Movies like Sumbisori (2025)
The best movies like Sumbisori (2025) are Canola (2016), Thread of Lies (2014) and Take Care of My Cat (2001). If Sumbisori hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedInside I'm Dancing (2004)7.4/10 from 243 votes
- NewestTime to Be Strong (2024)Released 2024
- In KoreanCanola (2016)Also in Korean
Canola (2016)
A girl who went missing after an accident returns 10 years later and reunites with her grandmother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThread of Lies (2014)
Cheon-ji's unexpected suicide causes her mother Hyeon-sook and older sister Man-ji to be moved into another apartment. Tracking down clues from school, Man-ji discovers that Cheon-ji's best friend Hwa-yeon is behind everything.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTake Care of My Cat (2001)
When one girl from five close school friends moves to Seoul after school is over, the other four try and deal with the loss of her moving and them drifting apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWill You Be There (2016)
A terminally ill surgeon travels back in time through the use of unique capsules to reunite with his dead lover. He then meets his juvenile self and they try to prevent her death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNobody's Daughter Haewon (2013)
Facing her mother’s departure and the weight of a secret affair with her professor, college student Haewon drifts through a series of encounters and dreams, blurring the lines between her desires and reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight and Day (2008)
Kim Seong-nam travels to Paris to escape an arrest, leaving his wife behind in Korea. After he arrives, he meets an ex-girlfriend and is introduced to a small community of Korean artists.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn Front of Your Face (2021)
She has never lived in a high-rise apartment, and she wonders how her sister can live at this height every day. A few days ago she kind of burst in to stay with her sister, and she is now becoming re-accustomed to life in Korea. While seeming to keep a grave secret to herself, she manages life one day at a time with a sense of mindfulness. Meanwhile a certain director, some years younger than her, has asked her to join his project, and after a polite refusal, they have agreed to meet for the first time today. Downtown Seoul is filled with narrow alleys that harbor tiny old bars, and that's where they meet. As they are getting drunk, there is sudden rainfall and thunder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHead Full of Honey (2018)
A young girl tries to help her grandfather, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, navigate his increasing forgetfulness, and ends up going on a remarkable adventure with him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOde to My Father (2014)
Duk-soo lost his father and younger sister while taking refuge during the Korean War. He leaves for Germany to work as a miner and enters the Vietnam War. He wishes to find his sister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBirdcage Inn (1998)
Jin-a, a young prostitute, moves into a seaside motel called the Birdcage Inn, run by a dysfunctional family. Struggling with her circumstances and the family's treatment, she forms an unlikely bond with the daughter, Hye-mi. As they navigate love, betrayal, and personal growth, their friendship ultimately leads to a deeper understanding and a chance for redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInside I'm Dancing (2004)
Michael is a 24-year-old who has cerebral palsy and long-term resident of the Carrigmore Residential Home for the Disabled, run by the formidable Eileen. His life is transformed when the maverick Rory O'Shea moves in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMiracle: Letters to the President (2021)
Dreaming of making a way station for his sister and the villagers who have no choice but to commute along the dangerous train tracks every day, Joon-kyung sends many letters to the President, but with no reply. Ra-hee, who has a crush on Joon-kyung, does everything she can to help him meet the President.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMemories of the Sword (2015)
While in medieval Korea, a young girl sets out to revenge the betrayal and the death of her mother. But therefore she must face one of the most powerful men and warriors of the Goryeo Dynasty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilmido (2003)
On 31 January 1968, 31 North Korean commandos infiltrated South Korea in a failed mission to assassinate President Park Chung-hee. In revenge, the South Korean military assembled a team of 31 criminals on the island of Silmido to kill Kim Il-sung for a suicide mission to redeem their honor, but was cancelled, leaving them frustrated. It is loosely based on a military uprising in the 1970s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWon't Back Down (2012)
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Forest (2018)
A young woman leaves the city to return to her hometown in the countryside. Seeking to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, she becomes self-sufficient in a bid to reconnect with nature.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Book of Fish (2021)
When the scholar Jeong Yak-jeon is exiled to Heuksando Island during the Catholic Persecution of 1801, he decides to write a fish-based encyclopaedia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this1987: When the Day Comes (2017)
In 1987 Korea under an oppressive military regime, the unlawful interrogation and death of a college student ignite ordinary citizens to fight for the truth and bring about justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFamily Romance, LLC (2019)
Love is a business at Family Romance, a company that rents human stand-ins for any occasion. Founder Yuichi Ishii helps make his clients’ dreams come true. But when the mother of 12-year-old Mahiro hires Ishii to impersonate her missing father, the line between acting and reality threatens to blur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHere (2024)
An odyssey through time and memory, centered on a place in New Jersey where—from wilderness, and then, later, from a home—love, loss, struggle, hope and legacy play out between couples and families over generations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn Water (2023)
A director, a cinematographer, and an actress spend the days leading up to a movie shoot together on-location, waiting for the director to come up with an idea for what the film will be about.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Cave (2022)
Min-hee, who faces many changes after losing her husband. After her husband's sudden death, Min-hee visits Jeju Island, where her husband had always yearned and experiences a whirlwind of emotions. Mok-ha, a single mom living in Jeju Island, becomes a neighbor to Min-hee who comes down from Seoul and causes various emotional changes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Time to Be Strong (2024)
Three retired K-pop idols take a trip to Jeju Island. After failed careers and missed school trips, they finally have the time to go on a trip on their own. On their first day on the island, things start to go awry.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Hear me (2018)
Yu-jeong who works golf practice is in her late twenties. One day, she receive the shocking news that Sang-ho who is only family and one young brother deserted from his regiment...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Living Being (2018)
Old man, Moon-ho, spends his time masturbating because of Alzheimer. Yoon-jeong works as caretaker for Moon-ho. One day, Yoon-jeong finds Moon-ho completely recovered from dementia…
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Eomung (2019)
This is the story of Sook-ja (Moon Hee-kyung), a female diver in the beautiful Jeju Islands who has lived a tough life, and her childish son Yool (Yeon Joon). Young man Yool dreams of becoming a writer. One day he discovers his mother, Sook-ja, has terminal cancer, but she refuses to get treated and continues diving in the water. Yool gives up his dreams as a writer and goes to his brother-in-law to ask for a job just so he can change his mother's mind. One evening, Yool comes home drunk and upset. Sook-ja can't bear the sudden pain and wakes up her drunken son.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Poet and the Boy (2017)
Trapped in routine, a Jeju poet finds himself drawn to a boy—and to emotions he’s never dared name.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ppong ddol (2011)
Seong-pil, an actor, is traveling through Jeju Island when he sees an ad looking for actors. He follows the ad that leads him to Pong-ddol. The film captures their sincerity without losing the humor. What does film and life mean to you?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Island (2015)
A pensive man visits an empty house. A neighbor tells him the house is haunted but he ignores it. Park Jinseong's second feature that takes place in Jeju Island gazes into the pain of life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Everglow (2021)
Everglow begins with the cute struggle of Kyung-hoon , who visited Jeju to make a documentary about Jin-ok, a female diver. Kyung-hoon's work becomes a sincere mission for the souls buried in the deep sea and mountains.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Sumbisori?
The closest matches to Sumbisori are Canola (2016), Thread of Lies (2014) and Take Care of My Cat (2001). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Sumbisori?
Start with Canola (2016), the closest match to Sumbisori.
What is the highest-rated movie like Sumbisori?
Inside I'm Dancing (2004), rated 7.4/10 by 243 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Sumbisori?
Time to Be Strong (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like Sumbisori?
Yes: Canola (2016), Thread of Lies (2014) and Take Care of My Cat (2001).
How are movies similar to Sumbisori chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Sumbisori, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.