3 Best Movies to Watch by Lee Jae-wook

In Move to Heaven, a man and his son clean up after the dead—specifically, the dead who have no one else to look out for them. Believing that no one should be robbed of a respectable farewell, they piece together the deceased’s possessions and celebrate them postmortem. It’s a noble job, but its existence is threatened when the father passes away. It’s now up to the ruffian uncle with a heart of gold to continue the business and bond with his nephew, who himself struggles with Asperger's. 

It’s easy for Move to Heaven to feel weighed down by all the important stories it tries to tackle; represented here are disabled people, depressed people, queer people, overworked people. But it breathes so much life into these stories that they hardly feel like the drag other shows and movies make them out to be. Tragedy here is expertly blended with humanity, and the result is a moving and compassionate series that stands out even in the saturated content space that is Netflix. 

Genre: Drama, Family, Reality

Actor: Hong Seung-hee, Im Won-hee, Jeong Seok-yong, Ji Jin-hee, Jung Ae-yeun, Jung Young-joo, Lee Jae-wook, Lee Je-hoon, Lee Moon-sik, Tang Jun-sang

Director: Kim Sung-ho

Rating: Not Rated

When life gets tough, especially without money or opportunities, it can be hard to cling onto life. There’s the real temptation to end it all, but what if Death is tired of this last resort? Death’s Game reimagines life after Choi’s suicide as a video game, whose limited lives function like reincarnation into different save points, and whose game over means eternal damnation in hell. With such an interesting premise from the popular webtoon, some of the best actors in Korea, and no way of being able to predict what would happen in Choi’s multiple, varied lives, Death’s Game reinvents plenty of today’s K-Drama tropes while possibly reconceptualizing how we feel about life and death… if it’s able to stick the landing when the second half drops this January.

Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Actor: Choi Si-won, Go Youn-jung, Jang Seung-jo, Kim Jae-wook, Kim Ji-hun, Kim Kang-hoon, Kim Mi-kyeong, Lee Do-hyun, Lee Jae-wook, Nam Kyung-eup, Oh Jung-se, Park So-dam, Seo In-guk, Sung Hoon, Yoo In-soo

Director: Ha Byung-hoon

With morally grey characters, an excellent cast, and family inheritance intrigue, The Impossible Heir seemed like a unique Korean drama that isn’t afraid to get cutthroat, especially with those suspicious shots of blood splatters in the trailer. There’s some of that here– Lee Jae-wook plays Han Tae-oh with a cold, straightforward determination, even outright declaring he would use Kang In-ha, with Lee Jun-young matching Jae-wook’s intensity. However, part of the drama feels undercut by a love triangle that, as a concept, isn’t a terrible idea, but was just hastily introduced in the first two episodes. The Impossible Heir has excellent tension with its reluctant allyship, family mystery, and the likely betrayal already, but it just feels like it could be better without the romance.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Hong Su-zu, Lee Hwang-eui, Lee Jae-wook, Lee Ji-hoon, Lee Jun-young