Top 20 Best Korean Thriller Movies To Watch (2021)

When it comes to thriller films, nothing can beat Korean thriller movies. These are filled with mystery, suspense & lots of twists that will make you watch till the end.

The Korean film industry is now rising as Parasite by Bong Joon Ho won four academy awards in 2019. Korean dramas are also responsible for the popularity of Korean culture.

There are 1000s of Korean movies to watch right now & thriller films go to a whole new level with mindblowing acting, writing & screenplay.

Best Korean Thriller Movies

While Parasite is one of the top thrillers, there are many more movies that you will love to watch & recommend to your friends.

If you love to watch thrillers & are looking for some of the best Korean thrillers, then here are the top 20 Korean thriller films to watch right now.

1. Parasite

Who doesn’t know this movie? Parasite has received four Oscars for best director, screenplay, picture & international feature film. This is a must-watch thriller movie now.

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 this as a chance to employ his family members in the same house.

2. Train To Busan

One of the best zombie thriller movie that will scare you & make you cry. The film is packed with action, horror & love. It also got a sequel ‘Peninsula’ now.

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 & the survival game begins.

3. Forgotten

Forgotten is a psychological thriller film that keeps you confused until the end. You will get to know what was happening in the movie at the end.

Jin Seok moves into a new house with his family & his elder brother gets abducted in front of him. His brother comes back after 19 days with no memory of what happened. Jin Seok tries to reveal what had happened to his brother.

4. The Handmaiden

Directed by Park Chan Wook, this movie is filled with romance, revenge, friendship & some twists. There are some erotic scenes too in the movie.

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.

5. Old Boy

Another popular Korean thriller, the second film in the Vengeance trilogy of Park Chan Wook that includes heart-wrenching revenge. Be ready for the mystery.

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.

6. Memories Of Murder

Another thriller by Bong Joon Ho based on a true story of Korea’s serial murders that took place. The murderer has now been caught in 2019.

In 1986, in Gyunggi, a young woman is found dead. Two local detectives try to investigate the murder using brutality and torturing the suspects, without any result. Then, a detective from Seoul comes to help them and is convinced that a serial killer is killing the women.

7. I Saw The Devil

A popular & must-watch movie that deals with brutal revenge when a psycho murderer kills a woman. When talking about revenge, this film is a must.

A dangerous psychopath kills a woman. Her fiance Soo Hyun, who is a secret agent, decides to track down the murderer himself. He catches the psycho, beats him & let him free. The game of cat & mouse begins.

8. The Chaser

The Chaser is a suspense thriller Korean film that follows an investigation of a serial killer. The film keeps you at the edge of the seat till the end.

A pimp becomes involved in a breathless race against time to catch a psychopathic serial killer after one of his girls goes missing. To find evidence, he has just 12 hours before the killer is released.

9. Sympathy For Lady Vengeance

The third installment in Park Chan Wook’s Vengeance Trilogy tells the story of a lady who takes revenge against a killer.

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.

10. Pandora

Pandora deals with a disaster of a nuclear power plant & how it is stopped. This thriller film is packed with action, corruption & love.

A nuclear power plant in a small town explodes due to an unexpected earthquake & hydrogen gas gets released. To stop the spreading of gas, Jae Hyuk goes into the nuclear power plant to save the people.

11. A Hard Day

This movie involves a man trying to solve the mystery of a call that he receives. The film is good with some suspense, mystery & action.

A detective crashes a man on the road killing him while driving from his mother’s funeral. Fearing of charges, he tries to get rid of the body but is witnessed by someone & is threatened.

12. The Wailing

A horror-thriller by the director of The Chaser that follows the mystery of killings that takes place in a village. It has many twists until the end.

A series of deaths take place in a village. A police officer hears a rumor from a coworker about a mysterious Japanese man. The rumor suspects him as the one causing these deaths. But what is the truth?

13. No Mercy

Another revenge thriller film with a man trying to find his daughter kidnapped by a man with a hidden truth. It involves justice & vengeance.

A pathologist attends his last case of a murderer girl. An environmental activist is caught & the case seems solved. When the pathologist’s daughter gets kidnapped, he tries to find the kidnapper but with a twist.

14. The Yellow Sea

An action-thriller Korean movie by the director of The Chaser with some unexpected twists. The film is full of suspense until the end.

Taxi driver, Ku Nam is offered a deal to carry out a hit on a professor in South Korea. When he gets ready to take out his target, a string of unexpected events occurs leaving him desperately looking for a way out.

15. The King

The King is a political thriller film involving a young prosecutor who gets involved in organized crime and politics & gets to see the cruel side.

Tae Soo enters a law school & becomes a prosecutor. Later, he joins a group of powerful prosecutors with wealth and authority. He finally enjoys the power of supremacy, but also sees the cruel side of it.

16. A Tale Of Two Sisters

A horror-thriller that you will love to watch if you are a horror fan. The film is confusing at the beginning but later on things unfold.

Two sisters whose mother is dead return home from a mental hospital. They are welcomed by their stepmother & stay along with their father. Their stepmother always harasses them. Supernatural things happen, but there’s a secret.

17. The Gifted Hands

A thriller story of a detective investigating the case of a young girl but finds someone who will help him to solve the case.

A case occurs to a detective involving the kidnapping and murder of a young girl. While investigating the case, he meets a man who has a special ability of “Psychometry.” The detective then uses him to catch the kidnapper.

18. The New World

The New World is a crime thriller involving gangsters playing politics. It tells the story of an undercover cop who is torn between his loyalties.

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.

19. Montage

Montage is a mystery thriller film that involves crime & investigation of a case that was about to be closed. A mind-blowing movie.

15 years ago, a kidnapper disappeared. Five days before the case’s statute of limitations expires, someone leaves a flower at the crime scene. A few days later, another crime takes place using the same method on a similar target.

20. Joint Security Area

Another thriller by Park Chan Wook involving a military tragedy that leads to an investigation. The movie is set in the DMZ of two Koreas.

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.

Wrapping Up

These Korean thriller movies are a must-watch for people who love thriller, crime, mystery & suspense. All the movies are masterpieces & unique in their way.

You can watch most of them on Netflix, YouTube & Asiancrush. There are other ways to download & watch these movies. You can find some movies dubbed in English too.

Comment down which movie did you liked the most & other movies that you will recommend.

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