South Korea
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Although barely six months have passed since his adaptation of Joo Ho-min’s webtoon Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds became a box-office sensation, writer-director Kim Yong-hwa has delivered a… Read More
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Ma Dong-seok, the towering man mountain best known for his supporting turn in zombie thriller Train to Busan , is given a rare opportunity to flex his acting muscles –… Read More
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In Be with You, Korean heartthrob So Ji-sub plays Woo-jin, a single father struggling to raise a young son following the unexpected death of his wife, Soo-ah (Son Ye-jin). A… Read More
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The “found footage” gimmick has thrived in the horror genre, where the narrative is pieced together through recovered fragments of sound and image. But the emergence of FaceTime, Periscope and… Read More
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Joining the increasingly cluttered ranks of politically fuelled thrillers from South Korean cinema is Golden Slumber, a new adaptation of the Japanese novel by Kotaro Isaka. In it, Gang Dong-won… Read More
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Marking the 30th anniversary of South Korea’s June Democracy Movement, 1987: When the Day Comes is the latest politically charged drama to emerge from a country regularly embroiled in government… Read More
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A brutal turf war in Seoul’s Garibong neighbourhood provides the setting for Kang Yoon-seong’s The Outlaws, a gritty police procedural that blends bloody gangland savagery with wicked gallows humour to… Read More
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The unlikely friendship between an elderly busybody and an ambitious young civil servant is at the heart of Korean filmmaker Kim Hyun-suk’s lighthearted comedy I Can Speak – that is,… Read More
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In Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds, a firefighter who heroically died in the line of duty is taken to the afterlife, where he must undergo seven separate trials… Read More
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Touted as the first South Korean film to tackle state-sponsored defection, V.I.P. juggles international diplomacy with a high-stakes police chase, as law enforcers on both sides of the border close… Read More
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Ambitious, misguided and altogether lacking in a coherent vision, Real is the first feature film directed by South Korean Lee Sa-rang, credited on-screen as “Love Lee”. Judging by the results… Read More
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Already regarded as one of the best places to watch a wide variety of new Asian cinema releases, Hong Kong nevertheless shines a spotlight on far-flung corners of the region… Read More
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In this engrossing drama directed by Jang Hun (The Front Line), veteran actor Song Kang-ho ( The Age of Shadows ) delivers an award-worthy performance as taxi driver Kim Man-seob,… Read More
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After attracting recognition for his low-budget debut Koala, writer-director Kim Joo-hwan strides confidently into the commercial arena with Midnight Runners. It’s a fast-paced buddy cop thriller that proves the perfect… Read More
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A stirring second world war escape epic featuring some of the biggest names in the South Korean film industry, The Battleship Island is also the most ambitious project yet from… Read More
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Bong Joon-ho’s controversial Netflix feature is a scathing takedown of GM foods and corporate greed built around the touching story of a young girl’s relationship with an experimental super-pig. (at… Read More
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After making waves with 2012’s Confession of Murder, writer-director Jung Byung-gil’s follow-up delivers some of the most kinetic action sequences ever witnessed in a South Korean film. Read my review Read More
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It has been 12 years since director Park Kwang-hyun’s last film, the wartime comedy Welcome to Dongmakgol, and his follow-up betrays the frustration he has endured over the years. Read… Read More
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