Movies like Cruel history of Myeong Dong (1972)
The best movies like Cruel history of Myeong Dong (1972) are A Better Tomorrow (2010), The Day He Arrives (2011) and The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well (1996). If Cruel history of Myeong Dong hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedBurning (2018)7.4/10 from 1,928 votes
- Newestlover (2024)Released 2024
- In KoreanA Better Tomorrow (2010)Also in Korean
A 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Day He Arrives (2011)
A film director who no longer makes films arrives in Seoul to meet a close friend. When the friend doesn't show up, he wanders the city aimlessly for three days, grabbing drinks and meeting women, with each day playing out like a version of the last.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Day a Pig Fell Into the Well (1996)
The lives of 4 interconnected South Koreans – a married couple, a novelist the wife is having an affair with, and a second woman the novelist is simultaneously involved with.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHigh Society (2018)
The story of the journey of married couple up the social latter. The husband is professor at Seoul National University who is running for the National Assembly, and his wife is a painter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAddress Unknown (2001)
Romances end in blood and the frail hopes of individuals are torn apart in a vile karmic continuity of colonialism, civil war and occupation. After surviving Japanese colonization, Korea became the first war zone of the Cold War. The legacy of war remains today in this divided country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSalomé (2013)
After the lewd and frenetic Dance of the Seven Veils, and with the solemn pledge from the very lips of Herod himself that she could have whatever her heart desires up to half his kingdom, wanton and proud young Salomé comes before her king with an unreasonable demand. Beguiled by John the Baptist, and then scorned for the sake of his god, lascivious Salomé—encouraged by her mother, the vindictive, Herodias—commands that John be executed and his head delivered on a silver platter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Day and a Night (2020)
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Quiller Memorandum (1966)
After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisIron Jawed Angels (2004)
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Safety of Objects (2002)
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Baek (2018)
A woman's past as a convict follows her everywhere and because of this she doesn't open up to others. But then she strikes up a friendship with a broken child who has suffered from domestic violence and decides to save the girl from the cruel world. A man who holds feelings for the woman, tries to protect her in his own way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisServe the People (2022)
Mu-kwang volunteers to be a kitchen police of Sa-taek, the divisional commander, dreaming of success. One day, Mu-kwang meets Su-ryeon by chance, who is a young and beautiful wife of the commander. Soon, he feels a strong attraction by her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonster (2014)
Bok-Soon runs a street stall, cares for her younger sister, and is feared by many because of her quick temper. When Tae-Soo murders her sister, rage consumes her completely as she stalks the killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlex of Venice (2015)
After her stay-at-home husband leaves her, a workaholic lawyer finds that she is not completely up to the tasks of caring for her young son, ailing father and household all by herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSea Fog (2014)
A fishing-boat crew takes on a dangerous commission to smuggle a group of illegal immigrants from China to Korea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbove the Rim (1994)
Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLorelei (2020)
A man is released from prison after 15 years. He reunites with his high school girlfriend, now a single mother of three. What follows is a lyrical take on love, regret and second chances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Am Elizabeth Smart (2017)
The story of Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping and captivity, as told from her perspective.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGangster (2006)
An alcoholic barmaid is distraught when her former lover, a notorious gangster, re-enters her life. She is forced to relive painful past experiences and choose between the gangster and a pleasant singer she has found comfort in.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBurning (2018)
Deliveryman Jong-su is out on a job when he runs into Hae-mi, a girl who once lived in his neighborhood. She asks if he'd mind looking after her cat while she's away on a trip to Africa. On her return, she introduces to Jong-su an enigmatic young man named Ben, who she met during her trip. One day Ben tells Jong-su about his most unusual hobby.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe President's Barber (2004)
A well-meaning but politically naive barber gets pulled into the inner circle of the South Korean dictator Park Chung-Hee, with rather baleful consequences for his hapless family. This sharp political satire covers roughly twenty years in South Korean political history, from the viewpoint of the barber's son.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thislover (2024)
A woman is walking on Jeongdong-gil. A man appeared in front of her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Seoul Life (2014)
Min-ha is full of vitality. Ki-cheol lives in the greenhouse built by her. They've lived together for almost three years. One day Ji-hye bumps in between them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Tasty Ending (2021)
An anthology of three short films by Kim Jeong-in, Jung So-young, and Hwang Seul-gi. It uses food and people to capture the warmth of everyday life that everyone can relate to.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
MISFIT [SEOUL] (TBA)
In Seoul, Jibin, a female courier, moves through the city delivering packages she never questions, while Eddie orders a gun out of boredom. They cross paths only once, unaware of the invisible transaction that connects them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
My Dear Enemy (2008)
Hee-soo is desperate for money and finds her ex-boyfriend who owes her money. He goes around to various ex-girlfriends to get cash and she trails along to make sure he does not cheat her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Holiday in Seoul (1956)
A newspaper reporter becomes a witness to a murder and finds himself relentlessly pursued by the killer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Young Man (1994)
A young male model twists and manipulates people around him in his unending quest for money and pleasure. He is convinced that he is untouchable and can bend anyone to his will, so not even murder is an obstacle to his ambitions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Cruel history of Myeong Dong?
The closest matches to Cruel history of Myeong Dong are A Better Tomorrow (2010), The Day He Arrives (2011) and The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well (1996). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Cruel history of Myeong Dong?
Start with A Better Tomorrow (2010), the closest match to Cruel history of Myeong Dong.
What is the highest-rated movie like Cruel history of Myeong Dong?
Burning (2018), rated 7.4/10 by 1,928 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Cruel history of Myeong Dong?
lover (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like Cruel history of Myeong Dong?
Yes: A Better Tomorrow (2010), The Day He Arrives (2011) and The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well (1996).
How are movies similar to Cruel history of Myeong Dong chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Cruel history of Myeong Dong, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.




























