Suppose you google ‘Korean dramas to watch’. In that case, chances are you’ll be shown mainstream classic titles, like ‘Boys Over Flowers’, and popular dramas that revolve around romantic relationships and their portrayals across different ages, universes, and genres. In the meantime, Korean indie cinema is taking the film festival world by storm, often with the topics of class inequality, poverty, grief, and family.
Today, we present our favorite Korean dramas that dig deep into our souls.
Treeless Mountain
#Drama #FestivalSelection
Directed by: Kim So Yong
Jin is a bright young girl who lives with her mother and younger sister. One day, she comes home to find people removing the furniture from the family apartment. Their mother takes them to stay with “Big Aunt”, outside the city. The girls’ mother leaves them nothing more than a piggy bank and tells them that when it is full, she will return.
Both sisters are deeply affected by their mother’s abrupt departure, but in different ways, and naturally, they are looking for ways to cope. They work hard to fill the piggy bank and find new friends along the way. Little did they know it’s only the start of their ordeals: the Big Aunt is unable to take care of the girls anymore, and they end up with their grandparents. Will the sisters finally experience a happy childhood?
Shown through the eyes of a child protagonist, Treeless Mountain is an asian drama movie that is surprisingly minimalist in its narrative—some critics attribute this to the Korean drama being an American film in origin. Otherwise, it’s an intimate exploration of childhood, mixed with the haunting sense of dislocation that comes with being left on your own when you’re too young.
Mother Midnight
#Drama #FemaleProtagonist
Directed by: Mike Beech
After her mother’s death, Ji-won leaves Seoul to help her alcoholic father run their struggling rural guest house. She’s drowning in responsibility, uncertainty, and grief. With no real support from her on-and-off boyfriend or distant friends, she faces rising threats from a hostile neighbor and a father who won’t stand up for them. Out of options, Ji-won turns to a local shaman for help, hoping for a fix. In Mother Midnight, the ghost of a mother looms large over those she left behind, and the question isn’t just how to move on, but how to fill a void only she understands.
Despite the themes of grief and disappointment, Mother Midnight maintains a surprisingly light, quietly humorous tone. A work of a minimalist, this South Korean drama draws inspiration from filmmakers like Hong Sang-Soo and Steve McQueen with the use of single long takes and intimate two-person dialogues. Though director Mike Beech isn’t Korean by origin, his debut feature feels authentically Korean and not just shot without the ‘otherness’ that often involuntarily slips into foreigner-made movies. It paid off: Mother Midnight won Best Feature Film at the London Breeze Film Festival in 2023.
Clean Up
#Drama #Thriller
Directed by: Kwon Manki
Jungjoo has learned to disguise herself every day behind a clean, respectable facade—she works diligently as a cleaner, frequents church… But after losing her son, Jungjoo loses all hope, drinking and smoking her life away.
Min-gu has just been released from prison. He’s quiet, awkward, and carries his entire life in a few worn-out plastic bags. There’s something fragile about him—like a bird caught in the rain, disoriented and out of place. When Jung-ju spots him, she freezes. She knows exactly who he is. When she discovers that he has no place to stay, she follows her maternal instinct and offers him her home. Kim Dae-gun delivers a powerful performance as a young man stripped of his childhood, moving through the world like an old soul with the emotional capacity of a 9-year-old.
The whole film is a cleaning metaphor: the characters spend most of their time washing, wiping, and brushing, while the real cleaning they have to do lies in their personal lives. The sterile, cleanliness atmosphere is complemented with a washed-down neutral palette.
A cutting remark on Korea’s state of affairs regarding social divide and the failing public sector, Clean Up won 2 top prizes—winning both the New Currents Award and the KTH Award at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). The K-drama movie went on to win Best Film at the International Film Festival and Awards Macao.
The Box
#Music #Drama
Directed by: Yang Jung-Woong
As the motherland of K-pop, Korea was bound to produce musicals. The Box marries the In this heartwarming road trip musical, two unlikely companions—a struggling aspiring singer and a washed-up music producer who embark on a journey across South Korea in hopes of reigniting their dreams. Along the way, their adventure is punctuated by a selection of global hits, including songs from Coldplay, Billie Eilish, Chet Baker, and Pharrell Williams, alongside iconic Korean tracks.
The film, while centered on music and self-discovery, stands out thanks to the remarkable performance of EXO member Chanyeol. As he works with his producer, both men learn valuable lessons about confronting their fears.
The film’s reception highlights Chanyeol’s performance as a key selling point, but the celebrity isn’t the only thing the creators were banking on: critics agree that Chanyeol’s portrayal of the introverted, struggling musician combined with his beautiful vocals “trap viewers’ hearts”. Ultimately, the movie may not be a groundbreaking masterpiece, but it delivers on its promise of a feel-good, musical journey and heartfelt performances.
Baseball Girl
#Music #Drama
Directed by: Choi Yun Tae
Sometimes, we all want to root for an underdog. A female baseball player in a high school setting, typical for k-drama movies, striving to break through in a predominantly male sport, is exactly fitting the stereotype.
The movie shows Soo-in, the only girl in line, participating in interviews with a recruiter from a professional baseball team. Not surprisingly, Soo-in was not chosen. The recruiter instead chooses Jeong-ho, her acquaintance from the elementary school team, a boy who has known her since they played together in their elementary school team. Jeong-ho is genuinely sorry, but it doesn’t matter for Soo-in. She had enough trying to fight her way in for years.
Soo-in is not your cute girl next door, but she is passionate and stubborn in a way that grows on you. You won’t notice how you’re sucked in with sheer will power and hope. Baseball girl encourages you to never give up and never resort to cruelty and despair—yes, it’s another trope. But aren’t all high school experiences made exactly out of tropes?
My Lovely Angel
#Music #Drama
Directed by: Lee Chang-won
Have you ever experienced a wholesome bond that transcends blood relations?
A man working as a driver for a group of performers finds out the female performer he was driving is dead and left behind her deafblind daughter. Initially, Jae-sik is only interested in getting Ji-young’s deposit money, but his perspective shifts as he struggles to understand Eun-hae’s world and the failures of the welfare system.
Despite himself and his shady past, Jae-sik begins to communicate with the girl. He teaches her words by writing them on her palm, and as they take a road trip to the countryside, she begins to experience a new world. The journey not only physically removes him from his past, but it is also symbolic of the character. As Jae-sik moves further away, he becomes less focused on his material greed and more on the people around him. His journey helps him see things in a new light, not just for Eun-hae but for others he meets along the way—many of whom are struggling with challenges that, in some ways, mirror his own.
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From lighthearted humor to gut-wrenching dramas, Korean filmmakers know how to combine genres that otherwise don’t meet often.
If you need more K-drama movies that give you food for thought, please see UVOtv’s Korean movies collection.
