One has rewritten decades of box office history while the other has reinvented the zombie genre, receiving a roaring standing ovation at Cannes 2026.
Stills from ‘Salmokji: Whispering Water’ (left) and ‘Colony’ (right). Photo courtesy of Han Cinema.
Director Lee Sang-min’s Salmokji: Whispering Water has officially broken a decades-old box office record in South Korea. The creepy folk-horror film has beaten the viewing record of director Kim Ji-woon’s legendary 2003 masterpiece, A Tale of Two Sisters, by drawing in over 3.15 million moviegoers, taking the number-one spot as South Korea’s all-time biggest domestic horror film and shattering a record that stood untouched for more than two decades.
This win cements K-horror’s status as one of the best exports of Korean cinema. For years, South Korea has built a formidable legacy of horror filmmaking that moves beyond cheap jump scares, gravitating instead toward stories steeped in psychological tension, local folklore, and human emotion. Whether it was the jittery unease of the Whispering Corridors franchise (1998) or the techno-paranoia haunting Phone (2002), K-horror has consistently found unexpected ways to leave audiences on the edge of their seats. Over time, the genre has only grown creepier, with films as brutal as Bedevilled (2010), as dark and twisted as I Saw the Devil (2010), and as unsettling as The Wailing (2016). The momentum has continued with titles like Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018), Exhuma (2024), and now Salmokji: Whispering Water.
The plot is inspired by the spooky local rumors about the Salmokji Reservoir in Yesan County, South Korea. It follows a media crew led by Kim Hye-yoon’s Han Su-in, who is sent to the remote water site to reshoot footage of the area after their initial recordings get ruined by bizarre visual distortions. But when they review the new tape, a chilling figure is caught on screen, setting off a chain reaction that quickly spirals into a literal nightmare when they realize there’s more to Salmokji than meets the eye.
Since its theatrical release on Apr. 8, 2026 Salmokji has held a number one spot at the domestic box office for weeks, effortlessly fending off the period film The King’s Warden starring Park Ji-hoon and even the Hollywood movie Project Hail Mary starring Ryan Gosling in the fray. Audiences have raved about its moody atmosphere and the way it crafts a suffocating, slow-burning terror using the natural imagery of water and the invisible feeling of being watched. It crossed the two million mark in just a few weeks and blew right past its break-even point with ease. According to The Korea Herald, the hype has escalated to the point where people are flocking to the actual reservoir in Yesan, even during late-night hours.
The film is Lee Sang-min’s directorial debut, and so breaking A Tale of Two Sisters’ record is certainly a major win. The latter is renowned for its gothic aesthetic, spectral music, and, above all, its legendary plot twist. Salmokji, though, proved more adept at making horror feel relatable, leaving behind the classic haunted house setup and instead drawing on fears we might face in our own lives, such as the everyday anxieties of navigating the online world.
This historic milestone was only the beginning of what’s turning into a pretty great year for Korean horror on the global stage, with the spotlight now shifting to France. Acclaimed director Yeon Sang-ho — who reinvented global zombie cinema ten years ago with Train to Busan (2016) — has returned to his roots with his new offering, Colony. This highly anticipated sci-fi action-horror film recently had its world premiere in the prestigious Midnight Screenings section at the 79th Cannes Film Festival (May 12 – May 23, 2026). Starring a stellar cast led by Hallyu superstars Jun Ji-hyun and Ji Chang-wook, alongside Koo Kyo-hwan, Kim Shin-rok, Shin Hyun-been, and Go Soo, it received a massive reception at the Grand Théâtre Lumière.
After watching the film, the theater erupted into a five-minute-long standing ovation, which only signals that people around the world appreciate the incredibly high-concept genre films that Asia is known for. Speaking about this overwhelming response, director Yeon Sang-ho said, “The passionate support from the audience will remain a memory I cherish for a very long time,” as reported by The Korea Times.
Colony traps a group of survivors inside a sealed, high-rise biotechnology facility after a rapidly mutating virus is unleashed during an industry conference. What wowed the Cannes crowd is how Yeon has rewritten the zombie genre. The infected in Colony aren’t just hungry, mindless creatures; they are also a very organized pack following the orders of a leader. It reflects our growing fears today, like the rise of artificial intelligence, toxic online mobs, and how quickly society can break down in an emergency.
And that’s what makes all the difference. By grounding fear in something painfully human, both Salmokji and Colony remind us that the most terrifying stories are often the ones that hit a little too close to home.