3 Korean Movies Released in 2021 for Your Weekend Watchlist

When it comes to Korean movies here is an interesting statistic. In 2023, South Korea released 1,069 Korean movies out of 2,558 total movies. This is a decrease from 2022 when 1,774 movies were released, and 2019, when 1,943 movies were released. (SOURCES: Korea Box Office In 2023 Is Far Below Pre-Pandemic Levels; and South Korea: most movie releases by country 2023 | Statista)

• {NOTE: If you’re wondering about the statistics, remember that COVID was announced as a pandemic (worldwide epidemic) in 2020 with the lockdown carrying over into 2021 and this drastically affected movie-making.}

Sure! Many people love binge-watching Korean drama series. But sometimes you don’t want to get wrapped up and have to go through several episodes to get to The End. Sometimes you just want to watch a good movie!

That being said, here are three (3) good Korean movies if you are looking for weekend movie picks and want to join a watch party with friends. These films were released in 2021, and are all streaming on Viki.  The Viki viewers rated them 9 out of 10 stars and I agree.

♦ 1) Best Mistake 1 and 2: The Movie

Romantic Comedy, Drama; Both movies were rated 9.1 out of 10 stars

{NOTE: Best Mistake is a South Korean drama series that ran from 2019–2021. This movie is also based on a 2016 mobile game of the same name.}

In the first movie, there was no love triangle. It’s about the relationship between two students who met “by mistake”. Kim Yeon Do never intended to have a relationship. She was just trying to get rid of another guy who kept pestering her about having a relationship. To get rid of him, she makes up a “boyfriend” and posts the photo to her social media pages.

It turns out the photo is a real person, Ji Hyun Ho, who is attending the same school. The two students are very different. Kim Yeon Do is reserved and very studious. Ji Hyun Ho is popular and hates studying. But of course, opposites attract.

The second movie has the familiar K-drama love triangle trope. Ji Hyun Ho never thought his relationship with Kim Yeon Do would change or be threatened. But then Seung Hyun shows up and changes the game. Ji Hyun Ho gets jealous and becomes afraid that Kim Yeon Do will fall for the new guy. Will she?

“Best Mistake” is so popular that it has been released as both movies and series.

• Best Mistake 1; and Best Mistake 2, both movies were released in 2021
• Best Mistake, the K-drama series has 3 seasons: S1 (2019); S2 (2020); and S3, a Viki Original (2021)

Main Characters:

• Ji Hyun Ho (played by Kang Yul)
• Kim Yeon Do (played by Lee Eun Jae)
• Seung Hyun (played by Lee Jung Joon)

TRAILER/TEASER:

• To view movie trailers/teasers of the movies, go to Viki platform. Below is a trailer for the first season of the “Best Mistake” K-drama series.

B.T.S Scene of the Drama. “[ENG SUB] | Best Mistake (2019) – OFFICIAL TRAILER | Main Cast: Lee Eun Jae, Park E Hyun, Kang Yul.” YouTube Video. YouTube, September 27, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWJTelQLz3k.‌

♦ 2) Emergency Declaration (2021)

Genre: Action, Thriller & Suspense, Drama; Rating: 9.5 out of 10 stars

This thriller is not based on true events but it very well could have happened for real. An emergency is declared when it is certain that the safety of the aircraft or its passengers and crew has been threatened. Jin-Seok is INSANE!! He is the one behind an act of biological terrorism that forces the pilot, Hyun-Soo, to have to make an emergency declaration and land the plane.

In my review of another Korean film titled “Unlocked”, I said that Im Si-Wan was not a very convincing bad guy. That was before watching him play the terrorist in “Emergency Declaration”. He still has the sweet innocent-looking face but you can’t judge a book by its cover. He masterfully played the role of a freaking dangerously deranged psycho!

Main Characters:

• Jin-Seok (played by Im Si-Wan)
• Hyun-Soo (played by Kim Nam-Gil)

TRAILER/TEASER:

Well. “EMERGENCY DECLARATION Official Trailer | in Theaters August 12 | Song Kang-Ho | Lee Byung-Hun.” YouTube Video. YouTube, July 7, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHN9bN7PyLA.‌

♦ 3) Mission Possible (2021)

Genre:  Action, Comedy; Rating: 9.3 out of 10 stars

Yoo Da Hee is an experienced sophisticated highly trained spy; a top secret agent working for the Chinese Ministry of State Security. She has been assigned to a mission and she is supposed to connect with a South Korean special operative. Only she mistakes Woo Soo-Han as the Korean agent.

She is amazed at how unprofessional and incompetent he is. How could he possibly be the person she has to work with to accomplish the mission? The answer is … he’s not! She might be a top-secret agent, but right from the start, she screwed up!

Woo Soo-Han is a private investigator and runs his own business. Lately, however, he hasn’t been getting much business. So when Yoo Da Hee shows up with money, he takes the job. It gets serious but the unexpected duo manage somehow to work together and make the mission possible.

Main Characters:

• Woo Soo-Han (played by Kim Young-Kwang)
• Yoo Da-Hee (played by Lee Sun-Bin)

TRAILER/TEASER:

815 Pictures. “MISSION: POSSIBLE (2021) | Official Trailer (Eng Sub) | Kim Young Kwang & Lee Sun Bin.” YouTube Video. YouTube, April 11, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-Q480iFQ2s.‌