Movies like Sanbok Road
The best movies like Sanbok Road are The Con Artists (2014), Crying Fist (2005) and A Better Tomorrow (2010). If Sanbok Road hooked you with its drama and action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBeast (2026)7.5/10 from 227 votes
- NewestPortrait of a Family (2026)Released 2026
- In KoreanThe Con Artists (2014)Also in Korean
The Con Artists (2014)
A wily safecracker is forced to help a mob boss pull off a $150 million heist, but smells a double-cross in the works.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrying Fist (2005)
Tae-sik, a troubled middle aged man and Sang-hwan, a troubled youth will meet in the ring with their respective mission. To change their life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Better Tomorrow (2010)
An idealistic policeman must bring down his estranged older brother, now a powerful gangster in a South Korean port city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFriend (2001)
Despite their different family backgrounds, four friends grew up together in the wearisome years of the 70s. But as time goes by, each of them takes a different life path.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConvict (2014)
Set in the dark and old Parramatta prison built by the original convicts our lead character Ray a war veteran finds himself serving 18 months for manslaughter after defending his fiance. He soon realizes that the prison boss has it in for him and does everything possible to break Ray even going after his fiance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJawbone (2017)
A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner Bill corner man Eddie and promoter Joe. Back in training, years after anyone thought he was a contender, he risks his life, as he tries to stand tall and regain his place in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDirt (2018)
In search of a lifeline for his struggling off road racing team, a man takes on a young car thief looking for a second chance, but as their worlds collide, they must struggle to forge a successful alliance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Old Woman with the Knife (2025)
Aging assassin Hornclaw has seen it all, but she never expected to mentor a reckless rookie like Bullfight. As their unlikely bond deepens, cracks form in the underworld they navigate together. When Hornclaw discovers someone wants her dead, she's thrust into a deadly game of deception. With enemies closing in and trust in short supply, survival means staying sharp—both blade and mind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOut Live (2000)
A sweeping, epic tale of a martial arts warrior who attempts to defy a kingdom to be with his love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFighter in the Wind (2004)
An account of karate competitor Choi Yeung-Eui who went to Japan after World War II to become a fighter pilot but found a very different path instead. He changed his name to Masutatsu Oyama and went across the country, defeating martial artists one after another. This film concentrates on the period when he is still young, and developing his famous karate style, Kyokushin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn Full Bloom (2019)
Set shortly after the end of World War II, a philosophical boxing drama of two fighters from opposite worlds (USA and Japan) who are pulled together for a questionable fight arranged by their unscrupulous managers and the Yakuza.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Enforcer (2022)
A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRemember (2022)
Pil-ju, an Alzheimer's patient in his 80s, who lost all his family during the Japanese colonial era, and devotes his lifelong revenge before his memories disappear, and a young man in his 20s who helps him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeast (2026)
MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBattleground (1949)
Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their own, Roderigues, perish under enemy fire. The men try to rebuff another series of Nazi attacks, but what they really need is a change in the weather. Without clear skies, they'll never get the air support they need.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMexicali (2026)
A former special forces contractor is forced out of retirement as an avocado farmer in Mexico when local gangsters try to force him and his family off their farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBloody Tie (2006)
A crystal meth dealer with a tragic past is forced to team up with a renegade cop to take down a powerful crime lord.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe System (2022)
When a young soldier, newly returned from war, gets caught up in a drug bust, he is recruited by the authorities to go undercover in a notoriously dangerous prison in order to figure out what is really going on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn the Blood (2014)
When her husband goes missing during their Caribbean vacation, a woman sets off on her own to take down the men she thinks are responsible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisGangnam Blues (2015)
Jong-dae and Yong-ki make a living by picking up paper and empty bottles. Both then join different gangster clan and becomes involved in a struggle of political interests over development in Gangnam, Seoul.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHard Hit (2021)
On his way to work, a bank manager receives an anonymous call claiming there's a bomb under his car seat, and if anyone exits the car, it will explode unless he can pay a ransom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Boat (2009)
Lives are changed and friendships tested when two bottom-feeding smugglers are ordered to kidnap the daughter of a wealthy Korean businessman and bring her to Japan. The duo has sacrificed so much for their respective families - now is their big chance to get even with the system.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & action
The Drug King (2018)
Busan, South Korea, 1970s. Lee Doo-sam is a small-time smuggler. After helping a drug gang to smuggle meth, he falls into the dark crime world. Quick-witted and full of ambition, he eventually takes over the drug underworld and starts to lead a double life: a good community leader during the day but an infamous drug lord during the night.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFor the Emperor (2014)
A former professional baseball player becomes entangled in loan-sharking and mob connections after a fixing scandal ejects him from his sport. When his girlfriend vanishes he is forced to confront his mentor and enter a deadly battle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisBefore the Summer Passes Away (2007)
So-yeon, who has been studying in Paris for several years, returns to Seoul for summer vacation. She is drawn to Min-hwan, a divorced man whom she met in Paris, but Min-hwan is non-committal and ambiguous about his feelings toward her. Soyeon meets a new guy, Hyun-jae, who is deeply into her, she Soyeon still waits for Min- hwan`s call. She laboriously travels from Seoul to Busan, lugging around her luggage, just so that she can see Min-hwan. After the vacation is over, So-yeon returns to Paris. Even with a full package of beauty and intelligence, So-yeon has no place of her own. In Korea that is familiar but unfamiliar land to her, she spends the summer in bearing her feeling, which is not too hot, yet not negligible. Before the Summer Passes Away is the film about loneliness and longings: it is too shy to roar, too powerful to hide. With minimal narrative, the film shows a close observation on So-yeon`s sense of lose at the edge and her unending desire.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Devil's Deal (2023)
Hae-woong an assembly member candidate, is taken out of the running because he became a thorn in the side of a local bigwig, Soon-tae. Hounded by loan sharks, due to defaulting a campaign loan, he decides to get his hands dirty.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Tazza: The Hidden Card (2014)
Dae-gil has been skilled with his hands and has shown a strong desire for winning ever since he was a child. He will succeed his uncle and jump into the world of Tazza, risking his life in competition.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCinema Street (2021)
Sun-hwa is a location manager in Busan who scouts locations for film shoots. She's always loved her work and her city. One day, she joins a new project out of the blue. But as soon as she walks through the door, she recognizes the director immediately. It's Do-young, her ex-boyfriend who left her and went to Seoul to fulfill his dream. They were lovers in the past but now Sun-hwa has to face him as a business partner. To make things worse, all he says is "NO!"
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mothers (2018)
The owner of a student study center gets an awkward request and suddenly faces the prospect of raising her dead husband's teenage son by herself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Portrait of a Family (2026)
Baseball player Jung-gu and movie star Nam-mi are a celebrity couple who are blissfully happy in their careers and marriage. One day, a girl named Dong-ju shows up and the couple's lives are instantly destroyed. Seven years later, as Dong-ju gets involved in the death of a middle-school girl, Jung-gu and Nam-mi decide to fight a battle they have no chance of winning.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Sanbok Road?
The closest matches to Sanbok Road are The Con Artists (2014), Crying Fist (2005) and A Better Tomorrow (2010). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Sanbok Road?
Start with The Con Artists (2014), the closest match to Sanbok Road.
What is the highest-rated movie like Sanbok Road?
Beast (2026), rated 7.5/10 by 227 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Sanbok Road?
Portrait of a Family (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like Sanbok Road?
Yes: The Con Artists (2014), Crying Fist (2005) and A Better Tomorrow (2010).
How are movies similar to Sanbok Road chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Sanbok Road, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.