Over the past two years, East Asian entertainment has taken over the American film industry. Specifically, Korean films became increasingly popular. Shows such as “Sweet Home”, “Squid Game”, and “Alice in Borderland” continue to gain popularity throughout various social media platforms. 

The term “K-Drama” simply means a Korean film. The vast majority of K-Dramas on Netflix utilizes high-quality production for their series. These films include elaborate sets, outstanding actors, and an enormous amount of effort. As a result, Korean content viewings in 2020 increased four times more than the viewings in 2019. With over 40 Korean films, Netflix never fails to satisfy its viewers with new shows and movies almost every week. When one show ends, it seems that almost instantaneously another begins. This allows viewers to binge multiple Asian TV shows at once. Subtitles and English dubbing also allow easy access for everyone to enjoy Asian films. 

“Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films,” “Parasite,” director Bong Joon-Ho said. 

The Korean series, “Squid Game”, gained immense popularity since its September launch. According to Netflix, the series might become one of its most popular original series. With 111 million views and counting, “Squid Game” seemingly blew up over the span of a week thanks to memes from Instagram, Tiktok, and Twitter.

A similar series called “Alice in Borderland” received a spot on Netflix’s Top 10 list in 50+ countries. Released in December 2020, the series quickly caught the attention of viewers. This film, somewhat like “Squid Game,” featured drama, thriller, and action genres. Similar to “Squid Game”, the characters in this series must-win games to survive. Since “Squid Game” took over the internet, “Alice in Borderland” fans await the second season of this captivating series.

Another less popular horror series named “Sweet Home” became quite popular during the pandemic. It even earned its spot in the Top 10 in Asia, South America, North America, and Europe. Due to the popularity of horror movies in 2020, the genre earned a large share of the box office. Sweet Home most likely succeeded because of this reasoning. 

“Parasite”, the thriller comedy that won an Oscar most likely contributed to this spike in Asian film popularity. In 2020 Parasite became the first foreign-language film to ever win the Academy Award for best picture. Due to the popularity of this movie, fans most likely searched for other Asian films similar to it. 

Netflix plans on spending 500 million on Korean films just this year. Predictably these films will take over the box offices in the coming months. Perhaps the entertainment industry needs these films to bounce back from its COVID-19 downfall.