her father’s house to ask for forgiveness. One day, Su Jin goes to a store and has an incident with an unknown man. Although this story apparently has nothing different, a year later, the girl meets him again, when she arrives at the building where her father works. They then begin an idyllic love story, get married and live happily together, until Su Jin is stricken with Alzheimer’s disease.

This film by Kim Ki-duk develops a profound story about a small Buddhist monastery that contains a world in itself. The place is full of mysticism, starting with the location itself: a floating raft in the center of a lagoon. There, an old monk prepares to impart his wisdom to a child monk in his care. The plot unfolds over four seasons, in which the young monk grows up and faces different life situations, with compassion as his only tool.

old boy is one of the parts of the call revenge trilogy from Chan-Wook Park. The plot tells the story of a man, Dae Su Oh, who is held captive for 15 years, until one day he is released without explanation. His tormentors give him a cell phone, money and expensive clothes. Then, Dae Su Oh is faced with the reality that he simply has no purpose in life anymore other than to seek out Lee Woo-jin, the main perpetrator of the kidnapping, to exact revenge. That thriller caught the attention of international critics.

Empty house, directed by Kim Ki-duk, introduces an unusual character, Tae-suk, who is a boy who usually illegally enters absentee people’s homes. He is not a thief or does damage to houses; in fact, every time he leaves a house, he leaves it as he found it. Even better, it usually “thanks” the owners of these houses by doing something for them, washing clothes or fixing something broken. One day, Tae-suk walks into the house of Sun-hwa, who lives with an abusive husband who imprisons her in a luxurious mansion. The two feel instantly connected. Although she manages to see the boy infiltrate her home, she hides the secret. Thus, both begin to live a love story, of silence and with a strange destiny.

The Host, also directed by the now famous Bong Joon-ho, tells the peculiar story of a strange creature that lives on the Han River (the most important in South Korea), who tries to capture a girl, who, in turn, is rescued by her father, Park Gang-du. However, he discovers that he has saved the wrong girl. So he starts a hunt to look for his daughter. Despite the many possible interpretations, this is a story of suspense and black humor, which makes a very subtle criticism of pollution.

I’m a Cyborg, So What? is a film by Park Chan-wook that has many nuances of a romantic comedy. It tells the story of Young-goon, a girl who suffers from a psychiatric condition that makes her think she is a robot; she refuses to eat human food because she believes it will ruin her system. So, she is admitted to a psychiatric hospital, where she meets Il-soon, who, in turn, has a psychiatric problem that makes him think he can steal the souls of others. Both start a romance, within their conditions, and try to help each other overcome their own difficulties.

secret sun, directed by Lee Chang-dong, is an apology for pain. The story focuses on a widow and her son, who experience a series of tragedies. Thus, they meet Kim Jong-chan, a mechanic who not only helps them solve car problems, but also solves life’s biggest difficulties. This work won the “Best Film” award at the Asian Film Awards and the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

Mother — The Quest for Truth is another work by Bong Joon-ho, which has some characteristics of drama and suspense. It focuses on the story of a mother who does everything possible to prove her son’s innocence, accused of murdering a woman. Along the way, she encounters obstacles such as corruption, deceit, and moral issues.

Kimsi ​​Pyoryugi is a romantic drama directed by Lee Hae-jun. An executive throws himself into the Han River in an attempt to commit suicide; however, he wakes up and realizes that the event that should have left him lifeless has landed him on a deserted island located right in the middle of the river. A few kilometers away, the executive is observed by a young woman who lives isolated in her room and who feels motivated by him to go out into the world.

Right Now, Wrong Before, directed by Hong Sang-soo, it tells the story of a film director and a painter who meet by chance. Both begin to bond and connect within a single day. And although it appears that their feelings are genuine, they soon realize that they can’t control how things happen, but that everything happens when it’s supposed to happen.

the maiddirected by Park Chan-wook, is based on the novel At Fingertips, by Sarah Waters. The scene has been completely transformed from the Victorian era of the United Kingdom to the Japanese occupation of Korea. The plot revolves around Sookee, a young woman hired to serve as a maid in the home of a wealthy Japanese woman. The character Hideko, in turn, lives as a recluse in a large mansion under the influence of a tyrant, Kouzuki, and does not know the plan that the maid is plotting. However, both start a very close relationship and end up creating a plan together.

zombie invasion is an undead movie directed by Yeon Sang-ho. A father and his daughter board a train to Busan (one of the country’s major cities) to see her mother. However, the trip is cut short when a zombie outbreak attacks the people in the vehicle. So father and daughter must survive and reach the city before being quarantined.

the lament🇧🇷