Television series
Happiness
Other titles called Happiness: the 1998 film.
- Thriller
- Dystopian sci-fi
- Very dark
A South Korean thriller about class conflict and survival when a mysterious plague turns people into raging zombies. Set in a luxury apartment complex during societal collapse, it uses genre spectacle to examine who gets saved and who gets left behind. Sharp, propulsive, and genuinely unsettling.
If you liked this
All of Us Are Dead2022
A similarly stylish Korean zombie series that balances intimate character drama with visceral action. Trapped in a school rather than an apartment, but the same themes of survival and sacrifice resonate with devastating force.
But Spreads across twelve episodes what could hit harder in six. Some viewers find the middle section slow and the emotional beats repetitive.
Train to Busan2016
The gold standard for zombie cinema using contagion as a lens for class and selfishness. Director Yeon Sang-ho brings the same muscular storytelling and moral clarity, executed with genuine blockbuster craft.
But The final act becomes more sentimental than you might want. If you need your apocalypse bleak and uncompromising, this softens slightly.
Squid Game2021
Another Korean series about survival and class hierarchy, shot with cinematic precision. The central questions—who deserves to live, what will you sacrifice—are the same, even if the setting couldn't be more different.
But Massively hyped and occasionally lets that hype inflate its own importance. The ending divides people sharply on whether it earned its ambition.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Happiness
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Snowpiercer2020
Both use a contained vertical space to make class distinction physical and visual, turning metaphor into literal geography.
A series that literalizes class hierarchy—literally stacking the wealthy above the poor on a train hurtling through apocalypse. The same engine as Happiness: spectacle built entirely from resentment and scarcity. Increasingly wild and formally inventive.
But As it progresses, it sacrifices plausibility for theme, which some see as visionary and others as indulgent. The show knows it's ridiculous and sometimes that's the point.
More like this (7)
Sweet Home2020
A Korean survival horror series where apartment dwellers barricade themselves against monsters outside. Visually inventive, emotionally raw, and genuinely claustrophobic in the best way.
But Cancellation means the story doesn't resolve. That matters more in a show this serialized. Some find the later episodes gratuitously dark.
The Last of Us2023
A prestige zombie drama that treats infected and survivors with equal weight. Builds intimate character moments between set pieces; every episode justifies its runtime.
But The relentless tone and subject matter will exhaust you. It's made for deep attention, not casual viewing. Some episodes move slowly.
Extracurricular2020
A Korean thriller about ordinary people pushed into extraordinary criminal circumstances. The same claustrophobic dread and moral degradation, though the threat here is human, not viral.
But Difficult subject matter involving exploitation. The protagonist is not likeable and the series doesn't ask you to root for him.
#Alive2020
A Korean pandemic thriller that confines most of its runtime to a single apartment. Stripped down and psychologically astute about isolation and the will to survive.
But Very constrained setting means the plot hits limited beats. If you need scope or multiple storylines, you'll feel the limitations.
The Platform2019
A Spanish dystopian film using a vertical setting to visualize class hierarchy with literal brutality. Nightmarish, angry, and visually distinctive in ways that linger.
But Extremely bleak and sometimes heavy-handed with its metaphors. The tone never lightens and the violence is matter-of-fact rather than cathartic.
Pontypool2009
Both explore contagion as metaphor for social breakdown, but Pontypool uses it linguistically and philosophically rather than physically.
A Canadian thriller where language itself becomes the vector of infection. A radio journalist locked in a station discovers the plague spreads through words, not blood. Cerebral and creeping, it finds horror in communication breaking down.
But Almost entirely dialogue and static imagery. If you need action or visual spectacle, this is a deliberate rejection of those things. Slow-burn to the point of patience-testing.
Parasite2019
Both build toward explosive violence through careful examination of space, economics, and the ways proximity to wealth corrupts and dooms.
A class thriller that culminates in literal apocalypse, set partly in an apartment. Director Bong Joon-ho uses the same architectural and social anxiety, though the tone is darker comedy than action. Essential viewing for understanding Korean cinema's obsession with hierarchy made visible.
But A masterpiece everyone's already seen. Also quite long and shifts genre several times, which some find structurally messy rather than brilliant.
