10 Must-watch thriller K-dramas on Netflix

Thriller shows are a rising favorite amongst the audiences. Even though it’s a cult classic genre, it has not been explored enough. A perfect thriller encompasses the plot in such a way that it unfolds with every passing second. It pushes the audience to the edge of their seats and gives them a nail-biting experience. It has characters who are in the grey zone, both likable and hated at the same time.

Powerful villains, unexpected mind-twisting endings, cliffhangers, unexpected characters entering, minor characters making a big change later. All these ideas blended together make a perfect thriller. Korean shows are long in their watch time and tend to capture this experience in a very elaborate way. If you are a fan of thrillers and have not yet tried the Korean drama genre or are looking for new titles to binge on, go ahead and watch these 10 shows that are going to give you the spine-chilling experience and the adrenaline rush of your lifetime.

Remarriage & Desires:

How can marriage be the plot by which a thriller series can unfold? Well, one will be in for a surprise when they watch the series that starts off on a note of a husband committing suicide. A wife left to distress, and his mistress landed him in trouble because of which all the trouble began. With no assets and a family to take care of, the wife is desperate. She is being looked down upon because of her husband’s reputation.

\While all this is happening, a successful gaming entrepreneur is not looking for a second marriage, but his mother definitely is, and so is his son, who constantly feels abandoned. All of their lives collide when they are put through a famous agency that makes matches for the young, appealing, and the rich. It starts off as a normal matchmaking process just for the elite, but soon, the scheming mistress, the main character, and two other men get involved.

The men include the very same gaming tycoon and the wife’s lost ex-lover. She gets a chance to avenge her husband’s untimely death and maybe even a chance at love. How the scheme unfolds, what exactly happened? How it happened is a journey to behold. Remarriage & Desires is about women, society, and a second chance at love, all put together in a very twisted tale. It’s like a web that one is not going to be able to get out of. 

Vincenzo:

Lawyers are known for their power and prowess as protectors of any Justice system. But what if a lawyer is a gangster, too? Vincenzo is adopted and hails from the family of an Italian mafia. Being a smart lawyer, he has finished an enemy and shifts to Korea under threat. Now, he wants to unlock the gold of this mafia and put his best foot forward. But things spiral out of control when multiple gangs want to buy the plaza and trick his friend into selling his shares. Will Vincenzo get the gold? Follow his journey in the 20 episodes that come by.

My Name:

When Yon Ji Woo’s father dies an untimely death, his daughter goes on a spree to find out if there is foul play. The findings leave her baffled and push her to join a gang to avenge her father’s death. Considering her vulnerable state, the police department convinces her to become a drug mole against the same gang. Will she betray the people who gave her one shot at revenge, or will she trust the system? Innocence and faulty national administrations combined with crime make this a really loved show. Consisting of eight episodes of over an hour each, it is a well-rounded show. 

Squid Game:

The show that broke records and brought people to watch Korean dramas was Squid Game, a chartbuster. It tells the story of a simple game that is going to give people money, but the cost is not elimination. It is death. Put in a facility where your eating habits, bathing, sleeping, and everything is controlled. It is a psychological thriller that deals with the cult, people, dark society clubs, the rich, their desires, their wants, and the entire process of poor people who want to be rich, the facade of capitalism and how it puts people through things and even makes them lose their lives. This show is very well crafted and is a must-watch for someone who wants to start watching good thrillers in the Korean drama industry.

Money Heist Korea-Joint Economic Area:

The Spanish show by the same name was a global blockbuster and was trending on Netflix for a really long time.

The same installment has been brought out in Korean and follows the journey of a professor who catches hold of thieves on the run and brings them together due to the skills they possess. They are masters of a particular art, and he wants these artists to go and mint money from the Central Bank of Korea for a few reasons while holding hostages, which are the bank employees, for safety and making negotiations with the police.

What starts as a personal revenge for Professor turns into a national symbol of patriotism, and this journey is blissful because the friendship and bonding among the team develops the skills they learn, how they learn to tackle life, the way the hostages are in a turmoil, want to escape and how Professor plans ahead of them all.

All the thrill wants you to keep watching the next episode, and your heart is not filled even after the season ends. The show can end, but not the code names the characters are known with – Denver, Tokyo, Berlin, and so on. Even though not much backstory is given about the individual characters in the first season, it is all about establishing what is happening, how the system functions, how notes are printed, and how money, when controlled, can break down an entire nation.

Sweet Home:

What is Korean drama without some of the best zombies and creature horror? It is a horror-thriller that follows the survival of a family as demons unleash and gnaw at the world. Watch how the protagonists hold onto their sanity and look for ways to overcome this apocalypse. Anxiety and a fighting spirit combined together show how family is what can hold one together in adversities.

Hellbound:

Based on a webtoon by the same name, it garnered a lot of attention because it is a religious thriller that dares to question a lot of customs that are in place. It is a very subtle commentary on certain practices and does not point at any particular religion, but it gives a narrative that helps you understand in a lot of ways how mob mentality works.

Hellbound is a way of showing how we are going to be punished because of certain sins we do, and on our ultimate judgment day, two people from hell who are monsters will come and take us amongst public watching, but when a police inspector gets to investigate this in-depth, he sees that there is a lot more to it than just what meets the eye. There is a series of people, God’s men, as well as students, who are involved in this, and when he reveals the reason, it is shattering and shocking. If you are a person who can watch a slow-paced thriller, you should definitely go for this because, in the episodes that follow, it can be a little slow at times, but it definitely picks up towards the last episode. It might be confusing initially because it is a very innovative and new concept, but it progresses to elevation.

Flower of Evil:

Criminal in the disguise of a good man living the life, having a family, being a loving husband and a father. But what if he wants to get back to his crimes? And his wife is unaware of it? What if he wanted to become the kingpin of this crime world again and was in this disguise just to put a face to the world? Will his wife come for revenge? Will she leave him? Or will she join hands with him? Who are these people that this man is working for? If you are someone who wants to watch a thriller with romance, this show is going to be it. It can be more of a dark romantic thriller, but the show is unique because it tries to capture the characters in a dilemma. Despite being a committed man and acting so well, what if he’s genuinely in love with this family? All these questions will only be answered if you watch the show.

Mask Girl:

When we say thriller lies in the uncertainties ahead of us, the unpredictability that follows is where this show would come in. In our generation, when social media is progressing at the speed of lightning and having self-esteem is everything, people are boasting about mental health but not really doing anything about it. There are people around you who are facing issues with their self-esteem because of your behavior towards them.

That is why one can relate to the protagonist of Mask Girl. She has to wear a mask to get away from the world and make an image virtually. Despite her being on camera, she feels boosted by her self-esteem. She invites a lot more problems when her co-workers start investigating this and lands her in serious trouble. How can a person manage their real life with their reel life?  People tend to put other people in trouble for their own benefit, but when it gets sinister, ominous, and dark, this thriller comes up.

These shows are surely going to push you to the edge of your seats, so put the debacle on and start binge-watching for a dopamine-filled experience.