A Must Watch 25 Best Asian Movies 2018

Last year felt like a quieter year for 2018 Asian movies, at least based on the films we ended up seeing that made their way overseas. Although this year brought many memorable film experiences from Asia, 2018 in Asian cinema will undoubtedly be remembered primarily for Many films. Shoplifters and Burning are both reportedly competing for a nomination at the Academy Awards in 2019 in the “Best Foreign Language Film category” and have been favorably shortlisted.

To get a better understanding of which best Asian movies 2018 impacted us this year, we’ve rounded up a few of our critics’ thoughts on their favorite films this year. However, things will turn in the latter half of 2017. Too much adulation, the hype surrounding new films by young filmmakers debuted on the main stage.

So as we move into the new year, we ask: which Asian films should you be keeping an eye on in 2018? Few movies may have opened in 2017, but we opted to add them because they circulated more in 2018. Without further doubt, here we listed the 25 top Asian movies 2018, in reverse order.

25- An Elephant Sitting Still

Directed by:     Hu Bo

Produced by:   Fu Dongyan

Cast:                Peng Yuchang, Zhang Yu

Release date:   February 16, 2018

Running time:  234 minutes

Box office:       $32,556 with unknown Budget

Ratings:           IMDb (7.8), Rotten Tomatoes (96%)

Why: This best Asian movie 2018 feels like its director hommage himself as a human being trying to cope with society. From the beginning of the film, one protagonist tells about the elephant in the Manzhouli; standing still, doing nothing even when people abuse it tells the audience about the film’s general tone: Depressing, existential, and pessimistic. Characters rarely look at each other while speaking; almost all the scenes are lit very poorly(intensely, of course), ugly cyan and green colors, brilliant compositions about the power relations. I think the movie is one of the best portrayals of suicide and major depression in cinema history.

Plot: In the northern Chinese city of Manzhouli, they say an elephant sits and ignores the world. Manzhouli is an addiction for the characters of this film, a long-desired diversion from the downward spiral they find themselves in. On the run after throwing Shuai down the stairs, Schoolboy Bu is among them who had been teasing him before. Ling, Bu’s classmate, broke away from her mother and fell for her teacher’s charms. Shuai’s older brother, Cheng, feels accountable for a brother’s death.

Finally, along with several other protagonists whose destinies are inextricably related to each other, there is Mr. Wang, a sprightly retiree whose son wishes to take him home. In virtuoso graphical compositions, the movie follows the story of one thrilling day from morning to night when the train to Manzhouli is expected to depart.

24- Ramen Shop (Eric Khoo, Japan)

Directed by:      Eric Khoo

Produced by:    Fong Cheng Tan

Cast:                 Takumi Saito, Jeanette Aw

Release date:   29 March 2018

Running time:  89 minutes

Box office:        Unknown

Ratings:            Rotten Tomatoes (88%)

Why: The story from top Asian movies 2018 examines the misery brought on others through means and attitudes brought on by wartime outcomes. This is like Crazy Rich Asians, minus the crazy rich, but a bit stretched out in time. A young cook leaves Japan for Singapore, the place of his early childhood, looking for his mother’s relatives, the mysteries of his mother’s diary, and home-bringing recipes. He learns along the way about the humble origins of the common noodles, the cuisine of Singapore, and the roots of his mother-in-hatred laws of his father. This is a movie for you if you like slow speed, emotions, and food.

Plot: In the town of Takasaki in Japan, “Masato” is a teenage ramen chef. After the untimely death of his emotionally detached father, his Singaporean mom, who passed when he was just ten years old, left behind a suitcase of memorabilia and a red notebook filled with musings and old pictures. Acting on a gut feeling, he takes off with the notebook for Singapore, aiming to piece together his life story and that of his parents. Masato learns that Madame Lee, his grandmother, is still alive and secret to his parents’ tender and tumultuous love story. In the kitchen, where their meals become more than just the sum of their ingredients, Masato and his grandmother attempt to cure each other’s shattered hearts and find redemption.

23- Champion 2018

Directed by:      Kim Yong-wan

Produced by:    Han Dong-hwan

Cast:                 Ma Dong-seok, Kwon Yul

Release date:    May 1, 2018

Running time:  108 minutes

Box office:        US$8.7M with Unknown

Ratings:           Rotten Tomatoes (89%)

Why: This is my favorite from best Asian movies 2018 starring Ma Dong-Seok. It’s the story of Mark, an orphan who returns to Korea from the US after his friend offers him to participate in arm wrestling competitions for making fortunes out of it. Meanwhile, he becomes close to the family of his widowed step-sister. His mother disowned him during his younger days due to she couldn’t afford to grow him up. She died a few years back. Mark participates in a national level arm wrestling contest and defeats Punch, the rival hired by a loan shark, the antagonist. Watch it if you like mind refreshing movies with inspiration. Strongly recommended & a must watch mind refreshing sports best Asian movie 2018.

Plot: The film says the Mark of adoption, a former arms wrestler who works as a bouncer currently. He is going to South Korea for a contest to find his mum, who gave him up as an infant for adoption. Mark discovers his true family through his friend, Jin-ki, only to discover that his mother has disappeared. And he meets his step-sister and her family, whom he was never sure of.

He understood what it meant to sense her agony of leaving him through his mother’s emails that he had come to read. Later, against his rivals, he wins the national tournament and, in the end, beats the adversary named Punch in the final. It was a wonderful job for Dong-Seok to play the superior arm-wrestling man. His natural success, though Kwon Yul was forced to play a clown-like con-artist, was actually credible.

22- Dead Souls (Wang Bing, China)

Directed by:     Wang Bing

Produced by:    Serge Lalou, Camille

Release date:   9 May 2018

Running time:  495 minutes

Box office:        Unknown

Ratings:            IMDb (8.1), Rotten Tomatoes (100%)

Why: Wang Bing’s film redefines what documentaries are all about. His long and thorough examination of people’s stories and people’s lives offers a unique new approach to the bond cinema should be forming with the viewer. Dead Souls is an Asian movie 2018 about lacking, about keeping the memory alive against all odds—highly recommended film.

Plot: But how do you get into “Dead Souls”? It takes some time, but not the same level of pressure, to, say, drive an overloaded funeral cart bearing a huge, full coffin up a hill and into a newly-dug grave. There is some crowd noise; it may either be the sound of fireworks bursting or a coffin’s noisy groans as it’s being sunk into the dirt. One way or another: what you see and what you know is what you get. So you certainly won’t be able to break into Dead Souls if you can’t push your ways in (or conceptually get in) at the start of this scene.

21- The Island 2018

Directed by:      Huang Bo

Cast:                 Huang Bo, Shu Qi

Release date:    10 August 2018

Running time:  134 minutes

Box office:        US$201 million with a unknown Budget

Ratings:            Rotten Tomatoes (100%)

Why: The Island is another film from 2018 Asian movies, with incredible special effects, and insightful storyline (and a really deep action film), which I can promise you won’t let you down. The running time’s too long, and the humor’s too broad, but the story takes some fascinating turns. After being shipwrecked on a deserted beach, an amusing if long drama about company staff breaking into opposing groups.

Plot: THE ISLAND -THE SYNOPSIS Enclosed in the cubicle of a military intelligence unit, Hamza, a colonel in the army, intercepts a conversation between an unknown terrorist and an agent transacting a business deal on weapons on sale. Triggered by the sheer optimism and anticipation to get the Intel to his commanding general, Hamza makes his life’s most surprising and scary revelation. Hamza decided to record and save the Intel in a flash drive, which he must not compromise.

Troubled by the Intel’s weight, Hamza shared his trouble with his wife and informed her of his intention to take the army headquarters’ flash drive first thing in the morning. On his way to the office the very next day, Hamza was tied up, shot, and injured by a special army unit. He now has the option of surrendering the hard drive and remaining alive or retaining it and dying. Hamza, however, knows better than making an alliance with the devil.

20- Drug War

Directed by:      Johnnie To

Produced by:    Wai Ka-Fai

Cast:                 Wai Ka-Fai, Yau Nai-hoi

Release date:    November 15, 2012

Running time:   105 minutes

Box office:        US$24,676,341 with unknown Budget

Ratings:           IMDb (7), Rotten Tomatoes (94%)

Why: The acting is excellent, and the main leads are my favorite. Honglei, a hardened narcotics cop, is collected, methodological, and intelligent. You can see he won his keep because, under those eyes, he did some insane things. It’s like the quiet before the hurricane, breaking loose quickly. One scene that you would believe he’s repented of, another scene that he would convince you. Superb comparison. The plot of these Asian movies 2018 is tight; the acts are neat-the shootout between the cops and the silent brothers, and the grand finale scene is a great-a brain and brawn fight.

Plot: Choi crashes his vehicle into a diner, escaping from a blast in his cocaine processing factory, and Captain Zhang Lei catches him as he revives. He distributes data on his superiors to survive, realizing that he will earn the death penalty for his crimes. Second, to become a dealer to Haha, who operates a port and can sell narcotics to other nations, he introduces Captain Zhang Lei as “Uncle Bill.”

Then Captain poses for the real “Uncle Bill” as Haha. Then Choi goes to his factory to greet his workers, two silent brothers. In his warehouse, Choi plants recording equipment, setting up both of them. Then, with the real Uncle Bill, they set up the real Haha. An attempt at the factory to apprehend the silent brothers fails, though and they escape into a secret tunnel. Captain Zhang is livid at Choi for hiding secret escape information, which has cost the lives of many members of the police team.

19- Angels Wear White (China)

Directed by:      Vivian Qu

Produced by:    Sean Chen

Cast:                 Vicky Chen, Zhou Meijun

Release date:    7 September 2017

Running time:  107 minutes

Box office:        Unknown

Ratings:            IMDb (7.2), Rotten Tomatoes (94%)

Why: This movie in the list of best Asian movies 2018 and Set in a Chinese seaside resort city, this powerful film has a lot to say, but it is not an easy watch and may break your heart at times. The scenes are realistically shot and depicted. The editing is fantastic, the pace is comfortable, and the audiences always wonder what would happen next. The music score is light but practical. Vivian Qu is even better than Kathryn Bigelow in terms of the depth and complexity of the film. The thriller exposes the dark side of Chinese society, where money and power control everything.

Plot: Mia, a teenager, works as a cleaner in a motel in a small seaside town. One night, while handling the reception for her co-worker Lili, she witnesses the sexual assault of two 12-year-old schoolgirls by a middle-aged man. She sees the man pushing himself into the girls’ room through the surveillance TV and captures the whole event with her cell phone. For afraid of ruining her job, Mia stays silent. For one of the victims, though, Xiaowen knows that her problems have only just started.

They must work together to find a path out as Mia and Xiaowen find themselves in ever-challenging situations and nowhere to escape. In order to break away from capital noise and tell a positive story softly, China needs certain films. The depiction of the elderly, middle-aged, and young women of three generations is believable and makes the storyline very normal. It is necessary to subtract just two points at the top. The turning point is too stiff. Another point was deducted because of the senseless lenses of literary and artistic films.

18- Manto (Nandita Das, India)

Directed by:      Nandita Das

Produced by:    Vikrant Batra

Cast:                 Nawazuddin, Tahir Raj Bhasin

Release date:   13 May 2018

Running time:  116 minutes

Box office:        ₹3.71 crore with Unknown Budget

Ratings:            IMDb (7.4), Rotten Tomatoes (74%)

Why: The excellent movie does not intrigue for the first 35 minutes in top Asian movies 2018 but takes off when Manto moves to Pakistan. The plot is brilliantly written and shows the hardships Manto had to undergo to talk about the realities of society; the dialogues contribute to the film’s charm. Not a lot of movie music, but they weren’t needed because good dialogs were enough to keep you interested in the movie. It was great to use the package and light when it brought you back to the 1940s. The film was great and worth watching, except for the first half an hour.

Plot: Bombay 1946: Saadat Hasan Manto, a very well short story novelist, works as a scriptwriter in the sparkling world of the Bombay film industry, during the independence struggle against the British Empire and the advance warning of India being partitioned. While Manto has a close connection with the Group of Progressive Authors, his close associates, such as the feminist writer Ismat Chughtai, are many of its founders. Inside the film industry, Manto has many adoring fans and friends.

Lahore, 1948: Manto’s new home has become a haunting town full of immigrants, cursed land, and burned houses. He is left dealing with a rising sense of alienation and a profound sense of betrayal. He spirals into a state of constant excessive drinking as he tries to come to grips with his current life. Though Safia stands firm by him, the tension starts to be felt in their marriage.

17- Kids on the Slope (Japan)

Directed by:      Takahiro Miki

Release date:    10 March 2018

Running time:   120 minutes

Box office:         unknown

Ratings:            IMDb (6.9)

Why: This movie is suitable for a lovely Sunday afternoon in the top Asian movies 2018 List. Have lots of cliches to say the tale and continue to reflect on the creativity and warmth of the ’60s. The tale helps you to experience sadness; in real life, you know what the story reveals is happening a lot. The artists appear to be able to play the music, but the acting isn’t really spot on. The girl is more compelling than her associates are. The film is imaginative and is ranked the best.

Plot: The core concept of the best Asian movie 2018 is essentially the friendship between the three main characters and how they are brought together by Jazz. The title’ children on the slope ‘refer to their high school, which is very tiring for them, being placed on top of a hill where they have to up and down the steep slope each day. The two boys come from dysfunctional homes, and their primary outlet is music. There are love triangles along the way, rectangles of love, miscommunication, family conflicts, etc.

The ‘hooligan’ is a good man at heart, and some remind me of the Lord of the Rings’ Frodo Baggins! His height, his manner of speech, and his looks. I like this film:-the film is set in the late 1960s-and all the love that goes with it-old record shops, computers, cassette record players, antique vehicles, etc.

16- Burning (South Korea)

Directed by:      Lee Chang-dong

Produced by:    Lee Joon-dong

Cast:                 Yoo Ah-in, Steven Yeun

Release date:   May 17, 2018

Running time:  148 minutes

Box office:        US$8.1M

Ratings:            IMDb (7.5), Rotten Tomatoes (95%)

Why: Asian movies 2018 quality this picture, the camera shots are incredible; some of the film’s scenery is beautiful. The plot unfolds slowly and in an almost tense slow build-up; there are some interesting conversations and interactions along the way. The ending is ironic in a good sense; there’s an uneasy feeling throughout the picture that keeps the viewer wanting to keep watching to see where it’s going, which is very well done. The music and soundtrack are amazing; apparently, it’s based on a short story; you should check this movie out; it’s worth your time.

Plot: After Ben mentions that he burns down an abandoned greenhouse about every two months and that he’s planning on burning one very close to Jong-su’s home, Jong-Su starts to pay attention to likely targets around him. Then he loses connection with Hae-mi’s and tries to search for her. Her luggage is surprisingly neat and clean in the flat, but her cat, fed several times by Jong-su but never seen, has disappeared, too. Ben, who is dating a new girl who works in retail, is approached by Jong-su and says Hae-mi has not answered his calls yet. When figuring out more about Hae-mi, Jong-su continues to stalk Ben through different leads he chases—did she make up a story or not?

15- Blood of the Wolves (Kazuya Shiraishi, Japan)

Directed by:      Kazuya Shiraishi

Produced by:    Kazuto Amano

Cast:                 Kōji Yakusho, Tori Matsuzaka

Release date:   May 12, 2018

Running time:  126 minutes

Box office:        $3.8M with Unknown Budget

Ratings:           IMDb (7.1), Rotten Tomatoes (100%)

Why: I would describe this movie as a top Asian movie 2018 noir with an 80’s aesthetic, which is a pretty cool mix. The story reminded me of Training Day at times. There is plenty of gore and some very funny moments, but it should have been more imaginative with the overall storyline. It’s just a standard Yakuza tale of two rival gangs seeking to avert a fight with police in the center. Nothing new.

Plot: The tale revolves across Ogami Shogo, a violent, non-conformist, lone wolf police officer, and Hioka Shuichi, his conformist, intelligent, and naive girlfriend. They are investigating an accountant’s missing in the late eighties. The accountant soon turned out to be interested in a yakuza clan and attempted to rob money.

To investigate, he uses abuse, coercion, and contacts, whilst his partner is stunned by those mechanisms and therefore attempts to see that his partner is suspended. However, to avert a battle between two yakuza gangs to figure out what happened to the gang accountant, the odd team would soon need to collaborate.

14- Mirai of the Future (Japan)

Directed by:      Mamoru Hosoda

Produced by:    Nozomu Takahashi

Cast:                 Moka Kamishiraishi, Haru Kuroki

Release date:    May 16, 2018

Running time:   98 minutes

Box office:        $28.4M with unknown Budget

Ratings:           IMDb (7), Rotten Tomatoes (90%)

Why: This is easily one of the best Asian movies 2018 I have ever seen. It shows a purpose to one’s life and shows what goes on in a kids’ mind; it also teaches that you shouldn’t be upset when your parents pay more attention to your younger sibling because it will make things worse. But if you can wait, it can cause great memories, and it will be easier to live a happy life from then on. Overall, this movie was indeed a piece of art and will quickly go down as a legendary story.

Plot: It was one of the Great anime/Asian movies 2018 when I first saw it! It is about a boy who felt left out when his new baby sister Mirai came into the family. At first, he was excited to hear that his mom was having a baby but became jealous when he discovered his new baby sibling was a girl. He was furious and alone because Mirai got all the attention. He was only a four year old, and he could not do anything about it.

Mirai was only a baby and needed his mom and dad to take care of her, and she got most of her parent’s attentiveness, so it was hard for Kun to be noticed most of the time. So from that day on, he promised to take care of Mirai in any way he could.

13- Believer 2018

Directed by:      Lee Hae-young

Produced by:     Jung Hee-soon

Cast:                  Cho Jin-woong, Ryu Jun-yeol

Release date:    May 22, 2018

Running time:  123 minutes

Box office:        US$39.2M with unknown Budget

Ratings:           Rotten Tomatoes (83%)

Why: I’m very impressed with this South Korean crime action film and Asian movie 2018, BELIEVER.  Ranging from action to twists to performances to background score: Wonderful performances were effectively collected from the cast by the director. It’s the performance that makes me even doubt if it’s the best crime adventure movie I’ve ever seen. The film holds its ground on the technical front.

Plot:  The tale centers around the enigmatic leader of the Mister Lee drug cartel, whose identity remains unknown. Reckless police officer Won-ho has been working for years to track and arrest Mister Lee. His teenage mule was brutally murdered, and an acquaintance of Mister Lee, who was able to cooperate, was accidentally poisoned. The victim of a drug laboratory accident, named Rak, who lost his mother in the incident, is the last hope. When the Chinese Korean drug dealer, Won-ho impersonates, tries to strike and when a high-ranking leader of the cartel plans to overthrow Mister Lee, things take a turn for the worse.

12- The Seen and Unseen (Indonesia)

Directed by:      Kamila Andini

Cast:                  Thaly Titi Kasih

Box office:        with a total Budget of

Ratings:            Rotten Tomatoes (100%)

Why: These types of best Asian movies 2018 will survive its gripping film ingenuity and its intense portrayal of culture and profound humanity, whatever the future of ‘cinema,.’ Writing and direction are sublime in creativity and extraordinarily polished in execution. Best Feature Fiction film at Adelaide Film festival 2018, Crystal Bear at Berlin. A nod to the Doha Film Institute for its support of outstanding film achievement. See it in a dark cinema room, not on television, and you will be amazed.

Plot: Andini conveys a dreamlike childhood story in The Seen and the Unseen that indicates the presence of Indonesian director Apichatpong, whose death and rebirth films exist on the objective and metaphysical boundary realms. The film examines the influence of tradition, childhood honesty, and the emotional intensity needed to deal with trauma.

The film opens as Tantra is transferred to a hospital bed as sister Tantri and mum, exposed to be struggling from a brain tumor that eventually shuts down his body. We see the twins running around the fields in a flashback, planting rice, and Tantra supplying Tantri with eggs to fry. While she doesn’t like egg yolks and hates whites, Tantri extracts a boiled egg in a scene that seems to foretell the future, but there’s no yolk within.

11- The Night Comes For Us (Timo Tjahjanto, Indonesia)

Directed by:     Timo Tjahjanto

Produced by:   Nick Spicer

Cast:                Joe Taslim, Iko Uwais

Release date:   19 October 2018

Running time:  121 minutes

Ratings:           IMDb (7), Rotten Tomatoes (91%)

Why: That was one immense carnage from start to finish! The Night Comes for Us is undoubtedly the best Asian movie 2018 for action fans who crave gory fights that don’t hold back in blood and tension. The plot is indeed pretty good, but action being its biggest highlight means you can enjoy it for that and that alone. We also get impressive performances from nearly all the actors, and the cinematography too is top-notch. As a hardcore action buff, I enjoyed the film and can easily recommend it to others who like the genre and aren’t easily turned off by gore and its variants.

Plot: For all the bad things he did, “Ito” finds revenge by rescuing a young lady, Reina, from his hit team. Ito gets himself hunted by the top killers of the trinity, including Raid star Iko Uwais as his old pal Arian, Julie Estelle as a motorcycle-riding assassin, and a couple of lesbian hit-women after having gunned down his men and escaping with the girl. As Ito struggles to defend Reina, helped by his faithful mates, audiences are exposed to all sorts of gruesome violence: bodies are battered and mutilated, throats are slashed, and bones are broken.

10- OCTOBER (Hindi)

Directed by:      Shoojit Sircar

Produced by:    Ronnie Lahiri

Cast:                 Varun Dhawan, Banita Sandhu

Release date:   13 April 2018

Running time:  115 minutes

Box office:        ₹58.41C with a total Budget of ₹33 C

Ratings:            IMDb (7.5), Rotten Tomatoes (91%)

Why: It has sheer brilliance in almost every part, from performances of each character to cinematography. And without any doubt, the ultimate direction of Shoojit Sircar who displays immense grip of fractions of human emotions and tell them without being loud, with impeccable subtlety. It’s a love story without using the word love in the entire 2018 Asian movies, telling you what love means.

Plot: “Dan” is living the life of every 21-year-old carefree, rotating around several peers and fellow hotel volunteers who live off the regular moments, their ups and downs, of each other. One such internship girl at the very same hotel is Shiuli, who is often at the winning end of Dan’s audacity. Life goes on until a sudden turn of events smashes Dan and Shiuli’s lives together into a bond that’s unlike any 21-year-olds. The interpersonal bond between them went through a transformation that brings forth a sort of passion that inevitably leads to an internal transformation that is unlike anything.

9- Little Forest (South Korea)

Directed by:     Yim Soon-rye

Produced by:    Jenna Ku

Cast:                 Kim Tae-ri, Ryu Jun-yeol

Release date:   February 28, 2018

Running time:  103 minutes

Box office:        US$11.1M with a total Budget of US$1.4M

Ratings:           IMDb (7.1), Rotten Tomatoes (88%), Metacritic (%)

Why: This best Asian movie 2018, was beautiful in a simple, realistic type of way. It was fascinating watching the lifestyle of someone incredibly deep in the countryside. These types of Asian movies 2018 is definitely for a specific audience who knows full well the type of movies they’re getting themselves into, but this might become a favorite for that audience.

Plot: Song Hye-won returns to her family’s home in rural South Korea from Seoul. She had left the house to get a diploma from a teacher and to avoid her slow-moving lifestyle. Her mother left home before going to college with Hye-won. The father had already died. Agricultural labor and almost gourmet cooking were some of the items Hye-won learned growing up.

The most beautiful dishes were often cooked by her mother, and as Hye-won grew up, she decided to outdo her mother’s talents. Two friends from her hometown are renewing their ties to her. Joo Eun-sook is her best girlfriend who stayed in a small town and worked at a bank. Ki-Joo yearns to escape what she sees as a dull existence.

8- Killing 2018

Directed by:      Shinya Tsukamoto

Cast:                  Sosuke Ikematsu, Yū Aoi

Release date:    7 September 2018

Running time:  80 minutes

Box office:        Unknown

Ratings:            Rotten Tomatoes (100%)

Why: Killing is a compact best Asian movie 2018 that takes advantage of natural light’s elegance and clear settings and dialogue. It’s an outstanding solution to all the CGI that seems to be dominating the movies these days. I truly appreciated the chance to appreciate the elemental rhythm of drumbeats and precipitation, the splendor of flames, sparkling steel, swirling clouds, and Japan’s mist-filled and enigmatic cedar forests.

Plot: Tzuzuki is a Ronin, a knights-errant samurai living throughout the mid-19th century at the end of the longtime of peace, leaving such swordsmen surplus to Japanese culture. He appears to be happier roaming, helping farmers to trade food, but in Edo, the trouble is stirring, and he knows that he has to go there – it’s uncertain if it’s out of obligation or out of hope for his future. A typical conflict between ambition and responsibility, modernity, and custom appears to set us up for this. Still, when a few tough-guy raiders arrive in the village, the film takes a startling turn, and Tzuzuki is struck with a fever, implying he has to stay longer.

7- THE GREAT BUDDHA+

Directed by:      Huang Hsin-yao

Produced by:    Yeh Ju-feng

Cast:                 Cres Chuang, Bamboo Chen

Release date:    June 29, 2017

Running time:   104 minutes

Box office:        NT$28.4M with Unknown Budget

Ratings:            IMDb (7.6), Rotten Tomatoes (89%)

Why: The idea of the way of telling is novel in these top Asian movies 2018, but not limited to the novelty itself. This film may be seen to be a great illustration of a nonlinear narrative plot, from the humorous bystander viewpoint to the unpredictable subjective emotion release. A series of technological additions contribute to the story’s complexity and make the tone of the film more touching, along with the pioneering, not gritty imagery and important original music.

Plot: In this movie, the “Buddha” created personifies absurdity and the false faith of Taiwan’s Buddhism. It’s just a religion of making money; some monks used Buddha to earn a living; some politicians have only used this to trick Sitting Guy and win votes. In Taiwan, China, and South-east Asia, Buddhism is too shamefully commercially viable.

The voice of The Narrative also made this film a not completely serious one, only in an excessively used way of telling a not-so-interesting plot. This way of storytelling is also commonly seen in Korean films.

6- Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds (2017)

Directed by:      Kim Yong-hwa

Produced by:    Won Dong-yeon

Cast:                 Ha Jung-woo, Cha Tae-hyun

Release date:    20 December 2017

Running time:   140 minutes

Box office:        US$108.2M with a total Budget of US$18.3M

Ratings:            IMDb (7.3)

Why: This is a fantastic film in the list of best Asian movies 2018. The screenplay was phenomenal. I thought, before watching this movie, that it might be a child’s play. Throughout the movie, it made you feel complete with a sense of belonging. This action/fantasy story grabs you from the start and keeps you on a ride until the end. This movie weaves themes of loyalty, family, love, betrayal, and forgiveness. It will hook you; then you’ll want to watch another!

Plot: As firefighter Kim Ja-hong dies in a building fire during a rescue mission, his companions escort him to the afterlife. They clarify that they will protect him for forty-nine days in seven courts of seven gods in seven hells to reveal how he has wasted his life. If his defenders are successful in their defense, Ja-hong, a model citizen, will be reincarnated. Meanwhile, in Ja-relationship, hong’s the prosecutor’s notice issues, and the revelations surprise his mother and aunt, and Haewonmaek and Dukchoon. Can the life of Ja-hong be saved?

5- Ash Is Purest White

Directed by:       Jia Zhangke

Cast:                  Zhao Tao, Liao Fan

Release date:    11 May 2018

Running time:   136 minutes

Box office:         $12M with Unknown Budget

Ratings:            IMDb (6.9), Rotten Tomatoes (99%)

Why: The best Asian movie 2018 portrays this is beautiful, like the stunning shots of the 3 Gorges area before being flooded by a huge hydroelectric dam and the faces of lost-looking displaced refugees. The way the story unfolds, how the OG’s petty crime in the film and their gangster code of honor is swallowed. The acting is superb, especially Zhao Tao, as Qiao, a woman strong enough to fight for herself and survive, but not to rise above the cruel circumstances that clash with the beauty, in every way, of her character.

Plot: The very first section of the tale of their rise and fall takes place in the early 2000s. With the selection and visual effects, it is the most exciting, even though it follows a mostly usual trajectory. Several years later, we pick up the plot, and the couple is separated. ASH is a long film (136 minutes), not just in terms of length but also in spite of how the script unfolds over the past 17 years. The acting and the info are spots on, but after the dazzling opening segment, the plot drags. Some of this is unquestionably by design; nevertheless, ASH is an example of a film having so many simple ends that one loses attention rather than gains it.

4- Shoplifters (Hirokazu Koreeda, Japan)

Directed by:      Hirokazu Kore-eda

Produced by:    Matsuzaki Kaoru

Cast:                 Lily Franky, Sakura Ando

Release date:   13 May 2018

Running time:  121 minutes

Box office:        $76.9M with unknown Budget

Ratings:           IMDb (7.9), Rotten Tomatoes (99%)

Why: Shoplifters tell a touching tale that evokes so many feelings. It’s doing it well, it’s seemingly simplistic at first glance, yet it’s too complex to the point that you’d catch yourself anticipating a clear, ideally happy ending. This Asian movie 2018, however, adheres to realism and, with such elegance, dismantles social standards to the point that it gives a new glimpse into a world unfamiliar to most, where people pine for family love. The acting here is marvelous; it’s more of a team effort as every character completes another and ultimately forms an arc that brilliantly tells the story.

Plot: Shoplifters” portrays the lives of an improvised “family” living underneath an unidentified Japanese city. The elders scrape through low-security, low-paid jobs, the grandmother has small retirement savings, and the children are vagabonds. They get by in a noisy, ramshackle brownstone, and the two children are busy checking up the small shoplifting strategies from the adults.

We are increasingly discovering that almost none of them are related; they have selected each other carelessly to live a little beyond the margins of normal society within a system. They still feel solid relationships in their adventures, informed by a long series of brief vignette scenes, but that their “family” is formed, not by blood, but by the relentless compassion they display towards each other. In the fringes, they live; however, they love and are cherished.

3- Dying to Survive

Directed by:      Wen Muye

Produced by:    Ning Hao

Cast:                 Xu Zheng, Zhou Yiwei

Release date:   June 19, 2018

Running time:  117 minutes

Box office:        $453M with a total Budget of $10.9M

Ratings:           IMDb (7.9), Rotten Tomatoes (86%)

Why: It brings a fresh perspective on the sometimes overplayed trope of the morally lacking protagonist who has a change of heart. The movie’s heavy subject does not stop it from being enjoyable and humorous. If there were one thing I didn’t like about the Asian movie 2018, it would be its predictability. While it does have a different tone than movies with a similar plot, it still follows the trope I mentioned before. Honestly, though, this does not take much away from the enjoyment of the watching experience.

Plot: A peddler of aphrodisiacs, Cheng Yong, is in severe debt. For a long time, his shop hasn’t been generating revenue, and his dad desperately wants a huge amount of money for major surgery. A man wearing heavy layers of surgical masks comes to his store one day. In exchange for a big amount of money, he wants Cheng to get in a cheap drug from India. The Swiss drug Imatinib is very expensive due to patent rights, and most leukemia victims in China cannot buy it.

Cheng, looking for cash, decides to risk the drug being smuggled into China. Cheng becomes rich when more persistent myelogenous leukemia patients begin to buy medications from him. Around the same time, when the originator corporation Novartis prosecuted the Indian government for violation of its patent, Chinese police discovered the existence of the Geliening contraband and threatened to clamp down on the unlicensed prescription product.

2- ANDHADHUN (India)

Directed by:      Sriram Raghavan

Produced by:    Sudhanshu Vats

Cast:                 Tabu, Ayushmann

Release date:    5 October 2018

Running time:   138 minutes

Box office:        US$64M with Unknown Budget

Ratings:            IMDb (8.3), Rotten Tomatoes (100%)

Why: Want to watch an edge of seat thriller film that will land surprise after surprise in every scene continuously till the end? Very crisp storytelling, slick editing, eye-catching photography, superb acting by characters give a beautiful must-see thriller of the first kind. Though the movie is an inspiration from the French Short Film, Piano Tuner Undoubtedly won critics’ appreciation and won awards. Thriller of a different kind, which requires must watching rag. Just relax and watch, and you will undoubtedly enjoy it.

Plot: The story revolves around the life of pianist Ayushmann Khurrana who imbibes faked blindness. That’s his way of getting into the skin of a musician. After all, he is an artist! A chance encounter with actor Pramod brings Ayushmann to his house where his budding actress wife Tabu, along with her boyfriend, commits a crime.

In the false belief that he can’t see, they take Ayushmann very lightly, eventually becoming a thorn for them. One crime leads to the other and another, and another is yet making things very complicated and intertwined. A thriller film’s soul is “script,” and unfortunately, that’s the weakest link in Andhadhun. Beyond a point, happenings become predictable, staid & uninteresting. 

1- Long Day’s Journey Into Night (China)

Directed by:      Bi Gan

Produced by:     Shan Zuolong

Cast:                 Tang Wei, Huang Jue

Release date:    15 May 2018

Running time:   138 minutes

Box office:         $42.1M with unknown Budget

Ratings:            Rotten Tomatoes (93%)

Why: I feel very fortunate to have seen these best Asian movies in 2018; generally, we only screen Popcorn Films in China, but never Art films. A long time ago, when I noticed out such a Chinese movie was challenging for the 2018 Cannes Un Certain Regard, I heard about the movie “Long Day’s Journey Into Night !” Words can’t explain what this movie is like or how amazing it is; I can’t do it with words, at least for me, but I guess that proves how fantastic this movie is. The best acting and screenplay is fantastic, which leads this top-rated no 1 in the list of movies.

Plot: Long Day’s Journey follows the story of Luo Hongwu, a grumpy loner, a man plagued by his history. He encountered and had a short but unforgettable link with the enigmatic Wan Qiwen in 2000, whom he was never able to forget. He begins about attempting to track down Qiwen when he comes to his home town of Kaili to bury his father, as the tale of their relationship is revealed through flashbacks.

It quickly becomes obvious, though, that because Lou recalls an event doesn’t actually mean that that situation occurred. He puts on a pair of 3D glasses as his quest takes him to a dingy movie theater and discovers himself in an abandoned mine from which his only chance of survival is to win a ping pong game. In his fantasy world, the remainder of the film was shot.

Conclusion

Asia becomes a top continent in the production of the best movies. These Asian countries’ creatures enjoy popularity in cinema, TV, and other popular media. This article by Zain Mumtaz Summaries the 25 best Asian movies of 2018. Although Asian movies’ interest seemed to have been going down everywhere, India and Korea are going high even now. I hope you are amazed and got the best Asian movies 2018 you are looking for.

Also Check the blog on 20 Best Korean Movies 2018 To Watch In Covid-19.