2024 K-Dramas, Movies, and Other Shows watched this year

It’s well into a new year now, so it’s definitely time for me to start talking about all the media I’m consuming as far as movies and shows are concerned. I have done this in 2022 and again in 2023 as well. And let’s be honest – the vast majority are going to be Korean dramas and Korean movies. However, you will also find Japanese movies, and TV shows and movies from North America, and other countries.

Why do I do this? Because people will always ask me, “have you seen anything good lately?” And even if I know I have indeed seen good stuff recently, I will freeze and forget everything I have ever seen in the past 20 years.

And therefore I keep a running tally of all the Korean dramas and movies, and other entertainment I consume over the year. Sometimes I just give a blurb synopsis. Sometimes I give a review. But it’s all basically like creeping all my steaming services. You’re welcome.

So let’s go, here are all the shows and movies I’ve been watching in 2024 in case you need some inspiration.

Currently Watching: Mr. Plankton (Mr. 플랑크톤) – Korean drama (Netflix)

Stay tuned for an update!

Celebrity (셀러브리티) – Korean thriller drama (Netflix)

Technically I had started this show at the end of 2023 but I didn’t get very far with the holiday busy season. I finally got back to it in early 2024 and it was really good.

The show focuses on the darker side of the influencer lifestyle and it kept me guessing until almost the very last episode. Seo A-ri quickly moves up the ranks in the influencer game, becoming one of the most sought-after celebrities. She finds a ton of success but it comes at a cost.

And eventually she winds up dead.

So how is she streaming live right now, spilling all the dark secrets of every other local influencer who tried to take her down? Is she really dead? And if not, will someone kill her before she can change everything?

Really great show, glad I kicked off my year with this one!

Motherland – Korean animated film (seen courtesy of the Korean Culture Center of Canada)

This was a really different movie. It’s an animated film about Krisha, a daughter of a nomadic tribe living in the Tundra. When her mother becomes very ill, Krisha must cross the Tundra alone to find a cure.

Krisha saw a red bear in a dream. She isn’t sure of the meaning but she knows that the bear is the key to saving her mother.

It was really cute and had a lot of vocabulary and grammar that I was not familiar with.

Goblin (쓸쓸하고 찬란하神-도깨비) – Korean drama (Viki)

I’ve talked about Goblin every single year. It is still my #1 favourite K-drama. I am re-watching it with some people from the Korean reading group I study with on Discord, and it’s still one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.

Because honestly, how can you go wrong with a show starring Gong Yoo AND Lee Dong-wook?

Terrifier – Horror movie (Tubi)

This horror movie kept popping up as a suggestion for my husband so we made it a family movie night. Art the Clown goes on a rampage and stalks and kills for no good reason. Being pretty afraid of clowns, he completely freaks me out.

The budget is pretty low so the effects aren’t great but they don’t need to be. The clown is scary enough and the story is just wild as far as imaginative ways to die in a horror film – there’s one very unique one that I had never seen before!

Terrifier 2 – Horror movie (Shudder I think)

Of course we needed to see part 2 after watching the first one. Two weeks later we managed to have another family movie night and popped this on. The original Terrifier had become a bit of a cult classic, so they had a slightly bigger budget this time around – though the effects were still pretty low.

Art is joined by what may actually be a more terrifying clown, if that’s even possible, and the deaths are more creative that the first time around.

I had read that there is one scene in the movie that is so disturbing and disgusting that people passed out or threw up in the theaters so I was very interested to see what happened. All I can say is that those people must not watch very many horror or slasher films because I’ve definitely seen worse on-screen. That being said, take note that it may be really upsetting if you’re not used to those kinds of scenes.

Already looking forward to Terrifier 3 in October!

Chicago PD – current season and earlier seasons – Long running police drama (Amazon Prime)

My husband started watching this show last year and I caught an episode or two with him. I started watching steadily around season 5 or 6 and we finished the rest together. Now we are watching new episodes as they’re released, as well as starting back at the beginning so I can fill in the blanks that I missed.

Not a lot to really say about this one. It’s a fairly typical police series but I love the characters and the show. The series follows the police working in the Intelligence division and it’s generally pretty exciting.

The Elevator Game – Horror movie (Shudder or AMC+)

If you have read my blog before, you can probably imagine how eager I was to see this movie. I did, after all, dedicate an entire blog post to The Elevator Game rules and the origins of the ritual. However,  while I was looking forward to it, I was also scared to watch – because I was scared it would not be scary.

Overall I found it was creepy and had a few good jump scares but it was definitely not as scary as it could have been. I did appreciate how closely they stuck to the basics of the urban legend. The changes they did make (explaining the 5th floor woman) were a nice touch.

It could have been more than it was, but not a bad movie.

Gyeongseong Creature (경성크리처) – Korean horror drama (Netflix)

Gyeonseong Creature takes place in Korea during Japanese occupation. It’s often seen as a horror show, but as a long time horror fan I didn’t see it that way. I did consider it a monster show.

And of course, as is often the case, humans are usually the biggest monsters of them all.

The show takes place in 1945 when the Imperial Japanese Army occupied Korea (Gyeongseong is the old name for Seoul). A subset of the army conducts illicit and horrific biological experiments on Korean men and women. The goal of the experiments is to create a controllable monster that is almost impossible to defeat to use as a weapon.

Jang Tae-sang and Yoon Chae-ok team up to try to locate her missing mother, only to discover the horror of what is happening in the basements of Ongseong Hospital.

I loved this show (which is unsurprising since I love the two main stars, Park Seon-joon and Han So-hee). It provided a lot of cultural context, history, and the twist of a monster plot. I’m already excited for season 2 to be released!

A Shop For Killers (킬러들에 쇼핑몰) – Korean action series (Disney+)

This was a really fun, fast-paced action adventure show starring one of my favourite actors, Lee Dong-wook.

The

 

My Name is Loh Kiwan (로기원) – Korean drama film (Netflix)

A Killer Paradox (살인자ㅇ난감) – Korean drama (Netflix)

Beef – American drama (Netflix)

12.12: The Day (서울의 봄) – Korean drama film (seen courtesy of Korean Culture Center of Canada)

Old – Suspense film (Netflix)

I had heard the premise of this movie before, where people get trapped on a beach where time speeds up so much that you live an entire lifetime in one day, aging rapidly. However, I forgot it was an M Night Shyamalan film until it started. Most of the time I enjoy his work, you can always count on it being at least a little weird and very well done.

Netflix classified it as a horror film which I absolutely dispute. It’s not horror. While it would certainly be scary to age your whole life in the span of a single day with no way to escape, it’s still not horror.

Also, and this was a new experience for me with his movies, the acting was fairly atrocious. I don’t know why; it’s not like he’s never worked with high caliber actors before. It was vaguely distracting but the story was still interesting enough to keep me going.

As always, the film moves a bit slowly at times (ironic considering the plot of time speeding up) but I enjoyed it. He uses a lot of his signature super-close-up tight camera shots which added to the discomfort of what the characters experiences. And of course, M Night Shyamalan has his usual cameo although this time it was more than a brief flash.

Overall I’d say that if you like M Night Shyamalan movies, you may also enjoy this one. Just know that the acting is sub-par at best.

And if you travel and the hotel offers to take you to a secluded beach, say no thank you.

Chicken Nugget (닭강정) – Korean comedy (Netflix)

Death Whisperer – Thai horror movie (Netflix)

Parasyte: The Grey (기생수: 더 그레이) – Korean sci-fi (Netflix)

Queen of Tears (눈물의 여왕) – Korean drama/romance (Netflix)

Goodbye Earth (종말의 바보) – Korean apocalyptic drama (Netflix)

Strangers From Hell

Yumi’s Cells

Talk to Me

Circle

Hellbound: Season 2

The Tunnel

Mr. Plankton