After a nostalgic August of schmaltzy stories, I find myself eagerly looking ahead to the lineup of Korean Movies Releasing in September 2025. Just last month, I screened Love Untangled, a nostalgic journey back to a ’90s period of youth romances that I simply worshipped, and Pretty Crazy, a quirky rom-com about ghosts that put a smile on me and made me smitten in equal measure. If love, laughter, and nostalgia were August’s buzzwords, September is bringing weightier material, suspenseful mysteries, and ambitious festival premieres.
And what better occasion than September, when a global cinema community converges at big events such as the Toronto Film Festival and Venice Film Festival? This edition, TIFF (4–14 September 2025) would be screening three Korean films: The Ugly, Project Y and Good News. From thriller mysteries to female-driven heist movies and suspenseful hijack operations, which are once again making the Korean directors cross global borders. Just that these films will be screened alongside global big-hitters has me anticipating how audiences and critics will receive them.
Whereas festivals get a worldwide highlight reel, local cinema and streaming shows are emerging too, with a mix of new releases. With anything ranging from serial murderers and assassins to delicate family feuds and supernatural haunting, this September schedule has a little bit of everything. Let’s dive into the movie releases on screens and create buzz around the world.
Most Anticipated Korean Movies Releasing in September 2025
Murderer Report
Picking up the month on a chilling note, Murderer Report will be released on September 5, 2025, and already feels like one of the buzzed titles. The movie delves into the unsettling tale of Yeong Hoon, a serial killer who brutally took the lives of 11 people, but rather than lie low, he concedes to an exclusive in-depth interview. Across from him is veteran journalist Seon Joo, played by Cho Yeo-jung, who is in need of a scoop that can boost her career back up. By his side is Jung Sung-il, who provides a menacing intensity as Yeong Hoon, making this pairing one of the largest pulls of the movie.
What I find most intriguing about Murderer Report is how it’s not just a movie about crimes but about a mind game between a hopeless reporter and an unconscionable killer. Already in the setup is a promise of sizzling and chatter-filled scenes that might create a grey area between reality and lies. If suspenseful dramas that put every sentence in a time bomb category are your thing, then this movie should be watched absolutely.
The Cursed
If you like watching horror films, then The Cursed promises to keep you awake throughout the night. It will be launched on September 9 in film festivals and on September 17, 2025, in movie theatres. This suspenseful anthology movie weaves unrelated people into uneasy supernatural events. Starring Moon Chae-won, Solar, and Yoo Jae-myung in lead positions, the film entangles a tale about a mother who makes illogical ghostly arrangements, a grumpy old man who threatens a sacred tree, a student who is ambitious to become a star, and others.
What’s intriguing here is that these tales are uncommon and otherworldly sounding but yet connected within a chilling thread of choices and curses. Not a conventional ghost tale but a tale in which lust and fear push people into perilous places. Me? I’m already thrilled to have Moon Chae-won back playing a darker character and already wondering which of these tales will injure viewers most grievously.
Run to You
Run to You will treat viewers to a dose of romance and sports dramedy this September 10, 2025. It’s about Kang Goo-young, who’s an old-school sprint runner not only running for a last chance at stardom but a reliving of past romance as well. He’s accompanied in this role by his fellow namesake Kang Seung-yeol, who’s a feisty high school student played by Lee Shin-young and determined to win Im Ji-eun’s heart, played by TWICE’s Dayun in her acting career’s second role since You Are the Apple of My Eye.
They usually impact differently if they combine sports fervour and tender romance, and Run to You appears to be going for exactly that. I’m especially curious about how Ha Seok-jin captures the fatigue and strength of a sportsman nearing retirement against Lee Shin-young’s youthful spirit. And coming on the heels of increased activity in Korean films by Dayun, this seems like a movie that could captivate hearts both on and off the field.
Mantis
Streaming audiences are in for a treat on September 26, when Mantis will be on Netflix. It’s an action thriller movie starring a high-level assassin who goes by Han Ul, played by Yim Si-wan, whose life is completely flipped around upon his return from a vacation. With his employer, MK Enterprise’s Cha Min Gyu, deceased, Han Ul makes a frantic effort to escape his past, but personal and professional forces continue to draw him back. He’s aided by Dok Go, who’s a retired mentor out to seek power and played by Jo Woo-jin, and Park Gyu-young, who plays Jae I who’s another contract killer who has troubled relationships with him.
The premise gives me strong vibes of Kill Boksoon, and that’s no coincidence since Mantis is tied to that universe. What I think will make this work is the action and the character development. We know that Si-wan has time and time again proven he can mix vulnerability and bloodless calculation, and watching him dance around loyalties and betrayal and survival within this high-end criminal underworld sounds like a dream September streaming event.
Homecam
For fans who crave horrors, Homecam releases on September 10, 2025, to bring chills within a typical home life. It stars Yoon Se-ah in a central role as Seong Hee, who sets up cameras inside her home to keep a stricter eye on her younger daughter, who is played by Yoon Byul-ha. What starts on a precautionary basis turns grim upon the manifestation of an evil spirit on camera. Her immediate neighbour, Soo Rim, who is played by Kwon Hyuk, happens to be a shaman who detects an evil spirit and intervenes.
There’s a particular terror inherent in stories about horrors within one’s own home, and Homecam feeds off that terror. By combining modern technology and age-old ghosts, it creates a perfect storm of an oppressive and suspenseful viewing. I can only wait to see how it intertwines the vulnerability inherent in a mother’s love with supernatural fears sneaking in through her own home-security system.
No Other Choice
No Other Choice, which will reach theatres on September 24, 2025, after having debuted later in August at the 82nd Venice Film Festival. Based on Donald E. Westlake’s novel The Ax, this movie features Lee Byung-hun as Man Su, a man who supposedly had it all — family, employment, and a great home — until he was suddenly fired. With his mortgage bills due and his ego broken to boot, Man Su goes dark and begins to think about murdering his career competitors in hopes that he can uncover a new job opportunity. Son Ye-jin returns to the big screen as his wife Mi Ri, marking her comeback after giving birth, alongside Park Hee-soon in a key role.
This sounds like a particularly powerful film because it doesn’t call upon ghosts or assassins but on a chilling reality of desperation. How far does a person have to go if he is pushed to the wall? That’s what No Other Choice will be asking viewers, and having some inkling of Lee Byung-hun’s capacity to provide rough-hewn, multi-levelled acting, I’m already preparing myself to expect a movie that will be both exhilarating and devastating.
September 2025 has been filled with a mix of Korean films ranging from spine-chilling thrills to romantic and action films. Let us know which movie you’re most excited about in the comments!
Also Read: 5 Korean Movies Similar to Love Untangled That Bring Back the Sweetness of First Love
