Movies like A Bittersweet Life
If you like "A Bittersweet Life" you are looking for bleak, psychological and tense movies about / with gangsters, suspense, hitman, gunfight, gang, revenge and organized crime themes of Action, Crime and Drama genre shot in South Korea.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps:
1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
2. Look for them in the presented list.
A Bittersweet Life (2005)
41K
Original name: 달콤한 인생
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
Kim Sun-woo is an enforcer and manager for a hotel owned by a cold, calculative crime boss, Kang who assigns Sun-Woo to a simple errand while he is away on a business trip; to shadow his young mistress, Heesoo, for fear that she may be cheating on him with another, younger man, with the mandate that he must kill them both if he discovers their affair.
Style:
bleak, psychological, tense, atmospheric, dark, exciting, serious, bloody, visually appealing, realistic ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
gangsters, suspense, hitman, gunfight, gang, revenge, organized crime, vengeance, mafia, betrayal, fall in love, brutality, character study, rivalry, violent, martial arts, hotel, runaway, tragic hero, korean, gang war, criminal gang, murderer, criminal, adultery ...
Time:
21st century, contemporary
Place:
south korea, asia, korea
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to A Bittersweet Life
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out serious, realistic, tense and suspenseful films with plots about brutality, vengeance, violence, gangsters, dialogue, revenge and murder mostly in Drama, Thriller and Crime genres. Some movies like A Bittersweet Life: The Man from Nowhere (2010), I Saw the Devil (2010), New World (2013), Fulltime Killer (2001), Drive (2011). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Subscribe for new and better recommendations:
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
His only friend called him 'the man from nowhere'... Taesik, a former special agent becomes a loner after losing his wife in a miserable accident and lives a bitter life running a pawnshop. He only has a few customers and a friend named ...
Style:
serious, tense, exciting, brutal, intense ...
Audience:
boys' night, girls' night, teens
Plot:
martial arts, revenge, one man army, kidnapping, lone hero, drugs, rivalry, suspense, gang, fight, master warrior, organized crime ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
korea, asia, seoul, south korea
⇓ similarity ⇓
91%
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 144 min.
Story:
Kyung-chul is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. He has committed infernal serial murders in diabolic ways that one cannot even imagine and his victims range from young women to even children. The police have chased him for a long time, ...
Style:
psychological, bleak, disturbing, suspenseful, tense ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
revenge, serial killer, vengeance, murder, violence, psychopath, extreme violence, brutality, strong violent content, mercilessness, macabre, suspense ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
south korea, korea, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
67%
25K
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
An undercover cop has his loyalties tested when the boss of the corporate gang he's spent years infiltrating dies.
Style:
tense, suspenseful, realistic, captivating, serious ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
gangsters, mole, suspense, moral dilemma, gang war, gang leader, mafia, rivalry, group of criminals, organized crime, criminal gang, undercover cop ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
south korea, korea, asia, seoul
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
Professional assassin O has resided in an isolated world of killing and loneliness. But his life begins to change once he meets the innocent Chin; hired to clean O's apartment. However, soon the flamboyent and reckless Tok enters Chin's ...
Style:
tense, atmospheric, harsh, exciting, suspenseful ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
hitman, killer, gunfight, dark hero, police detective, rivalry, fall in love, criminal heroes, law enforcement, uninhibited rivalry, love triangle, heroic bloodshed ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
japan, hong kong, china, asia, tokyo ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
655K
Genre: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
A Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman for criminals discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist gone wrong.
Style:
neo noir, atmospheric, serious, tense, captivating ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
car chase, heist, mechanic, lone wolves, tough heroes, suspense, revenge, loner, organized crime, car, violent, love ...
Time:
2010s, 21st century
Place:
los angeles, california, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
78%
Also search:
Drive related movies
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
Tae-soo tries to steal from a gang. The gang catches Tae-Soo's brother, Tae-Jin, instead. The incident causes the brothers to separate. Tae-Soo becomes a mob fixer and an assassin. Tae-Jin becomes a police detective. When a call brings the ...
Style:
exciting, tense, captivating, realistic, serious ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
revenge, hidden identity, gang, escapades, haunted by the past, murder, rivalry, track down, manhunt, gangsters, martial arts, suspense ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
south korea, korea, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 140 min.
Story:
Byung-du is a 29-year-old career criminal, working for the middle-rank enforcer Sang-chul. Burdened with a terminally ill mother and taking care of younger siblings, Byung-du is feeling financial pressure as a substitute patriarch. When the big boss ...
Style:
serious, captivating, rough, suspenseful, realistic ...
Plot:
gangsters, gang, murder, criminal heroes, financial problem, right hand man, rise and fall, debt, rivalry, director, ambition, gang war ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
asia, korea, seoul, south korea
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
22K
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
Kitano plays Murakawa, a Tokyo yakuza tiring of gangster life. Along with a few of his henchmen, he is sent by his boss to Okinawa to help end a gang war, supposedly to mediate between two warring clans. He finds that the dispute between the clans ...
Style:
bloody, art house, stylized, dark, splatter ...
Plot:
yakuza, mafia, gang, organized crime, beach, death, gunfight, dark humor, samurai, medieval, criminal, revenge ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Place:
japan, tokyo, hong kong, india, asia ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
Movie in collections
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
Detective Azuma is a Dirty-Harry style rogue cop who often uses violence and unethical methods to get results.
Style:
bloody, neo noir, bleak, brutal, atmospheric ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
police, police corruption, violence, hitman, drug dealer, yakuza, gangsters, police officer, mafia, vigilante, corrupt cop, criminal ...
Time:
80s
Place:
japan, tokyo
⇓ similarity ⇓
21%
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
Chan Wing Yan, a young police officer, has been sent undercover as a mole in the local mafia. Lau Kin Ming, a young mafia member, infiltrates the police force. Years later, their older counterparts, Chen Wing Yan and Inspector Lau Kin Ming, ...
Style:
psychological, suspenseful, tense, intense, neo noir ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
mole, police, suspense, organized crime, undercover, betrayal, mafia, gangsters, undercover cop, double life, mind game, spy ...
Time:
future, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
hong kong, india, china, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
21%
Also search:
Films like Léon: The Professional
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
In New York City, a crime lord's right-hand man is seduced by a woman seeking retribution.
Style:
suspenseful, exciting, rough, neo noir, tense ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
revenge, gangsters, twists and turns, blackmail, kidnapping, vengeance, mafia, guilt, vigilantism, secrets, deception, mysterious woman ...
Time:
year 2012, 21st century
Place:
new york, usa, brooklyn new york city, manhattan new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 125 min.
Story:
Joong-ho is a dirty detective turned pimp in financial trouble as several of his girls have recently disappeared without clearing their debts. While trying to track them down, he finds a clue that the vanished girls were all called up by the same ...
Style:
disturbing, psychological, twist ending, suspenseful, dark ...
Plot:
serial killer, psychopath, suspense, police investigation, race against time, investigation, interrogation, brutality, murder, revenge, missing person, violent ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
south korea, asia, seoul, korea
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
Mob assassin Jeffrey is no ordinary hired gun; the best in his business, he views his chosen profession as a calling rather than simply a job. So, when beautiful nightclub chanteuse Jennie is blinded in the crossfire of his most recent hit, Jeffrey ...
Style:
intense, exciting, bloody, atmospheric, harsh ...
Audience:
boys' night, date night
Plot:
hitman, gangsters, organized crime, gunfight, friendship, redemption, revenge, heroic bloodshed, one last job, assassin, violent, suspense ...
Time:
20th century, 80s
Place:
hong kong, china, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: Thailand
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
The movie is about a deaf-mute hitman and his partner. Trouble begins when he starts a relationship with a young woman.
Style:
intense, tense, rough, suspenseful, bloody ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
hitman, killer, gangsters, violence, fall in love, friendship, love affair, rivalry, mute or deaf, assassination, one man army, deaf ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Place:
thailand, tokyo, bangkok thailand, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
75K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, France
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
The quiet life of a beach bum is upended by dreadful news. He sets off for his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance but proves an inept assassin and finds himself in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family.
Style:
dark, neo noir, intense, atmospheric, tense ...
Plot:
vengeance, revenge, death, vigilantism, vigilante, suspense, car, violence, murder, brutality, violent, haunted by the past ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
virginia, usa, delaware
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
Also search:
Heat related movies
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break.
Style:
neo noir, bloody, intense, exciting, stylized ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
friendship, gunfight, organized crime, police, heroic bloodshed, mafia, crime boss, criminal underworld, hate, death of friend, betrayal, criminal ...
Time:
80s, 70s, future, 20th century
Place:
hong kong, china, california, tokyo, asia ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
Brazilian-Japanese gangster Mario rescues his Chinese girlfriend Kei as she's about to be deported from Japan. Desperate to escape, he hides in Tokyo's booming Japanese-Portuguese community and seeks passage from the country from a Russian ...
Style:
disturbing, harsh, atmospheric, exciting, suspenseful ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
gangsters, gang, organized crime, love triangle, lovers on the run, hitman, chase, master criminal, rivalry, drug dealing, martial arts, violence ...
Time:
90s
Place:
japan, tokyo, brazil, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong, Singapore, China
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
In this prequel to Mou gaan dou (2002), Chan Wing Yan has just become an undercover cop in the triads while Lau Kin Ming joins the police force. Both the triads and the police find an enemy in a rival crime boss.
Style:
exciting, tense, rough, suspenseful, neo noir ...
Audience:
girls' night, boys' night
Plot:
gangsters, chinese mafia, organized crime, spy, vengeance, murder, police, police investigation, survival, suspense, police detective, recruit ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, year 1997, year 1991, year 1995 ...
Place:
hong kong, china, asia, thailand
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
Movie in collections
208K
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Indonesia, France, USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
Deep in the heart of Jakarta's slums lies an impenetrable safe house for the world's most dangerous killers and gangsters. Until now, the run-down apartment block has been considered untouchable to even the bravest of police. Cloaked under ...
Style:
exciting, suspenseful, brutal, breathtaking, serious ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
martial arts, fight, survival, trapped, swat team, gangsters, fistfight, kung fu, suspense, death, gunfight, warrior ...
Time:
future, 21st century
Place:
hong kong, indonesia
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
After a 13-year imprisonment for the kidnap and murder of a 6 year old boy, beautiful Lee Guem-ja starts seeking revenge on the man that was really responsible for the boy's death. With the help of fellow inmates and reunited with her daughter, ...
Style:
psychological, disturbing, dark, cerebral, atmospheric ...
Plot:
vengeance, revenge, serial killer, violence, prison, vigilantism, justice, torture, murder, violent, suspense, female protagonist ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
south korea, india, korea, asia, australia ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
Also search:
Films like The Raid
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
Nick Hume is a mild-mannered executive with a perfect life, until one gruesome night he witnesses something that changes him forever. Transformed by grief, Hume eventually comes to the disturbing conclusion that no length is too great when ...
Style:
suspenseful, psychological, tense, harsh, rough ...
Audience:
manly, boys' night
Plot:
vengeance, murder, gangsters, violence, vigilantism, revenge, vigilante, gang, tragic event, violent, suspense, character change ...
Time:
21st century
⇓ similarity ⇓
18%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, Germany, Ireland
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
An old gangster is advised that Freddie Mays would leave jail after thirty years in prison. His mood changes and he recalls when he was a young punk, who joined Freddie Mays' gang, a man he both envied and ultimately betrayed.
Style:
intense, tense, rough, suspenseful, bleak ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
gangsters, rise and fall, organized crime, psychopath, mafia, betrayal, prison, violence, gang war, gang, leadership, extortion ...
Time:
future, 60s, 20th century, 90s, 80s ...
Place:
london, england, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
18%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 129 min.
Story:
This is the story of Ryu, a deaf man, and his sister, who requires a kidney transplant. Ryu's boss, Park, has just laid him off, and in order to afford the transplant, Ryu and his girlfriend develop a plan to kidnap Park's daughter. Things ...
Style:
disturbing, rough, dark, harsh, psychological ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
kidnapping, revenge, organ donation, crime gone awry, violent, suicide, transplant, mute or deaf, rape and revenge, vengeance, ransom, black market ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
korea, asia, south korea
⇓ similarity ⇓
18%
Movie in collections
24K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, France, Japan
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
A Japanese Yakuza gangster’s deadly existence in his homeland gets him exiled to Los Angeles, California, where he is taken in by his little brother and his brother’s gang. This is the first English film by Takeshi Kitano.
Style:
harsh, intense, serious, rough, exciting ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
yakuza, mafia, gang, culture clash, gangsters, samurai, organized crime, suicide, sibling relationship, family relations, interracial relations, fish out of water ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
los angeles, japan, tokyo, usa, california
⇓ similarity ⇓
18%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
After being double-crossed and left for dead, a mysterious man named Walker single-mindedly tries to retrieve the rather inconsequential sum of money that was stolen from him.
Style:
neo noir, surreal, brutal, tense, rough ...
Audience:
boys' night, manly
Plot:
organized crime, revenge, vengeance, gangsters, betrayal, left for dead, flashback, hitman, left to die, mafia, money, violence ...
Time:
20th century, future, 60s
Place:
usa, los angeles, california, san francisco
⇓ similarity ⇓
18%
Also search:
No Country for Old Men related movies
57K
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
When a Las Vegas bodyguard with lethal skills and a gambling problem gets in trouble with the mob, he has one last play… and it's all or nothing.
Style:
suspenseful, stylized, brutal, bad ending, intense ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
gangsters, revenge, brutality, tough heroes, greed, betrayal, martial arts, lone wolves, redemption, gambling, dishonesty, suspense ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
las vegas, new orleans, usa, nevada
⇓ similarity ⇓
18%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
A mafia film in Tarantino style with a star-studded cast. Jimmy’s “The Saint” gangster career has finally ended. Yet now he finds him self doing favors for a wise godfather known as “The Man with the Plan.”
Style:
neo noir, atmospheric, psychological, realistic, serious ...
Plot:
gangsters, crime gone awry, mafia, one last job, organized crime, buddies, fall in love, hitman, redemption, gunfight, disorder, hopes ...
Time:
90s
Place:
usa, colorado, denver colorado, new jersey
⇓ similarity ⇓
18%
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: South Korea
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
In the DMZ separating North and South Korea, two North Korean soldiers have been killed, supposedly by one South Korean soldier. But the 11 bullets found in the bodies, together with the 5 remaining bullets in the assassin's magazine clip, ...
Style:
thought provoking, tense, political, enigmatic, tricky ...
Plot:
military, investigation, tragedy, friendship, soldier, war, politics, vengeance, justice, suicide, undercover, state affairs ...
Time:
90s
Place:
north korea, south korea, korea, asia, israel
⇓ similarity ⇓
18%
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
Harry Kilmer returns to Japan after several years in order to rescue his friend George's kidnapped daughter - and ends up on the wrong side of the Yakuza, the notorious Japanese mafia...
Style:
neo noir, tense, intense, harsh, realistic ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
yakuza, gangsters, kidnapping, friendship, culture clash, organized crime, rescue, sword fight, mafia, haunted by the past, rivalry, male female relationship ...
Time:
70s, 80s, 20th century, post world war two
Place:
japan, tokyo, california, asia, kyoto japan
⇓ similarity ⇓
18%
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 134 min.
Story:
Terry Noonan returns home to New York's Hells Kitchen after a ten year absence. He soon hooks up with childhood pal Jackie who is involved in the Irish mob run by his brother Frankie. Terry also rekindles an old flame with Jackie's sister ...
Style:
neo noir, tense, psychological, atmospheric, intense ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
organized crime, mafia, gang, betrayal, irish, undercover, suspense, homecoming, friendship, gangsters, gunfight, moral ambiguity ...
Time:
80s, 20th century
Place:
new york, ireland, boston, manhattan new york city, usa ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
18%
Subscribe for new and better recommendations:
Related movie lists
