Invariably Song Joong-ki’s fan—since I saw Descendants of the Sun (2016)—I dig his acting style. When on-screen, he sort of makes it hard for me to tear an eye away from him. In a storied filmography, the Korean superstar has produced a run of defining performances confirming his skill to effortlessly inhabit a character and his expressive genius, as evidenced in the following movies that I believe are his best to date.
A Werewolf Boy (2012) – Jo Sung-hee
For medical reasons, a winsome Sun-yi (Park Bo-young) moves to the countryside, where she makes friends with and attempts to tame a wild Chul-soo (Song Joong-ki), found prowling the grounds. But the beast in him is still primed to explode. Their journey is fascinating, giving insight into the sensitivity and strength of love that lives through adversity and the ravages of time.
A heartbreaking and incisive rush of emotions, A Werewolf Boy raises questions about how we often behave toward those who we might view as outliers. It’s an improbable relationship in which the leads find unconditional love. Song Joong-ki’s act lends Park Bo-young’s character its greatest credibility and they succeed in drawing out the deepest feelings from one of the more painful stories of love I’ve ever seen.
Song has no dialogue in practically every scene, requiring you to watch him closely and understand the subtle nuances of his emotions—love, anger, sorrow, protectiveness, patience, and everything in between—one of his best performances thus far.
The Battleship Island (2017) – Ryoo Seung-wan
In this staggering period-action blockbuster, starring Hwang Jung-min, So Ji-sub, Song Joong-ki, and Lee Jung-hyun, a diverse cast of characters and striking mise en scène explore the shadowy past of Hashima Island, where many conscripted Joseon people had to labor until they jeopardized everything in trying an unthinkable escape during Japanese colonial rule.
A member of the Korean independence movement, Song’s Park Moo-young, invades the island to rescue a fellow freedom fighter. In the awful, gory place where slaves grind away and die, he puts on an act of strength together with other individuals, leaving you with chills down your spine and feeling the emotion in your bones. You follow him around the entire film, soaking in the profundity, complexity, and weight of what he delivers.
Space Sweepers (2021) – Jo Sung-hee
Dystopia emphasizes the dire implications of Earth becoming inhabitable in 2092 in this science fiction. Korea’s debut effort at a space-based movie, Space Sweepers, centers on a space society built by the UTS firm, home to Kim Tae-ho (Song), Captain Jang (Kim Tae-ri), Tiger Park (Jin Seon-kyu), and a robot named Bubs.
While living there and sifting through the wreckage, they run into Victory, a collapsed spaceship with a little girl inside (wanted by the UTS Space Guards), and plan to make a ransom in exchange for her.
Song’s Tae-ho, we learn, served as a Space Guard commander and is a UTS genius; his voice is reassuring and his presence is intriguing, as he plays his crucial part in this futuristic tale of space grandeur.
Hopeless (2023) – Kim Chang-hoon
A role or a genre type is not something Song Joong-ki would limit himself to; he likely prefers interesting work, perhaps storylines with deeper layers, so, according to reports in Korean media, Song readily accepted the offer when the chance arose to be in Hopeless (Hwaran).
The neo-noir thriller, true to its name, exhibits gloom and cynicism. We witness the excruciating time that 18-year-old Yeon-gyu (Hong Xa-bin) and his younger sister Ha-yan (Bibi) are going through. He gets help from Chi-geon (Song) while trying to flee a hazardous situation. Later, Yeon-gyu enters a crime gang, of whom Chi-geon is the mid-level boss, putting his life in imminent danger while hoping to make it through underworld life.
Hopeless premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. It was also Song’s Cannes debut and an entry for the Korean Cinema Today—Special Premiere category of the 28th Busan International Film Festival.
My Name Is Loh Kiwan (2024) – Kim Hee-Jin
Starring as the titular Loh Kiwan, the actor traverses a struggle to make a living in a distant country. The romantic drama film adapts writer Cho Hae-jin’s acclaimed short novel, I Met Loh Kiwan.
Loh is a North Korean defector who flees to Belgium for his safety. His only hope of living there is if he gets refugee status from the Belgian authorities. Consequently, he sets out on an exhausting process, wrestling with what he wants in a society where he’s unfamiliar to all and barely understands a thing, least of all their language.
A former shooter, Marie (Choi Sung-eun), a Belgian citizen of Korean descent, becomes his new acquaintance. She lives in extreme distress with nothing urging her to live, as opposed to Loh’s desire to start anew. Nonetheless, they do fall in love as the story unfolds.
Song’s stunning portrayal of Loh Kiwan’s predicament and his resolve to achieve his goal and go above and beyond for Marie’s well-being contribute to this heartfelt story.
