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Celluloid

Films from South Korea

Best Movies from South Korea

South Korea's catalogue on Celluloid runs to 32 films spanning 2003–2026 in Korean, led by Parasite (93%) and Memories of Murder (87%). Every title is ranked by our four-input Celluloid Score with critic consensus and expert reviews on each film page.

Quick Answer

The highest-rated South Korea film on Celluloid is Parasite (2019) with a 93% Celluloid Score — Celluloid Pick.

32
Films indexed
71%
Avg. Celluloid Score
1
Languages
23
Critic reviews

Guide to South Korea Movies on Celluloid

Each film from South Korea in our catalogue includes a Celluloid Score from up to four verified inputs, original verdict text, and linked editorial reviews where available. Audience sentiment is separate.

Titles are indexed by original language and country of production for easier discovery.

Essential South Korea Picks

Top 5 by Celluloid Score
Parasite 2019 · Bong Joon Ho · Korean

Bong Joon Ho's class satire made history as the first non-English film to win Best Picture at the Oscars.

93%
Celluloid Score Celluloid Pick
Memories of Murder 2003 · Bong Joon Ho · Korean

Bong Joon Ho's procedural masterpiece pairs dark humor with mounting dread and a devastating final shot.

87%
Celluloid Score Recommended
The Handmaiden 2016 · Park Chan-wook · Korean

Park Chan-wook's erotic thriller is sumptuous, twisty, and brilliantly performed by its entire ensemble.

87%
Celluloid Score Recommended
Minari 2020 · Lee Isaac Chung · Korean

A tender immigrant story that won Oscars and hearts with its grandmother, its soil, and its grace.

86%
Celluloid Score Recommended
Burning 2018 · Lee Chang-dong · Korean

Lee Chang-dong's slow-burn Haruki Murakami adaptation simmers with class tension and unanswered violence.

85%
Celluloid Score Recommended

South Korea Movie Reviews

All reviews →

Full critic reviews with answer-engine summaries — each review answers whether the film is worth watching, what it is about, and where to stream it.

Parasite (2019) ★★★★★

Parasite (2019) Review: Bong Joon Ho's Class War Masterpiece

Bong Joon Ho's Palme d'Or and Best Picture winner remains the defining class satire of the decade — 99% critics, 90% audiences, and a staircase that still haunts every rewatch.

Masterpiece-tier South Korea cinema on Best of Asia 2016–2026 — the title that broke the Oscar language barrier.
Memories of Murder (2003) ★★★★½

Memories of Murder (2003) Review: A Korean Classic

Bong Joon Ho's Memories of Murder (2003) endures as a defining crime landmark from South Korea, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Essential viewing — a certified classic.
The Handmaiden (2016) ★★★★½

The Handmaiden (2016) Review: A Korean Classic

Park Chan-wook's The Handmaiden (2016) endures as a defining romance landmark from South Korea, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Essential viewing — a certified classic.
Minari (2020) ★★★★☆

Minari (2020) Review: A Korean Classic

Lee Isaac Chung's Minari (2020) endures as a defining drama landmark from South Korea, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Essential viewing — a certified classic.
Burning (2018) ★★★★½

Burning (2018) Review: A Korean Classic

Lee Chang-dong's Burning (2018) endures as a defining drama landmark from South Korea, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Essential viewing — a certified classic.
No Other Choice (2025) ★★★★½

No Other Choice Review: Park Chan-wook's Unemployment Nightmare

Lee Byung-hun gleefully unravels as a laid-off company man in Park Chan-wook's pitch-black comedy — unemployment anxiety turned into a musical nightmare.

Dark, daring, and darkly funny.
The Chaser (2008) ★★★★☆

The Chaser (2008) Review: Na Hong-jin’s Pulverizing Clock

Kim Yun-seok’s dirty ex-cop chases Ha Jung-woo’s killer through Seoul in something close to real time — the Korean crime film that still feels like a panic attack.

Essential Korean thriller — brutal, precise, and not for the faint-hearted.
House of Hummingbird (2019) ★★★★☆

House of Hummingbird (2019) Review

Kim Bora's House of Hummingbird (2019) remains a defining Drama landmark from South Korea, with scores that still shape how audiences discover the title.

Essential viewing — a certified classic.
Oldboy (2003) ★★★★½

Oldboy (2003) Review: A Korean Classic

Park Chan-wook's Oldboy (2003) endures as a defining thriller landmark from South Korea, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Strongly recommended — a staple of its national cinema.
Decision to Leave (2022) ★★★★☆

Decision to Leave (2022) Review: A Korean Classic

Park Chan-wook's Decision to Leave (2022) endures as a defining romance landmark from South Korea, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Essential viewing — a certified classic.
Broker (2022) ★★★★☆

Broker (2022) Review: Kore-eda’s Korean Found Family

Song Kang-ho, Gang Dong-won, Bae Doona, and IU on a baby-box road trip — Hirokazu Kore-eda in Korean, tender and a little too neat, with a Cannes-facing moral puzzle.

Recommended — gentle Kore-eda crime, not Shoplifters’ equal, still worth the ride.
Lady Vengeance (2005) ★★★★☆

Lady Vengeance (2005) Review: Park Chan-wook’s Ice-Cold Finale

Lee Young-ae plans thirteen years of retribution in the close of the Vengeance Trilogy — pastry, prison, and a moral geometry colder than Oldboy’s hallway.

Essential if you are walking the trilogy — a masterpiece of control, not of warmth.
The Host (2006) ★★★★☆

The Host (2006) Review: A Korean Classic

Bong Joon Ho's The Host (2006) endures as a defining horror landmark from South Korea, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Essential viewing — a certified classic.
Train to Busan (2016) ★★★★½

Train to Busan (2016) Review: A Korean Classic

Yeon Sang-ho's Train to Busan (2016) endures as a defining horror landmark from South Korea, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Essential viewing — a certified classic.
20th Century Girl (2022) ★★★★☆

20th Century Girl (2022) Review: Byeon Woo-seok’s Soft-Focus 1999

Bang Woo-ri’s Netflix school romance — Kim Yoo-jung spies on a crush for her best friend, then falls — is the film that made Byeon a global search name before Lovely Runner.

Recommended comfort romance — nostalgia first, plot second.
The Man from Nowhere (2010) ★★★★☆

The Man from Nowhere (2010) Review

Lee Jeong-beom's The Man from Nowhere (2010) remains a defining Action landmark from South Korea, with scores that still shape how audiences discover the title.

Strongly recommended — holds up for new and returning viewers.
The King's Warden (2026) ★★★★☆

The King's Warden Review: Korea's 2026 Box-Office Leader Is a Moral Palace Epic

Yoo Hae-jin anchors Jang Hang-jun's Joseon-era drama — Korea's #1 2026 grosser with 85% critics and a 94% audience surge that national box-office reporting confirms.

Essential Korean theatrical viewing — history as intimate moral thriller, not costume wallpaper.
I Saw the Devil (2010) ★★★★½

I Saw the Devil (2010) Review: A Korean Classic

Kim Jee-woon's I Saw the Devil (2010) endures as a defining thriller landmark from South Korea, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Strongly recommended — a staple of its national cinema.
Soulmate (2023) ★★★★☆

Soulmate (2023) Review: A Friendship That Outlasts the Men in the Room

Min Yong-keun, Kim Da-mi, and Jeon So-nee — two women, decades of love and grievance, and Byeon Woo-seok as the man who is not the point.

Recommended — a Korean friendship drama with more bruise than its poster.
HOPE (2026) ★★★☆☆

Hope Review: Na Hong-jin Returns With a Monster Epic That Devours Itself

A decade after The Wailing, Na Hong-jin resurfaces with Hope — a 160-minute creature epic whose opening stretch is some of the most ferocious action filmmaking of his career, and whose back half spends that brilliance with both hands.

See it for the first hour, which is world-class, and brace for the sprawl. Genre devotees and Na completists should not miss it; viewers hoping for another Wailing should recalibrate.
Inside a Funeral Hall (2022) ★★★½☆

Inside a Funeral Hall (2022) Review

Lee Ho-hyun's Inside a Funeral Hall (2022) remains a defining Drama landmark from South Korea, with scores that still shape how audiences discover the title.

Strongly recommended — holds up for new and returning viewers.
The Villainess (2017) ★★★½☆

The Villainess (2017) Review

Jung Byung-gil's The Villainess (2017) remains a defining Action landmark from South Korea, with scores that still shape how audiences discover the title.

Strongly recommended — holds up for new and returning viewers.
Exhuma (2024) ★★★½☆

Exhuma (2024) Review

Jang Jae-hyun's Exhuma (2024) remains a defining Mystery landmark from South Korea, with scores that still shape how audiences discover the title.

Worth watching — solid entertainment with lasting cultural visibility.

Popular Genres

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All South Korea Movies

Ranked by Celluloid Score

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best movies from South Korea?

Browse our South Korea catalogue sorted by Celluloid Score — the highest-rated films appear first with critic and audience ratings on every card.

How does Celluloid rate films from South Korea?

Celluloid Score combines Celluloid editorial, Metascore, Letterboxd and IMDb inputs into a single percentage; audience sentiment is displayed separately alongside the written verdict and review.