11. Firefighters (dir. Kwak Gyeong-taek)
Kwak Gyeong-taek is responsible for giving one of the best Korean gangster films of all time with his New Wave title “Friend”. And while he has gone on to make a number of films since, including a sequel to “Friend”, none have really managed to make an indelible mark on the canvas of Korean cinema quite like the 2001 feature did. Here's hoping his next film “Firefighters”, about the trials and tribulation a team of firefighters faces on the job, which stars character actor Kwak Do-won in the lead, fares a lot better than his last feature “The Battle of Jangsari”.
12. Ballerina (dir. Lee Chung-hyun)
Jeon Jong-seo continues to challenge herself and progress as an actress, with each of her feature films being vastly different from the others. Starting off with a debut that many can only dream of in Lee Chang-dong's “Burning”, she played a killer inn her 2nd feature “The Call”, which was followed by the romance “Nothing Serious”, with an American debut in Ana Lily Amirpour's “Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon” also to boot. After a couple trysts with tv dramas, she is back to movies (and back on Netflix) with “The Call” director and real-life boyfriend Lee Chung-hyun's “Ballerina”, an action thriller which sees her play an ex-bodyguard and an expert martial artist, sword fighter, gunsman and motorcyle rider who risks her life to help her friend Min-hee (Park Yoo-rim), a ballerina, take revenge on a character called Pro Choi (Kim Ji-hoon). Jeon Jong-so previously worked with Kim Ji-hoon on the Netflix show “Money Heist Korea: Joint Economic Area”. To quote Netflix's press release, “trendy and stylish action scenes and visuals” can be expected from this production.
13. Night Trip (dir. Kim Jin-hwang)
Ha Jung-woo and Kim Nam-gil will once again be seen in the same movie after 2020 horror “The Closet”. This time, they join up for a mystery thriller which sees Ha Jung-woo playa a detective who finds out that a case he is working on resembles a novel while investigating the death of a best-selling author's husband. It is the film film produced by Kakao M and will likely premiere on Kakao TV, but a theatrical release cannot be ruled out either.
14. Dead Man (dir. Ha Joon-won)
Revenge is the flavour of the year, as “Dead Man” is yet another revenge tale, this time by Ha Joon-won (who was a scriptwriter on Bong Joon-ho's “The Host” in his directorial debut. This feature is a crime mystery thriller about the desperate survival and revenge of a man who was trapped and killed in a dark world. Headlined by one of the best supporting-actor-turned-leading-man Cho Jin-woong, who is impressing with each leading role he picks up, “Dead Man” is a Wavve original movie which co-stars Kim Hee-ae and Lee Soo-kyoung.
15. Sleep (dir.Yoo Jae-sun)
A man of many talents, Yoo Jae-sun has worked on subtitling for productions like “Burning” and “Maggie”, in the sound department for both the “Along with the Gods” films as well as in the directing department for “Okja” and “Secretly, Greatly”. He takes all this experience to his debut directorial “Sleep”, a mystery about a newlywed couple who try to solve the secret of the terrible nightmares that begin as soon as they fall asleep together. What promises electricity is the lead pairing of Jung Yu-mi and Lee Sun-kyun, who have both previously also worked together in Hong Sang-soo's “Our Sunhi”.
16. Devils (dir. Kim Jae-hoon)
Serial killer films have been South Korean cinema's bread and butter since the days of the New Wave but in the recent years, quality content in the sub-genre has been severely lacking. Hoping to change that is director Kim Jae-hoon with his feature “Devils” that comes with an interesting premise to it, set u as a crime-thriller that depicts a confrontation between a serial killer group that has stirred up Korea and a detective who wants to catch them at all costs. Detective Jae-hwan has been chasing a group of serial killers for years, but the case is still in the labyrinth. Jae-hwan, who was dispatched to the scene, fights with Jin-hyeok, a group of killers, and falls into a flooded river under a cliff, and the two go missing. A month later, Jae-hwan, who was thought to have died, returns to the police station with Jin-hyeok and the mystery begins. The production includes a young star-cast of Jang Dong-yoon, Oh Dae-hwan and Jang Jae-ho.
17. COBWEB (dir. Kim Jee-woon)
Definitely the film that is going to have the most eyes on it internationally this year, “COBWEB” sees the return of Kim Jee-woon, after the lukewarm feature film effort “Illang: The Wolf Brigade” and a decent foray into tv with Apple TV's “Dr Brain”. What's even better is that it sees him join hands with Song Kang-ho in more capacity than one. Not only will this be the fourth film that the actor will feature in for the genre master, but “COBWEB” is also the first film produced by the company that Song and Kim started together. The project, written by Shin Yeon-shick, who has just worked with Song Kang-ho on “One Win”, was initially planned as a directorial for the indie director but was later entrusted to Kim. A period piece set in the 1970s, “COBWEB” sees Song play an obsessive film director. Im Soo-jung and Jeon Yeo-been co-star.
18. Rebound (dir. Jang Hang-jun)
Sports films are back in demand in Korea, with Shin Yeon-shick's “One Win”, Lee Byeong-heon's follow-up to his massively successful “Extreme Job”, “Dream”, starring Park Seo-joon and Lee Ji-eun and the upcoming “Count” starring Jin Sun-kyu being but three titles coming soon in the genre. Yet another name that can be added to the list is “Rebound” by Jang Hang-jun, which takes on the popular sport of basketball. What sets this Ahn Jae-hong starrer apart is that the script is written by Jang Hang-jun's wife, tv drama royalty Kim Eun-hee, known for the hugely popular tv works “Signal” and Netflix's Joseon-set zombie series “Kingdom”.
19. Ransomed (dir. Kim Seong-hun)
And speaking of “Kingdom”, the director of the series, Kim Seong-hun, who also has such commercially successful film like “Tunnel” and the much-loved edge-of-your-set thriller “A Hard Day” to boast of in his filmography, calls up his “Tunnel” star Ha Jung-woo once again for “Ransomed”. He's not alone though, as Kim's star from the Netflix series Ju Ji-hoon also joins this real-life tale set in Lebanon in the mid-80s about a kidnapped diplomat who must be saved by a young diplomat who, after proof of his senior's life, travels to the civil war-torn country with a bag of ransom money with him.
20. Cross (dir. Lee Myung-hoon)
Hwang Jung-min is yet another actor who's set to have a big year. After opening the year with “The Point Men” being one of the first few Korean films to release this year and “Kill Boksoon”, he is also set to lead the way in “Cross”, an action comedy about a former agent (played by Hwang) who hides his past and is now a housewarmer and married to Yum Jung-ah's character, an ace on the crime investigation unit, who must come out of hiding one last time. If there's one thing “Veteran” taught us, it's that Hwang Jung-min is more than effective in the action comedy role, making “Cross” one to look out for.
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