Korean films about society

Along With the Gods: The Last 49 Days follows the journey of 3 Afterlife Guardians and Su-hong as they journey through their 49th trial in order to gain their reincarnations and how the Guardians slowly recover their forgotten memories through Household God in the living world.

The story of Joseon's tyrant king Yeonsan who exploits the populace for his own carnal pleasures, his seemingly loyal retainer who controls him and all court dealings, and a woman who seeks vengeance.

Ja-yoon is a high school student who struggles with memory loss after she endured some unknown trauma during her childhood. While trying to uncover the truth, she is unwittingly dragged into a world of crime and finds herself on a journey that will awaken many secrets hidden deep within.

May, 1980. Man-seob is a taxi driver in Seoul who lives from hand to mouth, raising his young daughter alone. One day, he hears that there is a foreigner who will pay big money for a drive down to Gwangju city. Not knowing that he’s a German journalist with a hidden agenda, Man-seob takes the job.

A deadbeat teacher helps an angry, aimless teenager find direction in life during his final year of high school.

A convict returns to his home town to torturing again his family and face his neighbors trying to destroy the local religious fanatics and their plans to keep money from the village people.

After his business goes bankrupt, 30 something Kyeong-Min kills his wife impulsively. Hiding his anger, he seeks out his former middle school classmate Jong-Seok. Jong-Seok now works as a ghostwriter for an autobiography, but he dreams of writing his own novel. For the first time in 15 years they meet. Kyeong-Min and Jong-Seok both hide their own current situations and begin to talk about their middle school days.

A man receives a wedding invitation from his first love who he met in high school.

Set in the late 1920s, The Age of Shadows follows the cat-and-mouse game that unfolds between a group of resistance fighters trying to bring in explosives from Shanghai to destroy key Japanese facilities in Seoul, and Japanese agents trying to stop them.

Princess Odette, Prince Derek and their trusted woodland friends reunite in this all-new adventure for their first Christmas celebration together! As the kingdom prepares for a festive holiday, the villainous Rothbart plots to destroy Christmas. Will the castle friends be able to stop Rothbart and save the day? Told in beautiful CG animation for the very first time and featuring music by Anna Graceman from TV’s America’s Got Talent, The Swan Princess Christmas is an enchanting musical holiday treat the whole family will enjoy!

Amid a coup, a North Korean agent escapes south with the country's injured leader in an attempt to keep him alive and prevent a Korean war.

Korea, 1950. A child's vow to take care of his family marks the beginning of a lifelong promise spanning sixty years.

A young woman leaves the city to return to her hometown in the countryside. Seeking to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, she becomes self-sufficient in a bid to reconnect with nature.

A woman subject to mental, physical, and sexual abuse on a remote island seeks a way out.

In 2029, the elite police squad Illang combats a terrorist group opposing reunification of the two Koreas. But another enemy may be lurking nearby.

An exceptionally talented face reader becomes entangled in a bloody power struggle between a child king and his uncle who plans to usurp the throne.

Set in the 19th century, when lowly butcher Dol Moo-Chi refuses to carry out an assignment, his failure causes tragedy to unfold upon his family and himself. As Dol Moo-Chi is about to be executed, a group of righteous thieves known as Kundo arrive.

Anna learns in prison that her mother has passed away in Seattle. Prison officials grants Anna a three day furlough to attend her mother's funeral. Anna embarks on a long trip to Seattle. Hoon is a Korean immigrant who works as a gigolo. Hoon is now on the run from a wealthy client's furious husband. These two seemingly lost souls are about to share three memorable days together.

Based on actual events that took place at Gwangju Inhwa School for the hearing-impaired, where young deaf students were the victims of repeated sexual assaults by faculty members over a period of five years in the early 2000s.

Promising fund manager Jae-hoon is at the brink of losing everything when his company goes bankrupt. Overwhelmed by despair, he takes an impulsive trip to Australia where his wife and son live. As his trip nears its unexpected end, Jae-hoon gets a chance to look back on his life.

The movie depicts the three months before Choong-nyung (the future Sejong the Great) becomes king. The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, which follows the history of the Joseon Dynasty between 1413 and 1865, leaves out records of this crucial period. While future generations would come to know him as King Sejong, the legendary figure who created the Korean alphabet and advanced the country’s scientific research and law, Prince Choong-nyung was originally dismissed as a reclusive bookworm. When his older brothers Yangnyeong and Hyoryeong fail to impress their father King Taejong, the king makes a royal command for Choong-nyung to become the next ruler of the kingdom instead.

Samsara is a word that describes the ever turning wheel of life. It is a concept both intimate and vast - the perfect subject for filmmakers Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson, whose previous collaborations include Chronos and Baraka, and who, in the last 20 years, have travelled to over 58 countries together in the pursuit of unique imagery. Samsara takes the form of a nonverbal, guided meditation that will transform viewers in countries around the world as they are swept along a journey of the soul. Through powerful images pristinely photographed in 70mm and a dynamic music score, the film illuminates the links between humanity and the rest of the nature, showing how our life cycle mirrors the rhythm of the planet.

Rebellious Ki-soo from North Korea is mesmerized by tap dance in prison camps. Ki-soo joins as a team member of a dance team named ‘Swing Kids’. Yet suddenly, their dreams about dancing in prison camps are put in danger.

In Argentina over 8,000 people die in traffic accidents every year. Behind each of these tragedies is a flourishing industry founded on insurance payouts and legal loopholes. Sosa is a lawyer who tours the A&E Departments of the public hospitals and the police stations in search of potential clients. Luján is a young doctor recently arrived from the provinces. Their love story kicks off one night when Luján and Sosa meet in the street. She's trying to save a man's life; he wants him on his client portfolio

Doo-Sik (Jo Jung-suk) gets paroled from prison thanks to his younger brother (Do Kyung-Soo) Doo-Young. Doo-Young is a promising judo athlete. After 15 years, Doo-Sik (Jo Jung-suk) suddenly appears in front of Doo-Young and they begin to live together. Doo-Young becomes involved in an accident before the selection for the national team.

Ma Seok-do works as a detective squad chief. His team struggles to bust a criminal ring who originally came from Yanbian, China and led by Jang Chen.

A fishing-boat crew takes on a dangerous commission to smuggle a group of illegal immigrants from China to Korea.

The destinies of hard-luck lowlifes slowly converge and come crashing down: Jung-man barely gets by working at a sauna and taking care of his sick mother until he finds a bag full of cash in the locker room; Tae-young is in trouble after his girlfriend runs away with the money he borrowed from a loan shark. Soon, a dead body mysteriously turns up; Mi-ran, caught between her husband’s violence and a dead-end job as a bar hostess, she finds a young lover, Jin-tae who offers to kill her husband… And now their dog-eat-dog game starts.

A son to a high-ranked official in North Korea commits a series of murders going across the countries around the world. The movie depicts the following events as South Korea, North Korea and Interpol start chasing down after him.

A young girl is raised as a killer in the Yanbian province of China. She hides her identity and travels to South Korea where she hopes to lead a quiet life but becomes involved with two mysterious men.

While investigating the kidnapping and murder of a little girl, a detective spots a piece of graffiti that depicts the crime scene perfectly—but the graffiti was drawn a month before the crime took place, and that the artist knows more than he is telling.

An ancient Chinese artifact has been stolen by a villainous archaeologist named Dexter. With the help of his Lemming friends, Norm must keep his word and embark on a journey across the world to help recover the artifact for the people of China.

Based on the series by the popular Japanese novelist Keigo Higashino, this is a mystery drama that 'faithfully but freely' adapts the 3rd part in the series, . The story revolves around 3 characters: a woman who unwittingly killed her husband, a math genius next door who sets up a perfect alibi for her out of his attraction toward her, and a detective who closely traces her, finding the alibi suspicious.

The film mainly follows the famous 1597 Battle of Myeongryang during the Japanese invasion of Korea (1592-1598), where the iconic Joseon admiral Yi Sun-sin managed to destroy a total of 133 Japanese warships with only 13 ships remaining in his command. The battle, which took place in the Myeongryang Strait off the southwest coast of the Korean Peninsula, is considered one of the greatest victories of Yi.

Kingdom of Goguryeo, ancient Korea, 645. The ruthless Emperor Taizong of Tang invades the country and leads his armies towards the capital, achieving one victory after another, but on his way is the stronghold of Ansi, protected by General Yang Man-chu, who will do everything possible to stop the invasion, even if his troops are outnumbered by thousands of enemies.

A man becomes a fugitive from the police after he kills one of the men who raped and murdered his daughter.

Stuntman Cha Dal-geon gets involved in a tragic airplane crash and ends up discovering a national corruption scandal in the process. Go Hae-ri, the oldest daughter of a deceased marine, decides to work for the National Intelligence Service as a secret ops agent in order to support her mom and younger siblings, although all she wanted to do is to become a civil servant.

A magician meets a weird girl and offers her to work together in his magic show. It's only until a year later that he starts to know her personally and develops a feeling towards her despite her own problems.

Chief of the ‘Special Crime Unit’, OH Gu-tak, looks for the former gangster, PARK Woong-chul, whom he had worked with before, and recruits a con artist, KWAK No-soon, and a convicted cop, KO Yoo-sung in the new team. With new blood, the ‘Bad Guys’ have become stronger and tougher. As they dig deeper into the case, they sense that a much bigger crime organization is behind it all and they begin the hunt for bad guys…

The Plan Man is about a man who lives everything according to plan until he meets a woman who wasn't a part of it.

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.

Born in a poor family, Tae-su learns that the power is the most important thing in life and decides to become a prosecutor, the biggest symbol of power in the 90’s. After entering the most prestigious law school, experiencing democratic resistance in Korea, Tae-su finally reaches his goal of becoming a prosecutor but his life is no better than a salary man. By chance, he joins a clique of the powerful prosecutors with wealth and authority. He finally gets a taste of a life of the top hierarchy, but as he enjoys the sweetness of supremacy, he also sees the cruel side of it.

A young girl is kidnapped by a serial killer. The serial killer uses manholes to kidnap and kill his victims. The young girl's older sister tries to save her before it's too late.

Shy Ji-hae's friend is having problems expressing her feelings to the boy she loves, so she asks Ji-hae to write e-mails to him in her name. As the boy falls in love with her letters, Ji-hae discovers the story of her mother's romance which is remarkably similar to her own circumstances.

Young-jak who is a private secretary of madam BAEK, the center power of Korean conglomerate, deals with immoral private issues of her wealthy family. As his desire for money and power grows, he endures whatever he’s ordered to do and letting people around him get hurt is not a concern for him. Meanwhile, Young-jak reports to madam BAEK that madam BAEK’s husband, Mr. YOON is having an affair with a Filipino nanny, Eva. Madam BAEK is now despaired, then greedily seducing Young-jak for her sexual desire. On the other hand, he begins to feel conflicted by madam BAEK’s daughter, the only family member who approaches him with the true heart. Lost between his morality and shortcut to successful life, he has to make the biggest decision he’s ever made to choose whom he will hang on to, in order to survive in this harsh world.

Set in the late 15th century during the reign of King Yeonsan, two male street clowns and tightrope walkers, Jangsaeng (Gam Wu-seong) and Gong-gil (Lee Joon-gi), are part of an entertainer troupe. Their manager prostitutes the beautiful Gong-gil to rich customers, and Jangsaeng is sickened by this practice. After Gong-gil kills the manager in defense of Jangsaeng, the pair flee to Seoul, where they form a new group with three other street performers...

A former intelligence agent gets involved with the first human clone, Seo Bok, who others seek, causing trouble.

Three disaffected youths live in Datong in 2001, part of the new "Birth Control" generation. Fed on a steady diet of popular culture, both Western and Chinese, the characters of Unknown Pleasures represent a new breed in the People's Republic of China, one detached from reality through the screen of media and the internet.

Jang-bu was an ordinary boy except his special talent; To see every moving thing like a slow motion video. As friends teased him by calling ‘monster eyes’, he decided to stick at home and not to go out. Television has been his only friend. Time passes by, and now grown-up Jang-bu works at the CCTV control center which is the best job for him. When he sees people’s life through camera, he feels he’s sharing their ordinary life that he’s never had. This new job opens his heart to the world and Jang-bu starts to make some friends out of the control center. With his dear friends he receives sense of himself and finally decides to propose a girl that he loved for long from CCTV…

A poor North Korean fisherman finds himself an accidental defector, and is groomed to be a spy by an ambitious South Korean military officer.