Settling down to enjoy a good movie is an excellent way to unwind after a long day. For those who are romantic at heart, love stories are a wonderful choice. They can take many forms, with romantic plotlines significantly and skillfully woven into gripping action thrillers, comedic adventures, bold passionate pursuits, or bittersweet tearjerkers.
If you’re looking for your next flick to comfortably curl up with and don’t know what else to put on, here are some films you might consider adding to your list!
1. “Love Reset” (2023)
“Love Reset” is a romantic comedy that follows Jeongyeol (Kang Haneul) and Somin (Hong Nara). The lovesick couple had married despite their families’ wishes, but two years after their wedding, their relationship had soured beyond repair.
While waiting for their divorce settlement period to be finalized, the two get into an accident that wipes out both of their memories. Their families watch as they gravitate towards each other and desperately scramble to stop them from getting back together.
2. “New Years Blues” (2021)
“New Years Blues” is about the love stories of four couples as they set out to welcome New Year’s in seven days.
Detective Jiho (Kim Kangwoo) suffers a brutal demotion that removes him from an elite crime-solving team to work for a general civil service office. He meets rehabilitation trainer Hyoyoung (Yoo Inna), who comes to their department to get a divorce and request a restraining order against her soon-to-be ex-husband.
Jaehun (Yoo Yeonseok) is a worker in Argentina who delivers wine to clients. Tired and burnt out, he encounters Jin A (Lee Yeonhee), who works at a ski resort and is still reeling from a previous relationship.
Travel agency owner Yongchan (Lee Donghwi) runs into a huge problem when he loses the money meant for his wedding with his Chinese fiancée Yaolin (Chen Duling). His older sister Yongmi (Yum Hyeran) adds more tension as she is unsettled at the thought of her brother marrying a foreign woman.
National team athlete Raehwan (Yoo Teo) is a Korean representative at the Paralympic Games. However, he feels guilty and unhappy for O-wol (Choi Sooyoung), his girlfriend, who faces scrutiny for being with him.
3. “Past Lives” (2023)
Childhood friends Nora (Greta Lee) and Haesung (Teo Yoo) reunite after a long separation when Nora immigrates to Canada.
The film jumps between significant moments in the 24 years they were apart as they reconnect, lose contact, and reach out again, living separate lives and growing in different directions before finally getting the opportunity to talk face-to-face.
4. “Be with You” (2018)
Before her death, Sooah (Son Yejin) promises her husband, Woojin (So Jisub), that she will return a year later, right when the rainy season begins. She miraculously shows up as promised, but without her memories.
Sooah, Woojin, and their son relish their reunion, but the joy is short-lived as Sooah is destined to once again leave the family when the rains stop. Woojin takes the audience on a journey of love and devotion as he recalls the memories with his wife and all of the moments they cherished before they parted.
5. “My Bossy Girl” (2019)
Engineering student and robotics enthusiast Hwisoo (Ji Il Joo) despairs at his lack of romantic relationships. Along with his best friends and fellow engineering buddies, Gil Yongtae (Heo Jungmin) and Changil (Kim Ki Doo), they cook up a plan to find love and decide on using an upcoming university festival to meet potential partners.
Hwiso runs into the brash archer Hyejin (Lee Elijah), and a whole new series of comedic events unfold as they awkwardly attempt to seek romance.
6. “Love 911” (2012)
The romantic comedy drama centers around Kang-il (Go Soo), a firefighter weighted down by guilt after failing to save his wife in an accident, and Mi-soo (Han Hyojoo), a doctor embroiled in a legal battle due to a misdiagnosis.
Kang-il consistently throws himself into dangerous situations to save others in an attempt to make up for losing his wife. Mi-soo attempts to garner positive support for her lawsuit by dating Kang-il and persuading him to testify on her behalf.
Although they started out squabbling, they gradually grew attracted to each other as they continued to work together while navigating dangerous operations. Things go south when Kang-il finds that he can’t shake off the guilt over his late wife and finds out why Mi-soo was insistent on sticking around.
7. “My Love, My Bride” (2014)
Bickering couple Youngmin (Jo Jung-suk) and Miyoung (Shin Min-ah) recklessly decide to get married despite the recent coldness of their relationship and the disapproval of the people around them.
The infatuating honeymoon period soon wears off and the two find themselves arguing over the pettiest things, the constant interference from friends, family, and new faces further straining their already frayed relationship.
Youngmin and Miyoung are forced to reassess their thoughts on their relationship and what marriage truly means to them.
8. “Love and Leashes” (2022)
Jiwoo (Seohyun) is a worker at a public relations firm. Due to the close similarities of their names, she mistakenly accepts a package meant for her fellow employee, Jihoo (Lee Jun-young), and discovers that it contains a leather collar and leash.
After awkwardly navigating around the discovery and a few rejections from Jiwoo to be his mistress, the two eventually fall into a BDSM arrangement with a three-month long legal agreement. Jiwoo finds herself enjoying their trysts and asks if Jihoo would like to date her for real. Jihoo refuses, his previous failed relationship still weighting heavily on him.
When their affair gets exposed to the rest of the office, Jiwoo and Jihoo scramble to fix things and decide on what to do with the budding romance that has been growing between them.
9. “Mood of the Day” (2016)
Jaehyun (Yoo Yeon-seok) is a former basketball player and now dedicated sports manager who is fixated on getting the promising rookie Kang Chul into America. Bae Soojung (Moon Chaewon) is worker for an advertising agency who is stuck in a decade-long relationship that has grown cold.
She meets Jaehyun on the same train for a business trip to Busan and he immediately makes his moves on her. When the train malfunctions, the two end up trapped together. Soojung soon warms up to him and gradually begins to realize that there is more to Jaehyun’s seemingly shallow personality.
10. “Love Guide for Dumpees” (2015)
Junghoon (Yoon Kye Sang), the bride’s ex, and Sihoo (Han Yeri), the groom’s ex, are strangers who run into each other at their exes’s wedding and end up in a petty scuffle over some sushi.
In a fit of misery and bad luck, the two end up sleeping together. Realizing that their sexual chemistry was really good, Junghoon and Sihoo agree on sleeping together ten times before they call it quits.
As the two fill up the coffee coupon that they use to track their sexual escapades, they realize their changing feelings towards each other and both are torn as they draw closer to the end of their agreement.
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Katherine grew up watching Korean dramas and other Asian shows. Although she first learned to appreciate Korean music through OSTs broadcasted locally, it wasn’t until 2011 that she properly paid attention to K-pop. She holds a fondness for SEVENTEEN and NCT and would recommend (G)I-DLE, Dreamcatcher, and XG to whoever cared to listen.
MEDIA: As Credited