Amazon becomes the latest international giant to offer original Korean content through its streaming platform, Prime Video. From classic rom-coms to high-concept fantasy thrillers to historical dramas, Prime's growing lineup of Korean series has something for every type of k-drama fan. We here at GwenchaNoona are particularly pleased with its strong female-centric thrillers, Anna and Lies Hidden in My Garden. Check out our list below.
Anna (2022)
Superstar Bae Suzy plays Lee Yumi, a girl who grows up in humble circumstances. Intelligent, hard-working, and quite perceptive, Yumi quickly learns that there are benefits in telling little lies and that she can get away with them as well. She lies about getting into university and soon lands a boyfriend who might just be her ticket out of poverty. However, he finds out that she’s been faking her way all this time, and immediately breaks up with her. Mortified at being caught, she returns home to live a quiet, nondescript life as a blue-collar worker.
We highly recommend going for the 8-episode version which has better storytelling, more critical scenes, and a lot more cohesion.
Read our full review here.
Love in Contract (2022)
Park Min-young's character Choi Sang-eun is every guy’s dream wife. As a “single life helper” she morphs into whatever a man needs to impress his mother, friends, or ex-girlfriend all for a very hefty sum and a limited time. Her best client is Jung Ji-ho (Go Kyung-pyo). He eats dinner with her on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. They barely ever speak, but both of them are fine with their companionable silence. But things get complicated when superstar Kang Hae-jin (Kim Jea-wong), otherwise known as Mr. T-Th-S gets into the picture. And then it’s one problem to solve after another as Park Min-young’s character realizes she might actually be in love with one of her “husbands.”
16 episodes. Read our full review here.
Love Is For Suckers (2022)
Goo Yeo-reum (Lee Da-hee, Search: WWW) works as a producer of a reality show. Her longtime best friend Park Jae-hoon (Choi Si-won, Work Later, Drink Now) is a plastic surgeon. They've dated other people before and the subject of dating each other never came up. But all that is about to change when Jae-hoon finds himself a contestant in one of Yeo-reum's shows called Kingdom of Love. Along with the other contestants and members of the production staff, they must now ask themselves if they're ready to fall in love.
16 episodes. Read our full review here.
May I Help You (2022)
Lee Hye-ri (Reply 1988) is Baek Dong-joo, a funeral director with the supernatural power to see dead people. This allows her to grant their last wishes so they may cross peacefully into the afterlife. Lee Jun-young is Kim Jip-sa, who has just launched a dime-per-errand business with his uncle. Their paths keep crossing, and although they get off to a rough start, this being a rom-com... you can guess what happens. This heartwarming drama tugs at the heartstrings as Dong-joo and Jip-sa help spirits with their unfinished business and heal each's others past hurt along the way.
16 episodes.
Curtain Call (2022)
Kang Ha-neul (Insider) reunites with his When the Camellia Blooms mother Go Doo-shim in this KBS2 family melodrama. This time, he plays Yoo Jae-hoon, a struggling theater actor who is hired to pretend he's the long-lost grandson of Ja Geum-soon (Go Doo-shim), a hotel magnate who has been searching for the family she left behind since escaping from North Korea in 1950. This multi-generational family saga also stars Ha Ji-won as Park Se-yeon, Geum-soon's real granddaughter and general manager of Nakwon Hotel, Kwon Sang-woo as Se-yeon's ex fiancé, and Sung Dong-il as Geum-soon's right hand man.
16 episodes.
Forbidden Marriage (2022)
The king of Joseon Lee Heon (Kim Young-dae, Sh**ting Stars) has refused to find a second wife since his wife died seven years prior. That would all be well and good except for the fact that he has also forbidden his subjects to marry. Meanwhile, in order to get out of prison, commoner Ye So-rang (Park Ju-hyun, Extracurricular), claims that the spirit of the late queen resides in someone else in the palace. One lie turns into another, and before she knows it So-rang now has to act as though she is possessed by the late king’s wife. And now the king is curious. How will So-rang ever be able to get out of this one?
12 episodes.
Unlock My Boss (2022)
There’s a literal ghost in the machine and Park In-sung (Chae Jong-hyeop), a regular company employee, now needs to help the ghost find his murderer. This ENA drama based on a webtoon about CEO Kim Sun-joo (Park Sung-woong), who finds himself murdered and mysteriously stuck in a phone as a ghost, also stars Seo Eun-su as his secretary. With a murder mystery and 10 billion won (USD 7.5 million) as reward money, this show has plenty of excitement to go around.
12 episodes.
Island (2022)
After his critically acclaimed portrayal of South Korea’s first criminal profiler in Through the Darkness at the beginning of 2022, Kim Nam-gil ended the year as a demon-killing fighter in this highly anticipated fantasy horror thriller. Set in Jeju Island, Island unites Kim with Lee Da-hee (Search: WWW) and Astro’s Cha Eun-woo (True Beauty) in an epic battle against powerful evil forces threatening to destroy the world.
12 episodes.
Payback (2023)
Lee Sun-kyun (Parasite, Dr Brain) stars in this thrilling revenge drama penned by Kim Won-suk, who co-wrote the award-winning screenplay for Descendants of the Sun. In this SBS series, he plays a money trader who takes things into his own hands and goes up against a powerful cartel in collusion with law enforcers. Moon Chae-won (Flower of Evil) stars alongside him as an elite judicial officer.
12 episodes.
Our Blooming Youth (2023)
He’s the arrogant crown prince who thinks he’s suffering from a mysterious curse after receiving a book about ghosts. She’s a betrothed, smart girl from a noble family who suddenly finds herself accused of murdering her family. Will they be able to save each other amid the endless Joseon era plotting and scheming around them?
Park Hyung-sik (Happiness) and Jeon So-nee (Encounter) star in this historical fantasy drama, the first romance offering for the month of hearts.
20 episodes.
Decoy (2023)
Also known as The Bait, this crime series follows lawyer-turned-detective Gu Do-han (Jang Keun-suk, Switch: Change the World) as he investigates the truth behind a 17-year-old unsolved case. Known as the scam of the century, it reemerges as a serial murder case and brings him into contact with swindler No Sang-cheon (Heo Sung-tae, Squid Game) and reporter Cheon Na-yeon (Lee Eljiah).
12 episodes.
True to Love / Bo-ra! Deborah (2023)
Where do broken hearts go? They find their way to each other, of course! Dating coach Yeon Bo-ra (Yoo In-na) has just had a very public breakup and subsequent meltdown when she meets Lee Soo-hyuk (Yoon Hyun-min) who has just been dumped himself. Now these two broken hearts must learn to pick themselves up with a little help from each other. Will they allow themselves to fall in love again or will they swear off love forever? Yoo In-na shines in her role as a ditzy but lovable influencer who just can’t catch a break.
14 episodes. Read our full review here.
Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938
Delve into the fantastical realm of gumihos (nine-tailed foxes) with this fantasy-action prequel to the 2020 hit series. The story follows Lee Yeon (Lee Dong-wook, Bad and Crazy), a gumiho who finds himself inadvertently thrust back to the tumultuous year of 1938. There, he reunites with Ryu Hong-Joo (Kim So-yeon, Penthouse), a former mountain guardian spirit who now owns Myoyeongak, the capital's finest high-end restaurant. As old emotions resurface, Lee Yeon also encounters his estranged younger brother, Lee Rang (Kim Beom, Ghost Doctor).
Meanwhile, Cheon Mu-Young (Ryoo Kyung-soo, Glitch), once a guardian spirit and friend to Lee Yeon and Ryu Hong-Joo, harbors hostility towards them due to a mysterious past incident.
12 episodes.
Battle for Happiness (2023)
Adapted from the novel of the same name by screenwriter Joo Young-ha, Battle for Happiness features a female ensemble cast made up of Lee El, Jin Seo-yeon, Cha Ye-ryun, Park Hyo-joo, and Woo Jung-won. The high-society drama delves into the lives of aflluent mothers who engage in intense rivalries on social media, striving to undermine each other's happiness in the pursuit of their own. However, when one member of their circle dies under mysterious circumstances, a larger conflict ensues, with some seeking to conceal the truth while others are determined to expose it.
16 episodes.
Lies Hidden in My Garden (2023)
Two women — one rich and comfortable (Kim Tae-hee, Hi Bye, Mama!), the other one hounded by abuse and poverty (Lim Ji-yeon, The Glory) — clash when one’s husband is accused of murdering the other’s spouse. But having been subjected to lies, manipulation, and violence, will these two women ever learn to trust themselves and get to the truth of the murder? Or will the men in their lives destroy them first?
8 episodes. Read our full review here.
Heartbeat (2023)
In this comedy-fantasy-romance series, Sun Woo-hyeol, a half-human and half-vampire played by Ok Taec-yeon (Vincenzo), badly wants to become a complete human but misses his chance. He becomes involved with Joo In-hae (Won Ji-an, D.P.), a contract nurse-teacher and guest house manager known as a cold-hearted person. Circumstances somehow lead Sun Woo-hyeol and Joo In-hae to share a house together.
16 episodes.
The Killing Vote (2023)
This SBS dark thriller based on Hur Young-man’s webtoon follows two police officers, portrayed by Park Hae-jin (Kkondae Intern) and Lim Ji-yeon (The Glory), whose mission is to hunt down "Dog Mask", a vigilante who executes criminals based on the votes of the public.
12 episodes.
Kidnapping Day
In this 12-episode black comedy, Yoon Kye-sang (Kiss Sixth Sense) plays Kim Myung-joon, a desperate father turned first-time kidnapper, who ends up abducting a genius 11-year-old, which leads to a string of unexpected events.
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