Thrilling movies can belong to any genre, but they all have one thing in common:pulse-raising sequences and action that keep viewers at the edge of their seats. In South Korean cinema, the biggest blockbusters are usually action thrillers; so many of them are also internationally acclaimed features that often make their way on ‘best of’ lists. Some honorable mentions includeBong Joon-ho’s sci-fi marvelThe Hostand the beloved action comedyVeteran.
What separates South Korean thrillers and action movies from the rest, especially Hollywood movies, is the intention behind the story. Very often, tension and action are juxtaposed with emotional scenes and character studies that drive the plot further. Sure, this can result in movies with longer runtimes, butthey tend to have deeper stories that don’t display just gratuitous violence and cheap thrillsat their core. Fans of South Korean movies can add these exciting features to their watchlists.
10’The Villainess' (2017)
Directed by Jung Byung-gil
The Villainessreceived a standing ovation at theCannes Film Festivaland has enjoyed great attention and praise since it was released. It’s a unique blend of action and thriller, withaction sequences shot from the first-person perspective, adding a layer of immersive action cinema that’s rarely seen. It’s an intensely thrilling movie about a woman seeking revenge and is a great example of a strong female lead that could go head-to-head with the likes ofLara Croft.
The Villainessfollows Sook-hee (Kim Ok-bin), a highly skilled assassin on the run. When she’s recruited by the Korean national intelligence agency, her identity is changed, and she becomes an official recruit. Sook-hee’s past intertwines with her present,unveiling her origin story and the reason she became an assassin. Many of the action scenes were also filmed in consecutive shots, making the action feel non-stop. According to director Jung Byung-gil, the movie wasinspired byLuc Besson’sLa Femme Nikita.
The Villainess
Trained assassin Sook-hee is promised freedom after completing a series of missions for a government agency. Her violent past and quest for revenge unfold through action-packed sequences as she confronts old enemies and seeks a new life.
Watch on Peacock
9’Midnight Runners' (2017)
Directed by Kim Joo-hwan
WhenMidnight Runnerscame out in 2017, it was a smash hit for two reasons: its leading co-starsPark Seo-joonandKang Ha-neul. These two actors were often the leading men in K-dramas during the 2010s, so seeing them together was already a selling deal for so many South Korean viewers. However,Midnight Runnersis more than just great eye candy action -it’s a suspenseful story about two police trainees racing to save a kidnapped woman.
Ki-joon and Hee-yeol are two best friends who enlist in the Police Academy at the same time. They have a jokester relationship but harbor mutual trust that helps them work together easily. When they’re out of the academy one evening,they witness a kidnapping of a woman; this motivates them to save her as fast as possible, racing against time. From a comedy to a tense thriller,Midnight Runnersmay be a typical representative of South Korean action flicks, but it’s a step higher than most, as the storyline is tight, and the performances are superb. These are some of Park Seo-joon and Kang Ha-neul’sbest roles to date.
Midnight Runners
Midnight Runners: Two police academy recruits become unlikely heroes when they witness a woman being abducted. Frustrated by the slow response of authorities, they embark on a bold mission to rescue her, drawing upon their training and camaraderie to confront a dangerous underworld and test their resolve as future officers.
Watch on Tubi
8’Tunnel' (2016)
Directed by Kim Seong-hun
Tunnelisn’t action-packed, but it’s a thrilling movie that many South Koreans thought to be a criticism of their country’s government. While directorKim Seong-hundidn’t intend it that way,it seems he was OK with the takeaway. The story is about a car dealer, Jung-su (Ha Jung-woo), rushing to get home and taking a recently constructed tunnel as a shortcut. While Jung-su is driving through,the tunnel begins collapsing, trapping him and a couple of other cars.
This story emphasises survival and collaboration but isalso a reflection on numerous social issues that South Korea faced at the time(and potentially still faces). Ha Jung-woo is one ofSouth Korea’s best action starsand is often the lead in blockbusters. Here, he’s joined byBae Doona(Kingdom,Rebel Moon) as one of the other trapped survivors in the tunnel. For a big part of the movie, though, Jung-su is alone and forced to rethink his every move in order to get out. This is an intense and thrilling drama, though mellow in terms of action.
7’A Hard Day' (2014)
Another feature by Kim Seong-hun, this time anoir thriller full of unpredictable events that take place during one day in the life of a corrupt detective. The late legend of South Korean cinema,Lee Sun-kyun, leadsA Hard Day, which became a box office hitseemingly through word of mouth(the best sort of marketing). Since it premiered at the same time as other, bigger movies, its first week wasn’t promising. But, unexpectedly, much like the movie’s premise, one event triggered an avalanche of others, or, better said, people started recommending this smash hit to everyone they knew, which led to increased theater visits.
A Hard Dayfollows detective Ko (Lee Sun-kyun), who, while returning from his mother’s funeral to his office, drives intoxicated and hits a homeless man. But, instead of reporting it, he decides to hide the body in his car.This triggers a string of unexpected, intense events that hold detective Ko on the edge the entire time. The movie combines humor with tense, almost-there moments and wild action scenes, with the result being a fun feature that stays with the viewers for a long time.
Watch on Amazon Prime
6’The Yellow Sea' (2010)
Directed by Na Hong-jin
The master of tension,Na Hong-jin(The Wailing), has an incredible directorial career. His sophomore feature,The Yellow Sea, carefully follows the intensity of his debut filmThe Chaser; he achieved this with the help of the same two actors, Ha Jung-woo andKim Yoon-seok.The Yellow Seais an intense mix of crime, thriller, and dark comedy; its slightly inflated runtime may deter some viewers, but make no mistake—its 157 minutes continuously promise tension and an entertaining character study.
The protagonist, Gu-nam (Ha Jung-woo), lives in China and works as a taxi driver.Because of a large debt, Gu-nam’s wife travels to South Korea to work; Gu-nam later meets the local gangster Jung-hak (Kim Yoon-seok), who tells him he’ll reward him with $10,000 if he goes to South Korea, too, but this time to kill someone for him. Desperate for money, Gu-nam agrees, but soon learns he has no way back to his dysfunctional home in China. While its plot twists may be unrealistic,The Yellow Seapacks a strong, memorable punch.
The Yellow Sea
Watch on Apple TV
5’The Terror Live' (2013)
Directed by Kim Byung-woo
Ha Jung-woo stays strong in his movie choices to this day, but there’s no doubt that the 2010s were his decade. Starring in almost every other movie,his action star prowess and relentless charm granted him a lead in one of 2013’s best thrillers,The Terror Live. In this movie, he stars as the smug and jaded former news anchor Yoon Yeong-hwa, who’s been demoted to being a radio host. One day, he gets a call on his radio show from a man threatening to blow up the most important bridge in Seoul. When Yoon doesn’t take the man seriously, the bridge is blown up, triggering a game between Yoon and the caller.
Yoonisn’t the protagonist many would cheer for. He does most of his negotiations with the caller in a sensationalist way, looking for a way back into his old career.He makes decisions for his own career while lives are at stake, making his transformation from a selfish man to a repentant an interesting parable throughout the movie. The tension is ever-present, withThe Terror Livebeing exciting and memorable with Ha Jung-woo as an exceptional lead.
Watch on Kocowa
4’The Call' (2020)
Directed by Chung Hyun-lee
Netflixhas produced some exciting, female-led action movies in the past four years (BallerinaandKill Boksoon, most notably), and though they weren’t overly praised, they were extremely popular. This wave of Netflixfemale-led thrillerswas started byThe Call, a movie that stuck with its viewers for a long time after the credits rolled.It verges on horror and sci-fi at moments, but is a pulse-raising thriller at heart. The movie was delayed from cinematic release due to the pandemic but gained popularity on streaming very quickly.
The Callfollows Seo-yoon (Park Shin-hye), a young girl visiting her sick mother at her childhood home. When the landline rings one day and Seo-yoon picks up, she begins talking to a girl called Young-sook (Jeon Jong-seo). Soon after talking,the two girls realize they’re in different timelines—Seo-yoon is in 2019 while Young-sook is in 1999. The two help each other at first, but things become twisted, revealing the real personalities behind both girls. With plenty of shocking twists,The Callis an intense, time-bending story and one of the best thrillers on Netfix.
A woman receives a phone call from someone living in the past. As they form a unique bond across time, their connection leads to unexpected and dangerous consequences, forcing both to confront their deepest fears and desires.
Watch on Netflix
3’Train to Busan' (2016)
Directed by Yeon Sang-ho
It would be impossible to list thrilling movies and not includeTrain to Busan, one of South Korea’s biggest cinematic exports—and certainly one of the most exciting ones. This fast-paced, relentless zombie flick byYeon Sang-hoisfrequently listed among the best horrors, thrillers, and action movies alike; this is fair becauseTrain to Busanis all those things. The movie stars two of the country’s biggest action stars,Gong YooandMa Dong-seok(akaDon Lee).
Train to Busanfollows divorced father Seok-woo (Gong Yoo), who boards a KTX train with his daughter to visit her mother in Busan. They board a train where asick woman enters at the last minute,infecting other passengers with a physically transforming zombie virus.Ma Dong-seok plays the dedicated, feisty husband to a pregnant Seong-kyeong (Jung Yu-mi), and he’s integral to the survival of the group he’s with, since he’s physically strong and motivated to help. Fighting superfast zombies on a high-speed train is the right formula for an incredibly suspenseful movie that people still gladly talk about and rewatch.
Train to Busan
2’The Man from Nowhere' (2010)
Directed by Lee Jeong-bom
The lead actor fromThe Man from Nowhere,Won Bin, was popular during the late 1990s and 2000s, but to date, this thriller is the last movie he appeared in. Starring as the lead,Won Bin excels in the role of a mysterious pawn shop owner, Cha Tae-sik, showing great action star potential. And whileit seems Won Bin refused to play some iconic characters, he’s still among the most popular and talked about South Korean stars.
The Man from Nowhereis an emotional rollercoaster ride following pawn shop owner Tae-sik, whose only friend is his neighbor, the little girl So-mi (Kim Sae-ron). So-mi’s mother works as an exotic dancer, leaving her alone frequently; this drives her closer to Tae-sik, who has a fatherly role in her life. When So-mi’s mother becomes involved with some dangerous criminals,Tae-sik’s past comes to the forefront, showing him as a skilled assassin and a crafty fighter.The Man from Nowhereis an intense action thriller that was alsohighly influential on Hollywood; it’s also a poignant life drama with a fairlyrealistic but heartbreaking ending.
The Man From Nowhere (2010)
The Man from Nowhere follows an enigmatic former special agent who becomes embroiled in a dangerous drug ring while striving to rescue a young girl caught in her parents' criminal conflicts. As corruption and violence escalate, he must confront his own dark past and navigate treacherous alliances to protect her.
1’The Chaser' (2008)
Another Na Hong-jin feature that’s as exciting asThe Yellow Sea(some would argue even more) is also his directorial debut,The Chaser. Besides this praised, world-renowned horror/thriller being Na’s debut, it was also superstar Ha Jung-woo’s breakthrough performance.His first role as a notorious and elusive serial killer almost sealed the deal for himamong casting agents, but his charms and talent prevailed, and he left the potential mold of portraying a villain successfully.
The Chaserfollows the pimp and former detective Joong-ho (Kim Yoon-seok), who gets into financial trouble after two girls under his watch disappear. In the search for answers,Joong-ho triggers a cat-and-mouse game with Yeong-min, a seemingly young and quiet man who turns out to be a cold-blooded serial killer. Joong-ho must catch Yeong-min before he kills again, but the killer is much craftier than he anticipated. The former detective becomes the titular chaser, and the result isan intense and disturbing thrillerthat has some bone-chilling scenes.
The Chaser
Watch with YouTube Premium
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