Top 10 Netflix: Korean dramas and soap operas have long been a Netflix staple, but following the “Squid Game” phenomenon, viewers all around the world are clamoring for Korean thrillers and reality shows as well.
“All of Us Are Dead,” a Korean zombie thriller starring Lee Yoo-Mi (of “Squid Game”), debuted at No. 1 on the streamer’s non-English language TV Top 10 list for the week of Jan. 24 through 30, with 124.79 million hours viewed. Since Netflix began revealing its Top 10 data last year, this is the most hours viewed in the first week for any Korean title.
With a massive watch count of 1,650,450,000 hours, “Squid Game” stands legions above all other titles on Netflix’s Top 10 most popular non-English TV list of all time (based on hours viewed in the show’s first 28 days on the streaming platform). Last week’s non-English language TV Top 10 list, however, did not include “Squid Game” for the first time in months. With 22.73 million hours viewed, the Korean drama “Our Beloved Summer” came in the fifth position.
For the 11th week in a row (1.69 million hours), the British-German horror film “Blood Red Sky” topped the non-English film chart, followed by “My Father’s Violin,” “Amandla,” “Perfect Strangers,” “Shyam Singha Roy,” “Lost Bullet,” and “Rogue City” in their sophomore weeks.
Top 10s – TV Shows
| category | weekly rank | show title | season title | weekly hours viewed | cumulative weeks in the top 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TV (English) | 1 | Ozark | Ozark: Season 4 Part 1 | 96,340,000 | 2 |
| TV (English) | 2 | The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window | The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window: Season 1 | 40,080,000 | 1 |
| TV (English) | 3 | Archive 81 | Archive 81: Season 1 | 36,270,000 | 3 |
| TV (English) | 4 | Ozark | Ozark: Season 1 | 35,230,000 | 2 |
| TV (English) | 5 | Too Hot to Handle | Too Hot to Handle: Season 3 | 31,740,000 | 2 |
| TV (English) | 6 | In From the Cold | In From the Cold: Season 1 | 24,720,000 | 1 |
| TV (English) | 7 | Ozark | Ozark: Season 2 | 21,540,000 | 1 |
| TV (English) | 8 | The Sinner | The Sinner: Season 4: Percy | 21,320,000 | 1 |
| TV (English) | 9 | Ozark | Ozark: Season 3 | 20,280,000 | 1 |
| TV (English) | 10 | Riverdale | Riverdale: Season 5 | 16,460,000 | 1 |
| TV (Non-English) | 1 | All of Us Are Dead | All of Us Are Dead: Season 1 | 124,790,000 | 1 |
| TV (Non-English) | 2 | Café con aroma de mujer | Café con aroma de mujer: Season 1 | 82,750,000 | 5 |
| TV (Non-English) | 3 | I Am Georgina | I Am Georgina: Season 1 | 30,630,000 | 1 |
| TV (Non-English) | 4 | Neymar: The Perfect Chaos | Neymar: The Perfect Chaos: Limited Series | 26,340,000 | 1 |
| TV (Non-English) | 5 | Our Beloved Summer | Our Beloved Summer: Season 1 | 22,730,000 | 6 |
| TV (Non-English) | 6 | The Queen of Flow | The Queen of Flow: Season 2 | 17,800,000 | 11 |
| TV (Non-English) | 7 | Yo soy Betty, la fea | Yo soy Betty, la fea: Season 1 | 11,730,000 | 10 |
| TV (Non-English) | 8 | Summer Heat | Summer Heat: Season 1 | 11,470,000 | 1 |
| TV (Non-English) | 9 | El marginal | El marginal: Season 4 | 10,710,000 | 2 |
| TV (Non-English) | 10 | Carinha de Anjo | Carinha de Anjo: Season 1 | 10,400,000 | 15 |
Top 10s – Movies
| category | weekly rank | show title | weekly hours viewed | cumulative weeks in the top 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Films (English) | 1 | The Royal Treatment | 26,580,000 | 2 |
| Films (English) | 2 | Home Team | 21,050,000 | 1 |
| Films (English) | 3 | Munich – The Edge of War | 17,320,000 | 2 |
| Films (English) | 4 | Don’t Look Up | 10,250,000 | 6 |
| Films (English) | 5 | The Secret Life of Pets 2 | 7,850,000 | 3 |
| Films (English) | 6 | Red Notice | 6,540,000 | 12 |
| Films (English) | 7 | Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation | 6,280,000 | 5 |
| Films (English) | 8 | Brazen | 5,840,000 | 3 |
| Films (English) | 9 | The Possession of Hannah Grace | 5,760,000 | 1 |
| Films (English) | 10 | A Perfect Enemy | 4,870,000 | 1 |
| Films (Non-English) | 1 | My Father’s Violin | 12,380,000 | 2 |
| Films (Non-English) | 2 | Amandla | 7,990,000 | 2 |
| Films (Non-English) | 3 | Perfect Strangers | 4,690,000 | 2 |
| Films (Non-English) | 4 | Shyam Singha Roy | 2,880,000 | 2 |
| Films (Non-English) | 5 | Lost Bullet | 2,630,000 | 2 |
| Films (Non-English) | 6 | How I Fell in Love with a Gangster | 2,610,000 | 4 |
| Films (Non-English) | 7 | Photocopier | 1,740,000 | 3 |
| Films (Non-English) | 8 | Blood Red Sky | 1,690,000 | 11 |
| Films (Non-English) | 9 | Rogue City | 1,400,000 | 2 |
| Films (Non-English) | 10 | Vicky and Her Mystery | 1,400,000 | 6 |
Top 10s – Kdrama
1. It’s Okay to Not Be Okay
Moon Gang-tae, Kim Soo-first Hyun’s series since being discharged from mandatory military service, beautifully tackles mental health issues within its vibrant storyline, in which he plays Moon Gang-tae, who is struggling to keep up the facade that he’s okay with being his older brother’s selfless guardian.
2. The Penthouse
This K-drama begins with the year’s most makjang (or overblown) storyline. As a very wealthy woman descends from her penthouse apartment on the 100th level, she notices a young girl plunging to her death. The adolescent is caught in the arms of a statue.
3. Hyena
In this fast-paced judicial procedure, the sexual tension between Kim Hye-soo and Ju Ji-hoon is palatable. She’s a tough lawyer who isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty to get the job done. Even though he believes he is superior to her in every way, he is unable to defeat her in court. When they work together, they appear unstoppable as they try to assassinate the leader of a posh law practice that is anything but ethical.
4. Start-Up
Following their parents’ divorce, one daughter (Bae Suzy) stays with their idealistic father, while the other (Kang Han-na) joins their mother and wealthy stepfather in the United States. Both sisters end up competing with each other in their 20s when they create their own software companies. This K-drama, more than any other in recent memory, features a dynamic second male lead (Kim Seon-ho) whose plotline frequently overshadows that of the incredibly handsome lead (Nam Joo-hyuk). Start-Up emphasizes that no matter how broken a family is, relationships endure – for better or ill.
5. Flower of Evil
The character of Lee Joon-gi Hee-Sung is an artist who is attempting to conceal his past. His detective wife Ji-Won, who has loved him since she was a teenager, is Moon Chae-won. Despite the fact that he appears to be a serial killer, she can’t help but refer to him as jagiya, which literally means “hers.” The ending is uncertain, although it suggests a bright future.
6. When the Weather is Fine
The romance between Park Min-Young and Seo Kang-Hae-won Joon’s and Eun-Seob, played by Park Min-Young and Seo Kang-Joon, is delightful to watch unfold. The cellist and the proprietor of an independent bookstore, who were formerly classmates in high school, are reunited in the little town where they grew up. The townspeople’s friendliness, which harkens back to a time when neighbors looked out for one another and had a true feeling of community, is just as endearing.
Also, Check this Top 10 Netflix – Kdrama must watch
7. Stranger 2
It’s unusual for K-dramas to have more than one season, but this one deserved it. Cho Seung-woo and Bae Doona reprise their roles as a thorough lawyer and a diligent investigator, respectively, who team up to solve cases that their bosses would rather they dismiss.
8. Hospital Playlist
This K-drama follows five friends who are all great in their areas and end up working at the same hospital, thanks to the showrunners behind the acclaimed Reply trilogy. So there you have it. The show does an excellent job of combining narratives about their friendship with societal themes. For example, when he realizes that there are organizations that will pay for his children’s medical care if they are orphans, but not if he is alive, one destitute dad considers suicide.
9. Itaewon Class
There is a love triangle, as in typical K-dramas. However, that is the least intriguing aspect of the series. Park Seo-joon portrays an orphaned adolescent whose life’s ambition is to bring down his late father’s unethical boss (Yoo Jae-myung). The series takes a refreshingly straightforward approach to poverty, classism, racial discrimination, and transphobia.
10. Crash Landing On You
This series began in December 2019, however, we’re counting it because the majority of episodes aired in 2020. It’s a story about a North Korean officer (Hyun Bin) and a South Korean heiress (Son Ye-Jin) who fall in love but can’t realistically spend the rest of their lives together.
