With the release of Korean director Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite, many movie fans might want to either prepare for the movie they are going to experience or watch more of what the South Korean master has to offer. Before his latest film, proclaimed by many as a masterpiece, Bong had directed six previous features. Four of them were Korean productions, while the latter two were produced in America. This list has all six ranked. Spoiler alert - none are bad.

The feature film debut of Bong Joon-Ho comes in at number six on this list but do not underestimate this small indie darling. The story of Barking Dogs Never Bite follows two characters; one is a young woman who seeks more from her mundane and routine lifestyle, and the other is an unemployed grad student who has aspirations of becoming a professor but is only content with taking the easy way through bribing the dean. The grad student lives in an apartment complex and is constantly being irritated by the barking of a neighbor’s dog, so much so he decides to take matters into his own hands. This is where some viewers might get detached from the story as Bong doesn’t steer away from showing shocking and unsettling images in relation to the violence in this movie; however, if you can get past that, this film is a real gem. You can start to see the early signs of the genius Bong Joon-Ho would eventually become within this movie.

A young girl and her super-pig face off against a giant “eco-conscious” corporation. Bong Joon-Ho’s Okja takes an extreme look at the supposed environmentally friendly practices of the meat industry. To date Bong’s most expensive and most expansive film, Okja takes place across two continents and with a mixed cast of unknowns as well as notable stars like Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Jake Gyllenhall, Lily Collins, and Steven Yeun. This movie was also a massive stepping stone for Netflix, the film’s distributor, because it was one of the first streaming movie to make its way to the Cannes Film Festival. Before Scorsese, Cuaron or the Coens, it was Bong that first took the risk with Netflix. Okja might not be his most polished film but it definitely has the potential to be an emotional ride for viewers and has a lot to say about where the food we eat comes from.

Bong’s first foray outside of Korea was Snowpiercer, released in 2013. A dystopian world where society is confined to the metal walls of a high-speed train which can never stop. With all of the remaining life on Earth aboard the train, it becomes a symbol for the class system in the most heightened ways. The elite of the elite live on the front end, eat the best food and have access to schooling for their kids, doctors, and leisure. Those in the lower class are subjected to the back of the train, eating bugs and living in dirty, cramped rooms. This leads to an uprising commanded by Chris Evans’ character, in a look very different from his time as Captain America. Snowpiercer has gained a cult following since its release and has even garnered a spin-off TV series which will air on TNT in 2020. If you still need convincing, then this story director Bong Joon-ho pulling one over on Harvey Weinstein might help change your mind.

Another film in Bong’s career that highlights the destructive nature of man and our lack of care towards the environment, The Host is about a giant amphibian monster who was created after the American military dumped chemicals in the Han River. This story is actually inspired by a local Korean article about a deformed fish that was found in the Han River which created some mystery in the area. While on the surface The Host is a monster movie, it speaks to the interference of international powers, specifically America, in other countries, as well as a family story about the lengths we would go to in order to protect those we love. The Host also includes a great performance by regular Bong Joo-Ho collaborator Song Kang-Ho (who has starred in all of Bong’s films since except for Barking Dogs Never Bite) as the father of a girl who gets captured by the monster. The Host is one of the quintessential recent Korean films, as well as a modern monster classic. Even with its small budget and what some might seem like lackluster visual effects, the look of the monster has become iconic and very much part of the film’s legacy.

Not to be confused with the 2017 Jennifer Lawrence film of the same name, Bong Joon-Ho’s Mother looks at the dynamic between a parent and a child (another one of his recurring themes). The story follows a mother and her mentally challenged son who becomes the subject of a murder case. Again, Bong begs the question of how far would a parent go to protect their child? What he delivers is a riveting thriller filled with twists and turns and a final act that will break your heart. The incredible screenplay allows Bong to further exemplifies his love of withholding information from the audience until the last possible second. This is a film that requires your full attention. It’s an emotionally devastating ride, but like in all Bong films, he never shies away from adding humor and moments of levity to his films.

Just three years after making his feature film debut, Bong Joon-Ho directed his first masterpiece. For a sophomore feature, it’s hard to get any better than Memories of Murder. One of, if not the best crime mystery film, the story follows two detectives trying to capture the person responsible for multiple murders of young women, based on true events that occurred in South Korea between 1986 and 1991. Bong takes this familiar genre and completely makes it his own. Even with the very heavy subject matter, he throws in splashes of comedy at the perfect time which never feel out of place as they come naturally from his precisely crafted characters. The two main detectives played by Kim Sang-Kyung and Song Kang-Ho share a good cop bad cop dynamic often creating difficulties with the investigation. Sang-Kyung’s character arrives from Seoul to help aid the investigation, resulting in a leadership dispute with the small-town detectives. Bong also has another mentally challenged character as the main suspect in this film (like in Mother) and takes a deep dive into just how physically and mentally draining investigations can be on law enforcement, sometimes even leading them down the wrong path. A combination of excellent writing, beautiful cinematography, and the most compelling performances in any Bong film, Memories of Murder is a must-watch for any film fan, period.

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