Movies like Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow (2011)
The best movies like Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow (2011) are Detective K: Secret of the Living Dead (2018), The Golden Holiday (2020) and Private Eye (2009). If Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow hooked you with its mystery and action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMidnight Runners (2017)7.5/10 from 264 votes
- NewestUprising (2024)Released 2024
- In KoreanDetective K: Secret of the Living Dead (2018)Also in Korean
- Same seriesDetective K: Secret of the Living Dead (2018)Detective K
Detective K: Secret of the Living Dead (2018)
When a series of murders occur in Kanghwa Island, Detective K and his partner are once again called upon to solve the case. Along the way, he teams up with a beautiful woman with amnesia and together they discover Vampire bite marks on all the bodies. As they investigate further, they realize that the woman is somehow closely connected to the deaths.
Why it matches: Same series: Detective K · both comedy & crime
The Golden Holiday (2020)
A laid-back countryside detective Byung-su takes his family to the Philippines for his 10th wedding anniversary. In fact, his hidden agenda is to track down his old friend Yong-bae who scammed him and got away a few years ago. In Manila, Byung-su finds Yong-bae in prison for murder, and hears about the case surrounding 'Yamashita’s Gold'. Swayed by a share of the Gold that Yong-bae offers, Byung-su suddenly becomes embroiled in the case.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & comedy
Private Eye (2009)
The story takes place in occupied Korea at the start of the 20th century, where a young student in medicine discovers the murdered body of the son of a government official. Being scared of being accused, he decides to hire Hong Jin-ho (a detective) to help him find the murderer before the police accuse him of the murder.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both mystery & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Beast (2019)
Two rival detectives with different methods try to solve the murder of a missing girl after discovering her mutilated body in the tidelands of Incheon.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSecret (2009)
A detective suspects that his wife murdered a gangster's brother. As he tries to misdirect the police and the bloodthirsty gangster while independently investigating his wife, terrible secrets slowly begin to surface.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime
The Shameless (2015)
A homicide detective tries to flush out a mob enforcer by befriending the suspect's beautiful girlfriend, but soon develops romantic feelings for her.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDetective K: Secret of the Lost Island (2015)
Joseon's top detective Kim Min attempts to track down those responsible for circulating massive amounts of counterfeit silver bullion in Joseon. He also tries to find the missing sibling of a young girl.
Why it matches: Same series: Detective K · both action & mystery
The Roundup: No Way Out (2023)
Detective Ma Seok-do changes his affiliation from the Geumcheon Police Station to the Metropolitan Investigation Team, in order to eradicate Japanese gangsters who enter Korea to commit heinous crimes.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe King's Case Note (2017)
A clever king of Joseon and his brilliant chronicler hunt for the truth behind a crime that threatens the throne and the stability of the country.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & comedy
Extreme Job (2019)
A drug squad attempts to take down a criminal organization and they must go undercover to do so, so they begin working at a chicken restaurant, that becomes famous for its delicious chicken. Due to the unexpected popularity, the detectives find themselves in a situation they never expected.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisConfidential Assignment (2017)
When a crime organization from North Korea crosses borders and enters South Korean soil, a South Korean detective must cooperate with a North Korean detective to investigate their whereabouts.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fortress (2017)
Ancient Korea, 17th century. The powerful Khan of the Jurchen tribe of Manchuria, who fights the Ming dinasty to gain China, becomes the first ruler of the Qing dinasty and demands from King In-jo of Joseon to bow before him; but he refuses, being loyal to the Mings. On December 14th, 1636, the Qing horde invades Joseon, so King In-jo and his court shelter in the mountain fortress of Namhan and prepare to defend the kingdom.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUprising (2024)
In the Joseon Dynasty, two friends who grew up together — one the master and one the servant — reunite post-war as enemies on opposing sides.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & history
Worth the HypeMovies 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 history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKundo: Age of the Rampant (2014)
In 1862, amidst the rule of the late Joseon dynasty in Korea, a band of fighters named Kundo rise against the unjust authorities.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Roundup: Punishment (2024)
'Monster Cop' Ma Seok-do investigates an illegal online gambling business led by a former STS Baek and an IT genius CEO Chang. Ma proposes an unexpected alliance to Jang and begins hunting down the criminals.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Fatal Encounter (2014)
Late 18th-century Joseon dynasty. The King is beleaguered and surrounded by traitors of the ruling elite. They plan to assassinate and replace him with a puppet. But the King has some aces up his sleeve that may help him defeat them all.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSeondal: The Man Who Sells the River (2016)
In the late Joseon Dynasty, Bongyi Kim Seon-dal is the best conman who sells water from the Taedong River.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & comedy
Noryang: Deadly Sea (2023)
The Imjin War reaches its seventh year in December of 1598. Admiral Yi Sun-shin learns that the Wa invaders in Joseon are preparing for a swift withdrawal following the deathbed orders of their leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Determined to destroy the enemy once and for all, Admiral Yi leads an allied fleet of Joseon and Ming ships to mount a blockade and annihilate the Wa army. However, once Ming commander Chen Lin is bribed into lifting the blockade, Wa lord Shimazu Yoshihiro and his Satsuma army sail to the Wa army's rescue at Noryang Strait.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & history
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 history
The Age of Shadows (2016)
Set in the late 1920s, The Age of Shadows follows the cat-and-mouse game that unfolds between a group of resistance fighters trying to bring in explosives from Shanghai to destroy key Japanese facilities in Seoul, and Japanese agents trying to stop them.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
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: Fans watch both · both history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Treacherous (2015)
The story of Joseon's tyrant king Yeonsan who exploits the populace for his own carnal pleasures, his seemingly loyal retainer who controls him and all court dealings, and a woman who seeks vengeance.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pirates (2014)
At the cusp of the founding of Joseon Dynasty, an envoy from China is delivering Emperor’s Ming’s Royal Seal. But nature in the form of a giant whale intervenes and swallows the royal seal. When a generous reward is offered to whomever can retrieve the royal seal from the belly of the whale, the race is on. A group of mountain bandits led by Jang Sa Jung and a group of pirates led by Yeo Wol go after the lost treasure, but who will get to to it first?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHansan: Rising Dragon (2022)
In 1592, admiral Yi Sun-sin and his fleet face off against the might of the invading Japanese navy and its formidable warships. As the Korean forces fall into crisis, the admiral resorts to using his secret weapon, the dragon head ships known as geobukseon, in order to change the tide of this epic battle at sea.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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 history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Night Owl (2022)
Blind acupuncturist Kyeong-su is able to see like a normal person at night. One evening, Kyeong-su witnesses the death of the crown prince. King Injo is driven into madness while Kyeong-su attempts to reveal the truth behind the prince's death.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both mystery & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Royal Tailor (2014)
Lee Gong-jin, a young tailor, helps the Queen with her dress and both fall in love with each other. However, his success catches the ire of Jo Dol-seok, the royal tailor, who vows retribution.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history
Going by the Book (2007)
The chief of Sampo City Police Office, Seung-u, organizes a simulation of a bank robbery, but a by-the-book cop gets too caught up in the role playing in which the simulation doesn't go the way he had anticipated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMidnight Runners (2017)
Two apathetic police academy recruits who become best buddies through the tough training together witness a woman being abducted right before their very eyes. As they were taught in the academy, they quickly report the incident to the police, but the police are in no hurry to jump on the case. So the duo decide to take the matter into their own hands and rescue the woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & action
Worth the HypeMovies like this
Like Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow?
The closest matches to Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow are Detective K: Secret of the Living Dead (2018), The Golden Holiday (2020) and Private Eye (2009). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow?
People who watched Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow most often go on to The Golden Holiday (2020), Private Eye (2009) and The Beast (2019).
What is the highest-rated movie like Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow?
Midnight Runners (2017), rated 7.5/10 by 264 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow?
Uprising (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Is Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow part of a series?
Yes. It belongs to Detective K, which includes Detective K: Secret of the Living Dead (2018) and Detective K: Secret of the Lost Island (2015).
Are there Korean movies like Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow?
Yes: Detective K: Secret of the Living Dead (2018), The Golden Holiday (2020) and Private Eye (2009).
How are movies similar to Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.