Top 50 Highest Rated Korean Movies (IMDb Ranked)

The story revolves around a family of four, who are poor & unemployed. Gi Woo’s friend tells him to replace his position as a tutor in a rich family. Gi Woo uses this as a chance to employ his family members in the same house.

IMDB Rating – 8.5

A man who is imprisoned in a hotel room for no reason gets out after 15 years only to find himself in love with a chef. His captor then gives him five days to find out why he was locked. The story comes with a twist.

IMDB Rating – 8.4

Dong Hoon and Mi Hee start the day with their daughter, So Won. However, an unexpected event happens to So Won on her way to school. Dong Hoon and Mi Hee fight against the world to bring hope back into her life.

IMDB Rating – 8.2

The film revolves around a mentally challenged man wrongfully imprisoned for murder, who builds friendships with hardened criminals in his cell. In return, they reunite him with his daughter by smuggling her into the prison.

IMDB Rating – 8.1

Soo Jin, a fashion designer bumps into a carpenter, Chul Soo. While at a construction site, Soo Jin sees the same man and soon falls in love with him. But, Soo Jin gets diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Will their love survive?

IMDB Rating – 8.1

A Korean swindler recruits a pickpocket to get hired as a maid to a rich Japanese heiress. The swindler wants to rob the heiress & take all her wealth. But, the story takes a twist when the maid & heiress develop an attraction.

IMDB Rating – 8.1

In 1986, a woman is found dead. Two local detectives try to investigate the murder by torturing the suspects, without any result. Then, a detective from Seoul comes to help them and is convinced that a serial killer is involved.

IMDB Rating – 8.1

In Ho uncovers sexual and physical abuse at a school for hearing impaired children. With the help of a human rights activist, he fights against the community to expose the abuse and put a stop to it.

IMDB Rating – 8

Jin Tae and Jin Seok are brothers who are drafted into the army. Jin Tae vows to keep his brother safe. After a military official promises to send Jin Seok home if Jin Tae wins a medal of honor, he begins to fight without fear.

IMDB Rating – 8

The film is divided into five segments, each segment depicting a stage in the life of a Buddhist monk and his teacher. The segments are roughly ten to twenty years apart, and each takes place during the season of its title.

IMDB Rating – 8

It is a love story between a suicidal man named Kim Seung Keun who is washed ashore on a small nearby island after jumping into the Han river and a woman named Kim Jung Yeon who is addicted to the online world of “Cyworld”.

IMDB Rating – 8

Gyun Woo, a college student saves a drunken girl from falling. After meeting many times, they develop a relationship. But, they break up write letters to each other and stick them in a time capsule, to be read after two years.

IMDB Rating – 8

A taxi driver hears that a foreigner is paying a large sum for a drive to Gwangju city and back. Not knowing that the foreigner was a German journalist, he takes the job & arrives to find the city under siege by protesters and the military.

IMDB Rating – 7.9

A young drifter enters strangers’ houses and lives while owners are away. He spends a night or a day at their home doing small works. One day, he enters a quiet home but finds an abused housewife in urgent need of his intervention.

IMDB Rating – 7.9

Jong Dub is a mentally disabled man who has been released from jail. He visits the family of the man he killed and meets the daughter who has cerebral palsy. They slowly begin a friendship based on their mutual feelings.

IMDB Rating – 7.9

The movie depicts the lives of people who go through difficult times after the Korean War to the present day. A young boy vows to take care of his family that marked the beginning of a lifelong promise spanning 60 years.

IMDB Rating – 7.8

In 1987, university student & pro-democracy movement member Jong Cheol is captured by the police and tortured to death. The police and government try to cover up the case, but the media and university students try to reveal the truth.

IMDB Rating – 7.8

The king orders to find a royal body double and hires a peasant who looks alike. When the king collapses, he reluctantly becomes the king. He must save his country, avoid assassination, and pull off the biggest masquerade in history.

IMDB Rating – 7.8

Seven girls become good friends in high school. They enjoy their moments. Then, some events pull them apart for 25 years. When one of the friends lies dying in a hospital, she wishes to see each of them one last time & they meet again.

IMDB Rating – 7.8

A psychopath driver kills a woman on his way. Her fiance Soo Hyun, who is a secret agent, decides to track down the murderer. He catches the psycho, beats him & lets him free. But he comes back & the game of cat & mouse begins.

IMDB Rating – 7.8

An elderly woman who has Alzheimer’s finds herself lost in poetry. Her grandson is linked to the death of a girl, and she finds herself caught up in a conspiracy to pay money to the girl’s family. She goes through consequences.

IMDB Rating – 7.8

A police detective who turned into a pimp becomes finds himself in a breathless race against time to catch a serial killer after one of his girls goes missing. To find evidence, he has just twelve hours before the killer is released.

IMDB Rating – 7.8

Ji Hye cleans up around her house when she comes across a box full of old letters and a diary that detail the first love story of her mother. Ji Hye is also in love with a boy. The movie tells the story of both relationships.

IMDB Rating – 7.8

Two North Korean soldiers are killed on the border leading to an investigation. The investigator receives differing accounts from the two sides. One claims he fired in self-defense, while another says it was a premeditated attack.

IMDB Rating – 7.7

Mother and son are plunged into a nightmare when the body of a murdered young girl is found. Evidence indicates the son’s involvement, and he becomes the prime suspect. Mother takes the law into her own hands to clear his name.

IMDB Rating – 7.7

A very interesting & fantasy movie in which Soo Ah makes a promise to her husband Woo Jin to return a year later on a rainy day. Unbelievably, she returns to her husband and son but all her memories are disappeared.

IMDB Rating – 7.7

Sang Woo is brought to his grandma’s house in the countryside as his mom has to work. He hates his grandma who knows nothing about fast food and hates rural life. But the way going back home in the city is not pleasant as he thought.

IMDB Rating – 7.7

Chul Min, a former boxer starts a new job as a parking attendant. One night, a visually impaired woman, Jung Hwa, a telemarketer walks into his tollbooth. They fall in love with each other. But will their love & happiness be short-lived?

IMDB Rating – 7.7

Tae Shik leads a quiet life & his only friend is a little girl, So Mi. Her mother steals drugs from a crime group. Their boss sends his subordinates to retrieve the drugs. They kidnap her and So Mi. Tae Shik sets off to rescue them.

IMDB Rating – 7.7

Woo Seok graduated from high school and is now an attorney in Busan specializing in tax law. His friend’s son Jin Woo, who is a student activist is brutally tortured and put on trial. Woo Seok defends Jin Woo as his client.

IMDB Rating – 7.7

An autistic boy seems to have a knack for running. After placing third in a race, his mother decides to hire a proper coach to train him. He then decides to take part in a marathon and hopes to break the marathon’s fastest record.

IMDB Rating – 7.7

Seok Woo is a fund manager who heads to Busan from Seoul with his daughter by a KTX train. However, they get stuck with other passengers on the train due to a virus breakout that turns human into zombies & the survival game begins.

IMDB Rating – 7.6

After emerging as bitter rivals and enemies as young marathon runners, Korean native Kim Jun Shik and Japanese aristocrat Tatsuo Hasegawa, both find themselves in the Japanese army, fighting the Chinese and Soviets in a battle.

IMDB Rating – 7.6

The story is set in Korea during the war in 1950. Soldiers from both the North and South, as well as an American pilot, find themselves in a village in a remote mountain and untouched by the war. They work together to divert an air attack.

IMDB Rating – 7.6

Ja Sung, an undercover cop infiltrates the biggest crime syndicate in South Korea and spends 8 years rising in the ranks. When the head of the organization is killed, Ja Sung becomes torn between his duties.

IMDB Rating – 7.6

Jung Won, who suffers a fatal disease, runs a photo studio. One day, he meets Da Rim who comes daily to his studio to develop snapshots. He falls in love with Da Rim. But, will their love survive due to Jung Won’s bad health?

IMDB Rating – 7.6

A 40-year-old man who shows up at the reunion of factory workers without being invited. The movie goes back in time to show how seven events in his life from twenty years ago are connected to changes in Korea’s society.

IMDB Rating – 7.6

Sang Man attempts to commit suicide but finds himself in a hospital. He then starts seeing ghosts who will go away after their wishes are fulfilled. Sang Man tries to fulfill their wishes but finds the pleasure of life.

IMDB Rating – 7.5

Set in a coal-mining village in North Korea, a father and husband decide to illegally cross into China to buy medicine for his pregnant wife. However, once he crosses into China, he realizes that it’s not as easy as he thought.

IMDB Rating – 7.5

Failan, an orphan emigrates to Korea to find her only remaining relatives, but they had moved to Canada. Desperate to stay and make a living in Korea, Failan is forced to have an arranged marriage through a match-making agency.

IMDB Rating – 7.5

K, a radio producer who loves Cream, gets to know that he has only a few months left to live. He knows that Cream’s biggest fear is to be left alone, he urges her to marry Ju Hwan, a healthy man, while hiding his secret from her.

IMDB Rating – 7.5

A loan shark named Sang Hoon has risen to the dubious heights of debt collector for a criminal gang. He finds himself striking a friendship with a troubled schoolgirl, Yeon Hee, as he faces his troubled childhood with his abusive father.

IMDB Rating – 7.5

In middle school, Yong Ju, Gi Woong, and Gi Taek were the best of friends. In high school, Gi Woong joins the gang that bullies Gi Taek. As Yong Ju tries to fix this broken relationship, he realizes he has a special feeling for Gi Woong.

IMDB Rating – 7.5

Geum Ja goes to prison for kidnapping & killing a boy & gets released after 23 years. She teams up with a group of friends she made while in prison and sets out to clear her name and find the daughter she was forced to leave behind.

IMDB Rating – 7.5

Together, Jeong Yoon and Jong Bae run an auto body repair shop, which eventually runs into financial difficulties. Jeong Yoon decides to smuggle thirty kilograms of cocaine to support her family and make up for the financial losses.

IMDB Rating – 7.5

Ryu, a young, deaf-mute factory worker tries hard to earn enough money for his sister’s kidney transplant. He kidnaps the daughter of a wealthy man for ransom. But, the man launches a quest for revenge that puts Ryu’s life in danger.

IMDB Rating – 7.5

A washed-up boxer runs into his mom who left him when he was little and comes to live with her and his younger brother, who is a genius pianist with autism. The brothers make up through their mother who is full of stories.

IMDB Rating – 7.5

Ok Bun, an elderly woman filing complaints at the district office, finds out that Min Jae, a civil service officer, is good at English and asks him to teach her. As they study together, Min Jae discovers the heartbreaking past of Ok Bun.

IMDB Rating – 7.5

Jong Su bumps into Hae Mi, who used to live in the same neighborhood. She asks him to look after her cat while she’s on a trip. After returning, she introduces Ben, a guy she met. Ben visits Jong Su and tells him his secret hobby.

IMDB Rating – 7.5

High school student Hye Ji is a troubled teen with a secret. She is reunited with her grandmother after going missing for 12 years. One day, Hye Ji disappears again after participating in an art contest in Seoul.

IMDB Rating – 7.5