Five Korean thrillers on Netflix that get darker the longer you watch
The Korean drama industry is best known for its slow romances and slice-of-life stories. But in between all those snuggly tropes lies something far darker, and that’s the Korean thrillers.
And if you have underestimated them for being too nice to be gore, then you’re about to be proven wrong. Some of these thrillers hit harder than most Western crime shows ever could. Don’t mistake them for just dramatic background scores or jump scares. They build tension through emotion and characters who feel painfully real.
Over the past few years, Netflix has steadily become the best place to find these stories. Each one starts out looking like a regular drama before twisting into something entirely unexpected. Their villains are complicated, and the heroes are flawed, and by the time you realise who’s who, it’s already too late.
What makes these thrillers so powerful is that they play with psychology. They force you to think, to feel, and to wonder what you would do if pushed that far. They’re about revenge and survival, but more than anything, they’re about how easily good people can lose their way. So here are five handpicked for you.
Five must-watch Korean thrillers on Netflix
A Killer Paradox (2024)
Imagine accidentally killing someone, only to find out they were a serial killer. And that’s not the twist. That’s where this story begins. It starts with a moment of panic that turns into a moral mess before you even realise what happened. The series follows an ordinary guy who keeps crossing paths with killers while a detective closes in on him. What makes it addictive isn’t just the chase but how it plays with guilt, fate, and whether a “good murder” can ever exist.
A Killer Paradox scratches the itch of the shows that left the itch of a moral sense of right or wrong in you. It’s all about how darkness creeps into ordinary lives and how easy it is to lose control once it does.
Signal (2016)
Signal is about a detective from 1989 and a profiler from 2015 who somehow start communicating through a mysterious walkie-talkie. You get the sci-fi element free in this, but it’s more of a thriller. Together, they try to solve cold cases, changing both the past and the future along the way. It is one of the smarter concepts, but that doesn’t stop it from being emotional. It’s a rare thriller that’ll make you cry as much as it makes you gasp.
Signal’s brilliance lies in its empathy. Every case feels personal, and every twist feels earned. If you loved the emotional stakes of Hopper’s arc in Stranger Things, this show takes that same heart and throws it into a police procedural that hurts in the best way.
My Name (2021)
Revenge is personal in My Name. It starts with a young woman witnessing her father’s murder and deciding to join a drug ring to hunt down his killer. But the twist here is that she does all this while living a double life as an undercover cop. The show gives you action, betrayal, heartbreak – basically every emotion. But its biggest weapon is its lead, Han So-hee, who’s absolutely magnetic from start to finish.
There’s something unimaginably satisfying about watching a woman tear down the world in search of truth. My Name has that same raw emotional charge that keeps you rooting for someone who refuses to give up, no matter how many times she gets knocked down.
The Glory (2022–2023)
If you have already watched My Name and are looking for another female-centric show, The Glory should be your next pick. Ever imagined what happens when the bullied become the executioners? The Glory follows a woman who spends decades crafting a revenge plan against the people who tormented her in school. It’s precise and chillingly patient. You have no wild chases or explosions, just psychological warfare that cuts through the screen.
What makes it stick isn’t the revenge itself but how it explores trauma and survival. Song Hye-kyo gives one of her best performances as she balances control with buried rage until it all finally breaks.
Celebrity (2023)
Celebrity dives into Seoul’s influencer culture and exposes how obsession, envy, and money twist people into something unrecognisable. It is told through a series of confessional livestreams by a social media star who is presumed dead, which should tell you everything about how deep this rabbit hole goes. You’ll get a bit of Black Mirror vibe here.
The show is a perfect example of how fame can devour anyone who touches it. Imagine being surrounded by egos, secrets, and a twist that’s far scarier than anything you’ve ever seen.