Cinema guides
What the box office numbers do not tell you: how a Korean cinema ticket works, which films you will be able to follow, and how the ratings and the charts are put together.
Going to the cinema in Korea: what a ticket actually gets you
Reserved seats, time-based pricing, ten minutes of advertising and a format war nobody explains. How a Korean cinema visit differs from the one you are used to.
자막 or 더빙: working out whether you will understand the film
Korean cinemas subtitle foreign films rather than dubbing them, which is good news — until the film is Korean, or animated. The rules, and the two words that tell you which screening you booked.
How to read a Korean box office chart
Korea counts admissions, not dollars, and the whole industry talks in tickets sold. What the numbers mean, why ten million is the number that matters, and what a 'diversity film' is.
Korean film ratings, and which ones are actually checked
Five ratings, administered by a government board, printed on every ticket. What each one permits, which one requires your passport, and what the rating does not tell you.
How to actually watch a Korean film with English subtitles
Regular screenings will not help you. Film festivals, the national archive and a well-stocked YouTube channel will — here is how each of them works.