Movies Like The Age of Shadows (2016)

The Age of Shadows is a 2016 action, thriller film from Kim Jee-woon with a MovieMagicScore of 7.2/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Anarchist from Colony and Harbin.

Action Thriller

Anarchist from Colony

2017

Based on the life of the Korean anarchist Park Yeol, the film shows his struggle to counter the massacre of Koreans by the government during the 1923 great Kanto earthquake, focusing on his activities as the leader of the anti-Japanese organization Bulryeongsa and his relationship with Japanese comrade Fumiko Kaneko.

7.4

MagicScore

Harbin

2024

In 1909, several years after Korea is forced into becoming a Japanese colony, freedom fighters plot the daring assassination of Japan's prime minister during their quest for independence.

7.7

MagicScore

Assassination

2015

In Japanese-occupied Korea, three freedom fighters are assigned a mission to assassinate a genocidal military leader and his top collaborator. But the plan goes completely awry amidst double-crossings, counter-assassinations, and a shocking revelation about one of the assassins' past.

7.3

MagicScore

Phantom

2023

In 1933, when Korea was under Japanese occupation, five people in Gyeongseong are suspected to be "Phantom" spies of the anti-Japanese organization.

6.9

MagicScore

The Battle: Roar to Victory

2019

Over a 4 day period, a fierce battle takes place between Korean independence militias and imperialist Japanese forces in Manchuria, China. The militia includes a master swordsman and an expert marksman.

7.3

MagicScore

Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet

2016

Based on a true story, renowned Korean poet, Yun Dong-ju, is detained and abused by the Japanese for participating in the Korean Independence Movement.

7.8

MagicScore

MAL·MO·E: The Secret Mission

2019

During the Japanese occupation of Korea, the Japanese Empire seeks to eradicate the Korean language and identity. In retaliation, a small group of Korean patriots try to protect their language by compiling the first Korean language dictionary.

7.8

MagicScore

The Battleship Island

2017

During the Japanese colonial era, roughly 400 Korean people, who were forced onto Battleship Island 'Hashima Island' to mine for coal, attempt to escape.

7.1

MagicScore

The Last Princess

2016

Under the oppressive Japanese colonial rule, Deok-hye, the last Princess of the declining Joseon Dynasty, is forced to move to Japan. She spends her days missing home, while struggling to maintain dignity as a princess. After a series of failed tries, Deok-hye makes her final attempt to return home with help of her childhood sweetheart, Jang-han.

6.7

MagicScore

#10

The Painted Veil

2006

A British medical doctor fights a cholera outbreak in a small Chinese village, while also being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife.

7.3

MagicScore

#11

Temptress Moon

1996

Set in the decadent 1920s, Temptress Moon tells the very complicated story of a wealthy family living on the outskirts of Shanghai. Their youngest daughter, Ruyi, is brought up as a servant to her opium-addicted father and brother. Meanwhile, her brother-in-law Zhongliang has a successful, if illegal, career seducing and blackmailing married women in the city. When he comes to Ruyi's home the two fall in love, and trouble ensues.

6.6

MagicScore

#12

Heroes of the East

1978

Gordon Liu stars as a Chinese martial arts student struggling to relate to his new Japanese wife. When a series of martial misunderstandings spirals into an international incident, he's forced to take on seven of Japan's most powerful martial arts masters, each an expert in a different discipline, ranging from karate to samurai to ninjitsu.

7.3

MagicScore

#13

Memoirs of a Geisha

2005

In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.

7.7

MagicScore

#14

The Insect Woman

1963

A woman, Tome, is born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps trying to change her poor life.

7.2

MagicScore

#15

Illang: The Wolf Brigade

2018

In 2029, an elite police squad combats an anti-reunification terrorist group while another enemy lurks nearby.

6.3

MagicScore

#16

The Manchurian Candidate

1962

Near the end of the Korean War, a platoon of U.S. soldiers is captured by communists and brainwashed. Following the war, the platoon is returned home, and Sergeant Raymond Shaw is lauded as a hero by the rest of his platoon. However, the platoon commander, Captain Bennett Marco, finds himself plagued by strange nightmares and soon races to uncover a terrible plot.

7.5

MagicScore

#17

Hanbando

2006

The President of South Korea races against time to prove the seal on documents from long dead King Gojong is fake by charging outspoken historian Choi Min-jae, and a descendant of the royal bloodline Kim Yu-shik, to find the long lost seal in order to prove that the Japanese claim to railroads is false, a claim that will stop the reunification of the two Koreas.

6.3

MagicScore

#18

Remember

2022

Pil-ju, an Alzheimer's patient in his 80s, who lost all his family during the Japanese colonial era, and devotes his lifelong revenge before his memories disappear, and a young man in his 20s who helps him.

7.5

MagicScore

#19

Propaganda

2013

An anti-western propaganda film about the influences of American visual and consumption culture on the rest of the world, as told from a North Korean perspective.

8.1

MagicScore

#20

As One

2012

A unified team representing the two Koreas competed at the 1991 Chiba International Table Tennis Championships. It was the first such sport team since the division of the Korean peninsula. The unified team won the group competition event, beating the front runner, China.

7.7

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Age of Shadows?

The top films similar to The Age of Shadows by MovieMagicScore are Anarchist from Colony (7.4), Harbin (7.7), Assassination (7.3). Each shares action/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Age of Shadows worth watching?

The Age of Shadows holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.2/10 from 352 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is The Age of Shadows?

The Age of Shadows (2016) is a action, thriller film directed by Kim Jee-woon, starring Song Kang-ho, Gong Yoo, Han Ji-min.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Age of Shadows?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more action recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Anarchist from Colony Movies like Harbin Movies like Assassination Movies like Phantom Movies like The Battle: Roar to Victory Movies like Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet

About movies like The Age of Shadows

This ranked list pairs The Age of Shadows (2016), a action and thriller film from Kim Jee-woon, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Song Kang-ho take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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