Loved Boon Jong-ho’s Parasite? Watch 5 more twisted Korean movies that are just as good
The Academy Award-winning movie Parasite has given us all a glimpse into the breathtakingly vivid, rich and complex world of Korean cinema. With director Boon Jong-ho recently winning not one but four Oscar categories, including Best Picture, he has diverted the world’s attention onto Korea’s long-standing love of class tension and revenge stories. Apparently, Parasite isn’t the only film to have visually narrated these subjects in subtle yet nuanced storytelling. Below are five other outstanding Korean movies whose climax points will have your jaws dropping.
1. The Handmaiden (2016)
Directed by Park Chan-wook, The Handmaiden is, in simple terms, an erotic version of Parasite. It tells the tale of poor Sook-hee (played by Korean actress Kim Tae-ri) who bears the front of a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress (Kim Min-hee) but is secretly involved in a dark plan to overthrow her and take over her wealth. The film is loosely based on Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith, but instead of being set in Victorian England, the story takes place in a Japanese-ruled Korea.
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What’s simultaneously great and disarming about The Handmaiden is the fact that you may think you know what’s going on, but you don’t. The film is woven by macabre meanings that are uncovered by the realisation of one deception after another, right to the very end. But to discuss Park’s storytelling style is to also reveal the very essence of the story. So we’ll leave it to you to get to the bottom of it.
2. The Wailing (2016)
This is one of the most bone-chilling Asian horror movies to have arrived in the previous decade. The Wailing (which is Na Hong-jin’s third film) revolves around a rural village struck by a mysterious illness and a series of vicious murders following the arrival of a stranger (Chun Woo-hee). Suspecting foul play involving black magic, officer Jong-goo (Kwan Do-won) investigates the situation and later relies on the help of a shaman (Hwang Jung-min) after her daughter is affected by the same spell.
Again, in a typically Korean dark twist, not all is not what it seems. The movie’s beautiful sceneries and comic reliefs are genius tools to distract you from the looming sense of dread you’ll feel throughout but try your hardest to suppress. An effective ploy, indeed, since there will be no stopping you from jumping in your seats when you discover the story’s brutal truth in its final scenes.
3. Old Boy (2013)
This movie marks another golden delivery from Park Chan-wook and proves the director’s penchant for super discombobulating plots. In Old Boy, Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is suddenly free after being imprisoned in a windowless room for 15 years without a clue as to why he was put in there in the first place. But as always, there’s a catch: he must find his captor in five days. Yup, only five days – after 15 years of not knowing what happened to his wife and daughter throughout his unwarranted disappearance.
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Old Boy is the final instalment in Park’s vengeance trilogy focusing on the themes of revenge and justice. You’d be forgiven for thinking that the director may have slowed down on his love of disturbing twists 20 years after the trilogy original release. What we can say is: expect a lot of shocking reveals that will leave you dazed for days.
4. Memoir of a Murderer (2017)
The trope of the fallen hero is played up in Memories of a Murderer. Directed by Won Shin-yun, the movie follows ex-serial killer Byung-soo (played by Sol Kyung-gu) as he sets on a quest to protect his daughter from her psychotic lover, Tae-joo (Kim Nam-gil). As if that’s not twisted enough, he is also dealing with memory loss from Alzheimer’s.
Be warned: this movie is not an easy watch. Viewers will likely find themselves conflicted by the unease they’ll feel about Byung-soo’s dark past and their sympathy for him as he sets to battle Tae-joo while also fighting to recall him through his fragmented memories.
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5. Mother (2009)
Mother is another one of Boon Jong-ho’s fine gems. Internet searches may lead you to confuse it with another twisted movie of the same name (from Hollywood heavyweight Darren Aronofsky, featuring Jennifer Lawrence). However, there’s no mistaking its own original plot. The film unravels the story of a single mother (Kim Hye-ja) who searches for the killer responsible for a grisly murder that her mentally disabled son was framed for.
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Mother is yet another movie representative of Korea’s undying obsession with whodunnit stories. Going through its plot development, viewers will feel pressured to look past the mother’s maternal instincts and the son’s cognitive dissonance when analysing the plot. In a way that feels a little similar to Memoir of a Murderer, this film will leave the audience asking a lot of hard questions along the way.
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South Korea is known for its long-standing love of class tension and revenge stories, so we found five more movies you’ll want to watch if you loved Parasite