After the landslide win of Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite at the Academy Awards, the South Korean film industry not only has a seat at the high tables of films and television, it seems to be firmly placed at the head of the table. The South Korean film industry’s creative renaissance was introduced to the world in the late '90s and early 2000s, with films such as Oldboy and Memories of Murder being highly appreciated by film aficionados globally.
Updated July 28, 2023: To keep the article fresh and relevant by adding more information and entries, this article has been updated by Amira Abdel-Fadil.
Sensing appreciation for diversification, Korean filmmakers went on to flex their cinematic muscles across different genres, producing authentic and innovative cinema for the world to see. Here’s a look at some of the best South Korean sci-fi movies ranked.
12 Young Gun in the Time (2012)
A South Korean alternative to Dirk Gently, Young Gun in the Time is a wispy-mustached detective that takes his investigative work very seriously. One day, a beautiful woman approaches Young Gun, asking him to kill a man. While the young detective refuses her, he’s infatuated by her beauty and decides to follow the woman.
Young Gun in the Time then takes a berserk turn when Young watches the woman being killed in a car accident. Surprisingly, the same woman appears a few days later, claiming to be a future version of herself, and requests the detective to save her life by getting a time machine and going back in time.
11 Space Sweepers (2021)
Directed by Jo Sung-hee, Space Sweepers follows the crew of the spaceship Victory. Strapped for cash, the crew members scavenge a crashed space shuttle for valuables but instead chance upon a little robotic girl who looks exactly like a human.
The crew is warned about the extremely dangerous nature of the girl/robot, claiming she’s not as innocent as she looks. The members of Victory then come up with a plan to ask the UTS space guards for a ransom in exchange for the human-like robot.
10 Lucid Dream (2017)
Lucid Dream is a science fiction psychological thriller that was written and directed by Joon-Sung Kim. After the kidnapping of his son, an investigative journalist desperately wants to find his boy. With the help of a detective and a psychiatrist, he resorts to using lucid dreaming techniques in order to try and trace his son's path. Through its fresh premise, Lucid Dreams is entertaining and captivating, with surprising twists and turns. Similar to Inception, this movie will keep you hooked.
9 Deranged (2012)
In Deranged, a parasite (horsehair worms) outbreak causes a series of deaths in the Han River. The parasite leads people to extreme hunger and thirst and then forces them to jump into the river, leading them to drown. Jae-Juk, a former professor with a doctorate in biochemistry, works hard to find a cure for this agonizing new truth. Deranged is a solid story with elements of suspense, family ties, conspiracy theories, and drama that is all too relatable given the recent COVID-19 pandemic.
8 Illang: The Wolf Brigade (2018)
Illang: The Wolf Brigade works on themes of violence and bloodshed, revolving around a clash between two extreme ideologies with strong and potent belief systems. The plot follows an elite police squad known as the wolf brigade, which locks horns with an equally lethal terrorist organization that’s opposing the reunification of two Korean states by fueling public unrest. Illang: The Wolf Brigade, immaculately paints a picture of a dystopian world where elements of crime clash headfirst with the arms of law and order.
7 Save The Green Planet! (2003)
Save The Green Planet! is a hilarious twist on conspiracy theories and the impact they can have on our everyday lives. Director Jang Joon-hawn intricately fills the script with elements of farce and comedy to add subtle layers to a somewhat deeper problem.
The plot of the film follows a young man named Lee Byeong-gu, who views himself as the last man standing between Earth and aliens from Andromeda that have penetrated our planet disguised as humans and plan on destroying civilization as we know it.
6 Flu (2013)
Before the Covid-19 pandemic affected most of Earth's population, Flu narratively treaded on the same lines. The film revolves around a deadly strain of airborne virus known as H5N1 that kills its victims within 36 hours of contact, throwing a small district of South Korea into a violent frenzy. Having been made five years before the pandemic, Flu comes eerily close to having the foresight to categorically predict the level of panic and chaos a contagious virus can create.
5 Sori: Voice From the Heart (2016)
When his daughter goes missing, Haee-Gwan searches high and low for her, only to always meet a dead end. Defeated and tired, he finds a satellite robot that seems to have infinite memory based on audio input. Having found a new ray of hope, Haee-Gwan, and the robot go on a journey in pursuit of Gwan’s missing daughter while also forming a special bond of their own.
4 Okja (2017)
A tale created by acclaimed filmmaker Bong Joon-ho, Okja is a tale about capitalistic greed in conflict with a holistic, rural upbringing. This direct contrast is highlighted when Mija, a young girl, is separated from her best friend, an overly large animal named Okja.
When Okja is transported to New York by a multinational conglomerate headed by a narcissistic CEO, Nancy Mirando (Tilda Swinton), Mija goes on a quest to save her friend. Bong Joon-ho masterfully creates various layers of temperamental bifurcation by placing Mija and Okja’s friendship on one end of the spectrum while placing Nancy Mirando’s disregard for anything that doesn’t serve her on the other end.
3 The Host (2006)
Another classic directed by Bong Joon Ho, The Host focuses on the day a monster suddenly emerges from Seoul’s Han River and starts going on a rampage. Years before, in the same river, American military officers dumped chemicals in it. When one family's daughter gets kidnapped by the creature, they do all they can to rescue her. Fast-paced, intriguing, and interesting, The Host is one great entertaining monster film. The creature is one of the best-designed monsters to grace the silver screen in ages, and the careful use of CGI makes everything look very realistic.
The Host also offers a deeper layer than being merely a monster film as it highlights one’s family’s absolute dysfunction and the dynamics between them. Bong Joon-ho won the best director at the Grand Bell Awards for the film.
2 Snowpiercer (2013)
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A third Bong Joon-ho masterpiece on the list is Snowpiercer. While at the surface level, the film seems like a dystopian drama that revolves around a group of poor passengers who are trapped on a train that never stops as they try to take back their rights by taking control of the engine, Snowpiercer, when deep dived into, is so much more. In the film, Bong masterfully symbolizes Curtis (Chris Evans), moral progression, and choices through screen direction rather than dialogue.
Ever the master of the form, Bong Joon-ho uses cinematic language to ensure that the viewer is always aware of Curtis and his group of rebels' struggle to move from the back of the train to the front, passing through the different layers of social classes by having the action always move from the left to the right of the screen.