Movies like Once Upon a Time in Seoul (2008)
The best movies like Once Upon a Time in Seoul (2008) are Battle of Jangsari (2019), Devotion (2022) and Gigi & Nate (2022). If Once Upon a Time in Seoul hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedEmpire of the Sun (1987)7.5/10 from 2,244 votes
- NewestEleanor the Great (2025)Released 2025
- In KoreanBattle of Jangsari (2019)Also in Korean
Battle of Jangsari (2019)
Korean War, September 1950. In order to fight the enemy forces based in the South of the peninsula, General MacArthur orders the start of the Incheon Landing Operation, deploying diversionary attacks in other locations. Without real military forces to spare, 772 very young Korean student soldiers, barely trained, are sent to Jangsari Beach, where they will face a heroic fate and discover the value of friendship. (A sequel to Operation Chromite, released in 2016.)
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGigi & Nate (2022)
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChildren... (2011)
On March 26, 1991, five boys set off to the mountain to go frog hunting and never come back to their family. While a documentary producer, detective and professor try to solve the mystery of the incident, one of the boys' parents is a suspect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe River (1984)
Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThree Wishes (1995)
While Jane Holman is driving with her two sons, she accidentally runs into a drifter, Jack McCloud, who breaks his leg. Being responsible, Jane invites Jack, and his dog, to stay at her home until his leg has healed. Jack struggles to adapt their lifestyle, and finds himself loved by the family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Steel Helmet (1951)
A ragtag group of American stragglers battles against superior Communist troops in an abandoned Buddhist temple during the Korean War.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisQueen & Country (2015)
In this sequel to Hope and Glory (1987), Bill Rohan has grown up and is drafted into the army, where he and his eccentric best mate, Percy, battle their snooty superiors on the base and look for love in town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Parts You Lose (2019)
An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSunflower (2006)
Tae-sik gets out of a prison after spending 10 years for killing a man and wishes nothing but an ordinary life. A local lady welcomes him into her household like a son and he gets a second chance in life. His former gang tries to destroy his new home in order to build a night club but he won’t let them destroy his new family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Dinner with Hervé (2018)
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDecibel (2022)
A former Naval officer with a dark past must face off against an insurgent with a sound sensitive bomb.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Caveman's Valentine (2001)
Romulus, a misunderstood musician turned recluse hiding from personal demons in a New York City cave, finds the frozen body of a young drifter in a tree. The authorities, including his police officer daughter, claim the death is accidental. Romulus is convinced the man was murdered by a prominent art photographer but how can he prove he's right when everyone thinks he's insane?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Finest Hours (2016)
The Coast Guard makes a daring rescue attempt off the coast of Cape Cod after a pair of oil tankers are destroyed during a blizzard in 1952.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEmpire of the Sun (1987)
Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the camp together. Even though he is separated from his parents and in a hostile environment, Jamie maintains his dignity and youthful spirit, providing a beacon of hope for the others held captive with him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTalhotBlond (2012)
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Call to Spy (2020)
The story of Vera Atkins, a crafty spy recruiter, and two of the first women she selects for Churchill's "secret army": Virginia Hall, a daring American undaunted by a disability and Noor Inayat Khan, a pacifist. These civilian women form an unlikely sisterhood while entangled in dangerous missions to turn the tide of the war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisM*A*S*H (1970)
One of the world's most acclaimed comedies, M*A*S*H focuses on three Korean War Army surgeons brilliantly brought to life by Donald Sutherland, Tom Skerritt and Elliott Gould. Though highly skilled and deeply dedicated, they adopt a hilarious, lunatic lifestyle as an antidote to the tragedies of their Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, and in the process infuriate Army bureaucrats. Robert Duvall, Gary Burghoff and Sally Kellerman co-star as a sanctimonious Major, an other-worldly Corporal, and a self-righteous yet lusty nurse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTo the Last Day (1960)
Captain Kim is grievously wounded in the first days of the war. When the northern troops continue their advance, his wife and small daughters flee south to Taegu, dragging him along in a two-wheel handcart. His wife struggles to keep herself and their surviving daughter alive. Working as a market trader, she meets a kind young man -- who happens to be tall, dark and handsome.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
I Am Trash (2016)
Three grown sons have struggled to achieve some sort of normal routine after their father was sent off to prison for sexual assault on an underaged girl. Their lives are thrown into radical disarray when dad finishes his time and returns to the family home. The fact that the victim’s father is awaiting the return outside their door with a knife is certainly not any help to their situation... but it’s not like things are going so well otherwise, with the three sons, a virtual compendium of sexual dysfunctions in their own right.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Assignment in Korea (1951)
Swedish journalist visits Korea to report on the situation during the war
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954)
A U.S. Navy pilot and his squad are assigned to bomb a group of heavily defended bridges deep behind enemy lines during the Korean War.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMacArthur (1977)
The film portrays MacArthur's life from 1942, before the Battle of Bataan, to 1952, when he was removed from his Korean War command by President Truman for insubordination, and is recounted in flashback as he visits West Point.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeoul Mates (2014)
Alice is a thirty year old Filipino trans woman who flew to Korea to chase after her boyfriend who she discovers is now living with his new girlfriend. Joon is a twenty five year old Korean musician who is being pressured by his traditional parents to find a more stable job and girlfriend. At a bridge in the middle of Seoul, the two brokenhearted souls fatedly cross paths.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Volunteers: To the War (2023)
In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, New China was faced with "internal and external troubles". Since the outbreak of the Korean Civil War, the U.S. military has repeatedly provoked the border between China and North Korea, and civilians have been brutally bombed. In order to maintain the hard-won peace and long-term stability for generations, in October 1950, the Chinese People's Volunteers entered North Korea, and the "Resist US Aid Korea" war kicked off.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lady Vengeance (2005)
Released after being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for 13 years, a woman begins executing her elaborate plan of retribution.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Once Upon a Time in Seoul?
The closest matches to Once Upon a Time in Seoul are Battle of Jangsari (2019), Devotion (2022) and Gigi & Nate (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Once Upon a Time in Seoul?
Start with Battle of Jangsari (2019), the closest match to Once Upon a Time in Seoul.
What is the highest-rated movie like Once Upon a Time in Seoul?
Empire of the Sun (1987), rated 7.5/10 by 2,244 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Once Upon a Time in Seoul?
Eleanor the Great (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like Once Upon a Time in Seoul?
Yes: Battle of Jangsari (2019), Children... (2011) and Remember (2022).
How are movies similar to Once Upon a Time in Seoul chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Once Upon a Time in Seoul, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.