Eight strangers, each living on a separate floor in a giant room, play a violent game, whose rules are unclear, to earn prize money in The 8 Show, a stylish Korean drama series that is compulsive viewing.

Disney+ K-drama Crash stars Kwak Sun-young as Min So-hee, the head of Traffic Crime Investigation, and Lee Min-ki as insurance investigator Cha Yeon-ho, as they track down a serial killer.

The one gimmick in a show packed with K-drama clichés – having the male lead dress, talk and act as if he is from the historical Joseon era in Korea – doesn’t come off. As a result, Dare to Love Me falls flat.

South Korea’s 1979 coup d’état is brought to the big screen in 12.12: The Day. The film’s director, producer, and lead actor Jung Woo-sung talk about dramatising an event whose details were secret for decades.

Jung Ryeo-won and Wi Ha-joon star as an instructor and her former star pupil at one of the after-school private academies ubiquitous in South Korea in this tvN series on Viu directed by Ahn Pan-seok.

Han Hyo-joo and Ju Ji-hoon put in adequate performances in a Disney+ K-drama that moves away from its promising sci-fi premise to become a boring story about corporate greed.

Busy Korean actress Jeon Jong-seo has roles in the pipeline in Queen Woo and heist series Project Y, and is being courted for social drama Genie House; Park Eun-bin is eyeing superhero series The B Team.

An unusual family with special powers lose their gifts for one reason or another, until the appearance of a woman offers them hope of regaining them – but she is not all she seems.

Netflix K-drama Frankly Speaking follows a TV anchor (Go Kyung-pyo) who cannot help saying what he is thinking. So far, it has been filled with toilet humour and has a weak narrative.

Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won finally find their happily-ever-after by the end of Queen of Tears – which may be the most purely romantic K-drama to air in quite some time.

Seven classic 1950s Korean movies are being shown at this year’s Udine Far East Film Festival in collaboration with the Korean Film Archive. Those who can’t make the event can watch them on YouTube.

Exciting K-drama releases in May include Disney+’s Uncle Samsik, in which Song Kang-ho plays a 1960s fixer, Netflix’s The 8 Show, and Frankly Speaking, about a TV host with no filter.

Lee Je-hoon, Lee Dong-hwi, Choi Woo-sung, Yoon Hyun-soo and Seo Eun-soo lead Korean drama Chief Detective 1958 on Disney+, which sees one of South Korea’s most beloved TV characters return to screens.

In our round-up of the latest Korean drama casting news, Big Mouth star Lee Jong-suk is considering the lead role in Disney+’s One Second, Ji Chang-wook may join Ma Dong-seok in Twelve, and lots more.

Starring Suyo of K-pop group Exo, Hong Ye-ji and Kim Min-kyu, Missing Crown Prince on Viu mashes palace intrigue and romantic comedy together in a royal period drama full of attractive young leads.

New Korean drama Under the Gun, starring SF9’s Zuho and Jo Soo-min, makes heavy use of poker symbolism, but is so far proving to be little more than a generic high-school romance.

Starring Kim Nam-joo, Cha Eun-woo, Kim Kang-woo and Im Se-mi, Wonderful World on Disney+ had its issues – including a meandering midsection and silly twists – but showed the power of a strong ending.

Ju Ji-hoon and Han Hyo-joo star in Blood Free on Disney+, a sci-fi series by writer Lee Soo-yeon that looks set to drop its interesting premise involving lab-cultured meat and global food production.

Kim Hye-yoon has appeared in 50 productions since her debut in 2013. We look back at her career, from her breakthrough parts to roles in hit K-dramas and films including SKY Castle, Midnight and Ditto.

Kim Hye-yoon and Byeon Woo-seok star as a woman confined to a wheelchair, and a K-pop idol who inspires her. Years later, they meet again and, after he commits suicide, she travels back in time.

Hugely popular Netflix K-drama stars Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won as country boy Baek Hyun-woo and his wife Hong Hae-in, an heiress who is diagnosed with a brain tumour.

The Glory actress Song Hye-kyo is in talks about a role in a series about the birth of broadcasting in Korea; Flex X Cop star Ahn Bo-hyun is mulling an offer to star in another period drama series.

This clunky Disney+ K-drama dud follows two friends (played by Lee Jae-wook and Lee Jun-young) who plot to take over a Korean corporation, and the woman (Hong Su-zu) who comes between them.

Netflix K-drama Parasyte: The Grey – directed by Train to Busan’s Yeon Sang-ho – stars Jeon So-nee as Jung Soo-in, who is infected by one of the ‘parasytes’ invading the Earth.

Jeon Jong-seo and Moon Sang-min star in Amazon Prime’s Wedding Impossible, a K-drama that begins with a focus on LGBTQ themes, only to abandon them and meander towards a hollow ending.

The Escape of the Seven: Resurrection, created by the writer and director behind Korean drama series The Penthouse and featuring many of the same stars, is highly watchable despite its absurdity.

April K-drama highlights include Parasyte: The Grey, an alien-invasion drama from Train to Busan’s director, Byeon Woo-seok in high-school fantasy romance Lovely Runner, and Goodbye Earth with Yoo Ah-in.

Beauty and Mr. Romantic stars Im Soo-hyang and Ji Hyun-woo – but begins during the childhoods of the characters they portray and reveals some big family secrets early on.

The pieces are falling into place for Kim Nam-woo and Cha Eun-woo by midseason in the Disney+ K-drama Wonderful World, which deals with how people approach grief and how it can affect them.

Korean filmmakers often turn to Japanese movies, manga and fiction for inspiration. From Oldboy to Josée and Little Forest, we pick our top 10 Korean film adaptations of Japanese originals.