Movies like Default
If Default hooked you with its drama and history, these are the films to watch next. Every pick says why it matches.
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, Sun-tae. Hounded by loan sharks, due to defaulting a campaign loan, he decides to get his hands dirty. He steals classified government’s information about an urban development plan and obtains the help of a local gang leader, Pil-do, by promising hefty real estate profit. Now Hae-woong re-enters the race and tries to take revenge on Sun-tae. Unbeknownst to him, his messy journey through politics has only just begun.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Spy Gone North (2018)
South Korea, 1993. An agent of the National Intelligence Service is sent to Beijing to infiltrate a group of North Korean officials with the ultimate goal of obtaining information about their nuclear program.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEscape from Mogadishu (2021)
Diplomats from the North and South Korean embassies in Somalia attempt a daring joint escape from Mogadishu when the outbreak of civil war leaves them stranded.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKingmaker (2022)
Seo Chang-dae, an ambitious political campaign strategist who ends up having ideological differences with his present client, receives a lucrative offer that will put his loyalty under the microscope.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
The Attorney (2013)
Song Woo-seok is a lawyer with no clients. When his friend's son is falsely accused of a crime and tortured, he takes up the case and the course of his life changes for good.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Wizard of the Kremlin (2026)
In the chaos of post-Soviet Russia, rising KGB officer Vladimir Putin joins forces with master manipulator Vadim Baranov to reshape life behind the Iron Curtain, using violence and deception to change the world forever.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInside Men (2015)
A disgruntled henchman teams up with an ambitious prosecutor to bring down a leading presidential candidate and the news editor behind him who is truly pulling the strings.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this12.12: The Day (2023)
After the assassination of President Park, martial law has been declared. A coup d'état bursts out by Defense Security Commander Chun Doo-gwang and a private band of officers following him. Capital Defense Commander Lee Tae-shin, an obstinate soldier who believes the military should not take political actions, fights against Chun Doo-gwang to stop him. The conflict between the two grows while military leaders are holding their decision and Defense Minister is gone. In the midst of chaos, the spring of Seoul that everyone longed for heads to unexpected direction.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Face Reader (2013)
An exceptionally talented face reader becomes entangled in a bloody power struggle between a child king and his uncle who plans to usurp the throne.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Mayor (2017)
For the first time in Korean history, the mayor of Seoul attempts a third term in office, with his entire campaign team ready to soil their hands.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAssassination (2015)
In Japanese-occupied Korea, three freedom fighters are assigned a mission to assassinate a genocidal military leader and his top collaborator. But the plan goes completely awry amidst double-crossings, counter-assassinations, and a shocking revelation about one of the assassins' past.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnarchist from Colony (2017)
Based on the life of the Korean anarchist Park Yeol, the film shows his struggle to counter the massacre of Koreans by the government during the 1923 great Kanto earthquake, focusing on his activities as the leader of the anti-Japanese organization Bulryeongsa and his relationship with Japanese comrade Fumiko Kaneko.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & drama
A Resistance (2019)
17-year-old Yu Gwan-Sun participates in the Korean independence movement. The country is under the rule of Japan, which annexed the country in 1910.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Throne (2015)
Ancient Korea, July 4, 1762. The Crown Prince Hyojang, posthumously named Sado, son of King Yeongjo of Joseon, is accused of treason. Thus, the king asks him to commit suicide, but his closest vassals prevent it, so the king orders the prince to get inside a wooden rice chest, where he suffers deprivation of food and water.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Man Standing Next (2020)
When the investigation of 'Koreagate' takes place, Park Yong-gak, a former KCIA director who knows everything about the government's operations, heads to the United States in exile.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMay 18 (2007)
The citizens of Gwangju lead a relatively peaceful life, until one day the military takes over the city, accusing the residents of conspiracy and claiming that they are communist sympathisers preparing a revolution against the current government. Seeing as the soldiers beat defenceless people, mainly students, to death, the citizens are in for retaliation and form a militia.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe King's Warden (2026)
In a remote mountain village of 15th-century Joseon, humble headman Heung-do hears a rumor that any village hosting an exiled nobleman will be blessed with abundance and fortune. Hoping to bring prosperity to his impoverished community, he eagerly submits a petition to host one—unaware that his guest is none other than the fallen monarch, deposed boy-king Danjong.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & drama
The Net (2016)
A poor North Korean fisherman finds himself an accidental defector, and is groomed to be a spy by an ambitious South Korean military officer.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHero (2022)
An Jung-geun fights for Korea's independence from the Japanese Empire and sparks a movement. In 1909, he assassinates Itō Hirobumi, the first prime minister of Japan and resident-general of Korea.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
A Taxi Driver (2017)
May, 1980. Man-seob is a taxi driver in Seoul who lives from hand to mouth, raising his young daughter alone. One day, he hears that there is a foreigner who will pay big money for a drive down to Gwangju city. Not knowing that he’s a German journalist with a hidden agenda, Man-seob takes the job.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMasquerade (2012)
Though it places his own life in danger, a look-alike commoner secretly takes the place of a poisoned king to save his country from falling into chaos.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFeng Shui (2018)
Park Jae-sang was a royal geomancer, who helps people designate propitious site for houses, store and even graves under the belief that a grave in a good site will bring future fortune for descendants. But he loses his family because he exposed a conspiracy about crown Prince's grave site. Park Jae-sang plans to make a revenge of his family and learns that there is a much bigger conspiracy about propitious grave site; the place that would make grave owner's son the King of Joseon.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Master (2016)
Korea’s biggest network marketing scam reveals a far greater network of corruption and conspiracy lurking underneath.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDongju: The Portrait of a Poet (2016)
Based on a true story, renowned Korean poet, Yun Dong-ju, is detained and abused by the Japanese for participating in the Korean Independence Movement.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
The 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: Fans watch both · both history & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRadium Girls (2020)
Young women toiling in a factory are exposed to hazardous material which takes a disastrous toll on their health.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 & history
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Match (2025)
When a legendary Go master loses his title to a one-time friend and protégé, he sets out to reclaim it in a high-stakes battle of wits and skill.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJobs (2013)
The story of Steve Jobs' ascension from college dropout into one of the most revered creative entrepreneurs of the 20th century.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDevotion (2022)
The harrowing true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy's most celebrated wingmen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Default?
The closest matches to Default are The Devil's Deal, The Spy Gone North, Escape from Mogadishu.
How are movies similar to Default chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Default, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.
Are there Korean movies like Default?
Yes: The Devil's Deal, The Spy Gone North, Escape from Mogadishu.