movielex
movie
L
ex

Movies like Hwayi: A Monster Boy

Key Features:
Kidnapping, Found family, Moral conflict, Coming-of-age, Criminal gang, Violence-high, Action, Thriller, Crime, Betrayal, Identity crisis, Redemption
Tone:
serious, gritty, dramatic
Target Audience:
Action thriller fans, Viewers interested in crime dramas, Fans of Korean cinema, Those who enjoy stories of moral ambiguity
Emotional Arc:
Confusion → Conflict → Acceptance

Hwayi: A Monster Boy

2013-10-09
Hwayi: A Monster Boy Poster - Find Similar Movies

After being kidnapped as a small child and raised by the five men who abducted him, a teenage boy is now forced to join their life in crime.

Genres
Action, Thriller, Crime
Cast
Kim Yun-seok, Yeo Jin-goo, Cho Jin-woong, Jang Hyun-sung, Kim Sung-kyun, Park Hae-joon, Im Ji-eun, Park Yong-woo, Kim Young-min, Seo Young-hwa
Crew
Park Joo-suk, Jang Joon-hwan
Rating
7.412(244 votes)
Hwayi: A Monster BoyHwayi: A Monster Boy
Select exactly what you are looking for


Oldboy
Oldboy(2003)
8.2

With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate man seeks revenge on his captors.



The Killer
7.7

While his girlfriend is away on a trip, retired assassin Bang Ui-kang is tasked with looking after her friend's 17-year-old daughter. After a street attack, Bang Ui-kang becomes embroiled in a murder investigation and dangerous trafficking gang.



Mantis
Mantis(2025)
6.21

Mantis, an ace assassin, returns to the contract killer industry after a hiatus, encountering his trainee friend Jae-yi and a retired legendary killer Dok-go, who now runs the organization.



Voice of a Murderer

After Gyeong-bae's son is kidnapped, he receives a call from the kidnapper asking for 100 million won. The detectives are teamed up for the case, yet the culprit gets away at every opportunity.



A Better Tomorrow
6.065

An idealistic policeman must bring down his estranged older brother, now a powerful gangster in a South Korean port city.



Metamorphosis
7.119

An evil spirit that changes faces infiltrates one family placing one brother in danger while the other tries to save him.



Deliver Us from Evil

A retired contract killer goes on a bloody rampage when a young girl finds herself at the mercy of gangland human traffickers and only one man can come to her rescue, with an arsenal of weapons and years of experience in the art of killing.



A Dirty Carnival

A small-time thug who collects debts for the local triad is torn between his criminal aspirations and his devotion to family.



Save the Green Planet!

A young man believes that his country's leaders are actually toxic reptilian aliens sent down to launch a takeover of his beloved Earth. So he decides to abduct them and force the truth out on camera in his basement that doubles as a film studio and torture chamber.



A Man of Reason
6.659

After spending a decade in prison, a hitman learns that he has a daughter and just wants a chance at a normal life. But his former mob boss wants him back at any cost, sending merciless assassins after him.



Believer
Believer(2018)
7.198

After a traumatic event, a drug trafficker turns sides and conspires with a dangerously ambitious undercover police officer to bring down the mysterious kingpin of a major drug cartel.



Broker
Broker(2022)
7.182

Sang-hyun is always struggling from debt, and Dong-soo works at a baby box facility. On a rainy night, they steal the baby Woo-sung, who was left in the baby box, to sell him at a good price. Meanwhile, detectives were watching, and they quietly track them down to capture the crucial evidence.



A Werewolf Boy
7.647

An unexpected phone call brings an elderly woman to her childhood country cottage, and memories of an orphan boy she knew 47 years ago come flooding back to her.



The Childe
7.13

Han, a Filipino-Korean boxer hits the final punch against his opponent at an illegal game and returns home with a few dollars to pay for his mother's surgery.



Hindsight
Hindsight(2011)
6.478

A young assassin is sent to kill a retired mob boss. But things get complicated when she begins to like him.



Han Gong-ju
7.2

After being involved in a traumatic incident, 17-year-old Gong-ju is forced to change schools. Uncared for by her parents, her previous teacher arranges for her to hide away at his mother's place. It takes time for her past to catch up with her, but when it does the revelation is devastating.



Bring Me Home
6.7

Jung-yeon receives a tip-off that her son who went missing six years ago is in a fishing village. Local officers get in her way, trying to cover up a secret that might be related to her case.



The Host
The Host(2006)
6.978

A teenage girl is captured by a giant mutated squid-like creature that appears from Seoul's Han River after toxic waste was dumped in it, prompting her family into a frantic search for her.



Acacia
Acacia(2003)
5.653

A Korean horror film about an adopted young boy with a strange link to an old, dead acacia tree. As the boy settles in to his new home, the tree comes to life. When the family who adopted him becomes pregnant, he is to go back to the orphanage, and horror ensues.



Commitment
7.3

The son of a North Korean spy decides to follow in his father's footsteps to protect his little sister.



Boy A
Boy A(2008)
7.109

Freed after a lengthy term in a juvenile detention center, convicted child killer Jack Burridge finds work as a deliveryman and begins dating co-worker Michelle. While out on the road one day, Jack notices a distressed child, and, after reuniting the girl with her family, becomes a local celebrity. But when a local newspaper unearths his past, Jack must cope with the anger of citizens who fear for the safety of their children.



The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil

After barely surviving a brutal attack by a sadistic serial killer, crime boss Jang Dong-su is left humiliated. Determined to catch the killer known as K, he forms an uneasy alliance with Jung Tae-seok, a relentless and incorruptible detective who often disrupts his illegal business. However, while Jang Dong-su wants K dead, Jung Tae-suk is determined to bring him to justice. With a deal in place—whoever finds K first will decide his fate—the hunt begins, blurring the lines between crime and law.



The Villainess
6.9

Honed from childhood into a merciless killing machine by a criminal organization, assassin Sook-hee is recruited with the promise of freedom after ten years of service. However, secrets from her past destroy everything she’s worked for and now she embarks on a roaring rampage of revenge.



Extraction
7.305

A hardened gun-for-hire's latest mission becomes a soul-searching race to survive when he's sent into Bangladesh to rescue a drug lord's kidnapped son.



Asura: The City of Madness

A shady cop finds himself in over his head when he gets caught between Internal Affairs and the city’s corrupt mayor.



Scandal Makers
7.2

Former teen idol Nam Hyeon-soo is now in his thirties and working as a radio DJ. One day a young woman named Jeong-nam shows up and claims to be his own daughter. She also has a son whom she claims to be Hyeon-soo's grandson. Their relation is proven via DNA tests by Hyeon-soo's brother. This leads to Hyeon-soo attempting to avoid a scandal concerning him having children "unknown" to the media.



A Company Man
6.822

A contract killer becomes disenchanted with his line of work and spares the lives of his two latest would-be-victims. But the assassination company he works for has no intentions of letting him quit.



The Truth Beneath
6.947

For 15 days, a politician and his wife navigate a scandal after their daughter goes missing on the eve of the national elections.



New World
New World(2013)
7.413

An undercover cop has his loyalties tested when the boss of the corporate gang he's spent years infiltrating dies.



Monster
Monster(2023)
5.102

After being abducted and taken to a desolate house, a girl sets out to rescue her friend and escape from their malicious kidnapper.



Cold Eyes
Cold Eyes(2013)
7.5

Ha Yoon-ju becomes the newest member of a unit within the Korean Police Forces Special Crime Department that specializes in surveillance activities on high-profile criminals. She teams up with Hwang Sang-jun, the veteran leader of the unit, and tries to track down James who is the cold-hearted leader of an armed criminal organization.



Montage
Montage(2013)
7.334

A woman's child is kidnapped and killed after paying the ransom. 15 years later, a mysterious figure is seen visiting the site of killing and another kidnapping occurs using the same methods. The woman teams up with a detective to catch the killer once and for all.



Hide and Seek
6.545

Sung-soo has everything a man could want: a beautiful wife and children, a comfortable home and luxury car, and plenty of money in the bank. When he learns that his estranged brother, Sung-chul, has gone missing, haunting memories of their troubled past urge him to visit his brother’s apartment in search of answers.



Kill Boksoon
6.849

At work, she's a renowned assassin. At home, she's a single mom to a teenage daughter. Killing? That's easy. It's parenting that's the hard part.



The Man from Nowhere

An ex-special agent is involved in a convoluted drug ring drama. He has to save a drug smuggler's innocent daughter from being the victim of her parents' fight.



Boy Missing
6.485

When her son's alleged kidnapper is released for lack of solid evidence, a reputable and well-known attorney takes matters into her own hands with unintended and spectacularly disastrous consequences.



The City of Violence

Tae-su, a detective fighting organized crime, returns to his hometown for his high school friend Wang-jae's funeral. There, he meets his old friends Pil-ho, Dong-hwan and Seok-hwan and they reminisce. Suspecting something fishy about Wang-jae's death, Tae-su and Seok-hwan start investigating it, each in his own way. Their investigations lead to a land development project that Pil-ho is directing.



Missing
Missing(2016)
6.9

A working single mother comes home one day to find that her daughter and the nanny have disappeared -- and this is just the beginning of her nightmare.



Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned

Days after her friends disappear during a trip to a mysterious cave, a girl is approached by a grown man claiming to be one of her missing pals.



A Family
A Family(2021)
7.3

Taken in by the yakuza at a young age, Kenji swears allegiance to his old-school boss, pledging to adhere to the family code amid ever-changing times.



Monster
Monster(2023)
7.928

After an outburst at school involving her son, a concerned single mother demands answers, triggering a sequence of deepening suspicion and turmoil.



Friend
Friend(2001)
6.9

Despite their different family backgrounds, four friends grew up together in the wearisome years of the 70s. But as time goes by, each of them takes a different life path.



Furie
Furie(2019)
6.61

When a little girl is kidnapped by a trafficking ring, they soon find they messed with the wrong child. Her mother, a notorious former gang leader, is close on their trail and will go to any lengths to bring her child home.



V.I.P.
V.I.P.(2017)
7.8

A son to a high-ranked official in North Korea commits a series of murders going across the countries around the world. The movie depicts the following events as South Korea, North Korea and Interpol start chasing down after him.



Ransom
Ransom(1996)
6.7

When a rich man's son is kidnapped, he cooperates with the police at first but then tries a unique tactic against the criminals.



Veteran
Veteran(2015)
6.915

When an old collaborator gets severely injured, a veteran policeman tries to figure out the way to bring to justice the ultimately suspected aggressor, a spoiled young executive, heir to a mega corporation, who believes he is above the law.



Youth of the Beast
6.888

When a mysterious stranger muscles into two rival yakuza gangs, Tokyo's underworld explodes with violence.



Miss Baek
Miss Baek(2018)
7.5

A woman's past as a convict follows her everywhere and because of this she doesn't open up to others. But then she strikes up a friendship with a broken child who has suffered from domestic violence and decides to save the girl from the cruel world. A man who holds feelings for the woman, tries to protect her in his own way.



Parasite
Parasite(2019)
8.5

All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.



The Beast
The Beast(2019)
6.678

Two rival detectives with different methods try to solve the murder of a missing girl after discovering her mutilated body in the tidelands of Incheon.



The Lost Boys
7.1

When an unsuspecting town newcomer is drawn to local blood fiends, the Frog brothers and other unlikely heroes gear up to rescue him.



Seobok
Seobok(2021)
7.194

Ex intelligence agent Ki-heon is tasked with safely transporting Seo Bok, the first ever human clone, who holds the secret of eternal life. Several forces try to take control of Seo Bok to serve their own agendas.



Real
Real(2017)
5.328

Jang Tae-Young is a popular trouble shooter in the criminal world. He is cold and ambitious. He dreams of building a casino hotel one day. A reporter then goes to Jang Tae-Young.



Midnight Runners
7.5

Two apathetic police academy recruits who become best buddies through the tough training together witness a woman being abducted right before their very eyes. As they were taught in the academy, they quickly report the incident to the police, but the police are in no hurry to jump on the case. So the duo decide to take the matter into their own hands and rescue the woman.



Secret Reunion
6.373

Two spies share a secret bond, despite their loyalties. A North Korean assassin is sent to Seoul to kill a dissident, but instead he teams up with a South Korean agent in search for revenge.



Dolphin Boy
6.4

When a plane crashes at sea, dolphins rescue a little boy and raise him as family. He lives a carefree life beneath the waves until an evil monster seizes power over the underwater world. Banished to dry land, the boy is taken in by a kind-hearted captain. With his new companion's help, the boy embarks on a journey to solve the mystery of his true identity.



A Better Tomorrow
7.4

A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break.



Time to Hunt
7.196

Four young men want to leave their dystopian world behind and go to a distant paradise to execute a money robbery, a daring act that will have unexpected consequences.



Tunnel
Tunnel(2016)
7.307

A man is on his way home when the poorly constructed tunnel he is driving through collapses, leaving him trapped leaving himself for the unexpected whilst emergency services struggle to help.



The Closet
7.187

After moving into a new house, a young girl begins displaying strange and disturbing behavior until, one day, she disappears behind a closet. While the devastated father is left with no clue about his daughter's disappearance, an exorcist shows up to help.



Moss
Moss(2010)
6.891

A city boy visits a remote village to find out the reason behind his father's strange death. The locals are watching his every move and are eager to see him leave. As he starts to investigate, the village's sinister secrets begin to unravel.



Green Fish
6.89

Returning home and finding his town drastically changed, a former soldier falls in with gangsters.



The Mimic
The Mimic(2017)
6.4

The mother of a missing child takes in a lost girl she finds in the woods, but soon begins to wonder if she is even human.



Broken
Broken(2014)
7

Following the brutal rape and murder of his 16-year-old daughter, Sang-hyeon stumbles into an ever-widening conspiracy of rage, revenge, and murder.



Deranged
Deranged(2012)
6.6

People binge eat and suffer from extreme thirst, which leads them to go crazy for water. They cannot control themselves because they are brainwashed by a parasite.



Beasts Clawing at Straws

A struggling restaurant owner, caring for his sick mom, finds a bag of cash in a sauna locker, while a customs officer gets into trouble when his girlfriend runs off with money he borrowed from a loan shark.



Forgotten
Forgotten(2017)
7.891

Seoul, South Korea, 1997. When the young but extremely anxious student Jin-seok, his parents and his successful older brother Yoo-seok move to a new home, mysterious and frightening events begin to happen around them, unexplained events that threaten to ruin their seemingly happy lives. Unable to understand what is happening, Jin-seok wonders if he is losing his mind.



Peninsula
Peninsula(2020)
6.7

A soldier and his team battle hordes of post-apocalyptic zombies in the wastelands of the Korean Peninsula.



No Mercy
No Mercy(2010)
7.4

Forensic pathologist Kang is assigned to examine the dismembered corpse of a female murder victim. Detective Min points to a fanatic environmentalist, Lee Sung-ho, as the primary suspect. But when Kang’s daughter is kidnapped, a manipulative game begins between Kang and Lee, who holds secrets about the homicide case.



The Merciless
7.2

Jae-ho, who aims to become the number one in a crime organization, gets to build up trust with Hyun-su, an ambitious newbie in the prison. While they try to take over the organization after the prison release, their ulterior motives starts to emerge.



Shiri
Shiri(1999)
6.4

North Korea's 8th Special Forces hijack a shipment of CTX, a potent new liquid explosive, and threatens South Korea as part of a plot to re-unify the two countries. Ryu and Lee, special agents of O.P., South Korea's secret intelligence service, attempt to track down the terrorists and find the CTX. Meanwhile Hee, the 8th's ultra-bad female sniper, resurfaces to wreak havoc and haunt Ryu.



Monster
Monster(2014)
6.4

Bok-Soon runs a street stall, cares for her younger sister, and is feared by many because of her quick temper. When Tae-Soo murders her sister, rage consumes her completely as she stalks the killer.



Bad Guy
Bad Guy(2002)
6.514

A pimp enforcer takes revenge on a woman who rejected his advances by tricking her into prostitution, but complications arise.



Baby and Me
6.399

A rebellious high school student sees his life take a strange turn when he goes to the grocery store and someone leaves a baby in his shopping cart, along with a note claiming he's the father.



Train to Busan
7.7

When a zombie virus pushes Korea into a state of emergency, those trapped on an express train to Busan must fight for their own survival.



The Chronicles of Evil

A detective accidentally kills a man and disposes of the body to protect his career. The next day he sees that someone has hanged the corpse from a crane for all to see. He takes charge of the murder investigation to protect himself and find out who did it.



Missing You
7.25

A girl who lost her father to a serial killer, a detective and a killer are intertwined in a chaotic relationship and are met with an unprecedented series of events.



The Prison
7.1

An imprisoned ex-police inspector discovers that the entire penitentiary is controlled by an inmate running a crime syndicate and becomes part of the crime empire.



Pawn
Pawn(2020)
8.433

A debt collector who looks intimidating, but actually has a warm heart, ends up becoming the guardian of a child, who has been left behind as collateral by her illegal immigrant mother.



The Beast
The Beast(2020)
6.144

To rescue his daughter, an unstable Special Forces veteran unleashes his inner beast as he pursues her kidnappers — and soon becomes a suspect himself.



Coin Locker Girl

A child abandoned in a subway coin locker is sold to a ruthless and calculating loan shark and gangster boss dubbed Mother, who runs an organ-harvesting ring in Incheon’s Chinatown. Named Il-Young, the baby girl grows into Mother’s loyal right-hand enforcer and is groomed to be her eventual successor. But when Il-Young’s loyalty to Mother wavers, the clash between the two unleashes a merciless tidal wave of blood-soaked retribution and strife.



A Bittersweet Life
7.4

Kim Sun-woo is an enforcer and manager for a hotel owned by a cold, calculative crime boss, Kang who assigns Sun-woo to a simple errand while he is away on a business trip; to shadow his young mistress, Hee-soo, for fear that she may be cheating on him with a younger man with the mandate that he must kill them both if he discovers their affair.



Assassination
7.307

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.



The Net
The Net(2016)
7.3

A poor North Korean fisherman finds himself an accidental defector, and is groomed to be a spy by an ambitious South Korean military officer.



Secretly, Greatly
6.978

Three elite North Korean sleeper agents live under cover for so long that they believe their cover stories are their real identities. They are shocked when they are ordered to kill one another or face death at the hands of an elite hit team.



The Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos

A respectable village head decides to keep his son away from the violent politics of rural life. However, fate intervenes, forcing the young man to not only return home, but also take up the sickle.



Kin
Kin(2018)
6.109

A young boy finds a powerful otherworldly weapon, which he uses to save his older adoptive brother from a crew of thugs. Before long, the two of them are also pursued by federal agents and mysterious mercenaries aiming to reclaim their asset.



26 Years
26 Years(2012)
6.843

26 years ago, state troops were ordered to open fire on civilians in the city of Gwangju who were demonstrating as apart of a democratic movement. Thousands of civilians were killed. Now, a shooter from the national team, a gang member, a policeman, CEO from a large company and director of a private security outfit get involved in a plan to convict the person responsible for the massacre.



Nameless Gangster
6.872

A corrupt customs official joins forces with a vicious gangster to form the most powerful crime partnership in Busan.



The Roundup: Punishment

'Monster Cop' Ma Seok-do investigates an illegal online gambling business led by a former STS Baek and an IT genius CEO Chang. Ma proposes an unexpected alliance to Jang and begins hunting down the criminals.



Mother
Mother(2009)
7.7

A mother lives quietly with her son. One day, a girl is brutally killed, and the boy is charged with the murder. Now, it's his mother's mission to prove him innocent.



The Suspect
6.9

Betrayed and on the run, a former North Korean agent tries to seek revenge on the man who killed his wife, find his missing daughter, and uncover the secrets hidden inside the eyeglasses of a dead man.



Mr. Six
Mr. Six(2015)
6.8

Many years ago Mr. Six was a notorious gangster. That was back when there was still such a thing as honour among thieves, when criminals earned respect and maintained principles. These days Mr. Six is all but forgotten, a living relic residing in a narrow alley. One day Six's son, Xiaobo, is abducted by some spoiled punks after he scratches their precious Ferrari. Mr. Six realizes that he must do whatever it takes to get his son back — even if that means returning to the life he thought he had left behind.



Chaw
Chaw(2009)
5.759

A black comedy about the events that are set into motion in a town after a man-eating boar goes on a rampage.



Haunters
Haunters(2010)
6.357

Cho-in has special powers that allow him to control everyone he can see, that is until he meets Kyu-nam, the only person he can't control. A series of events begins a confrontation that pushes both men to the brink.



Confession of Murder

A serial killer reappears 15 years after his murder spree with a book detailing his crimes. The resentful cop who failed to catch him before is assigned to protect him. The families of the victims plan revenge. And as the media circus spirals out of control, a masked man called "J" appears claiming to be the real killer.



Illang: The Wolf Brigade

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



Breathless
7.154

Sang-hoon is a lowlife gangster, a debt collector exercising thuggish ways to collect his money. The recipient of nothing but anger since his childhood, he expresses himself through violence. When he finally encounters someone who can stand up to him, feisty school-girl Yoon-hee they become unlikely friends.



Armand
Armand(2024)
6.376

Armand, a 6-year-old boy, is accused of crossing boundaries against his best friend at elementary school. While no one knows what actually happened between the two boys, the incident triggers a series of events, forcing parents and school staff into a captivating battle of redemption where madness, desire and obsession arise.

AboutPrivacy PolicyTerms of ServiceContact Us