The 2018 seriesSky Castlebecame a phenomenon in theK-dramaspace, giving audiences a perfect version of the soapy melodrama that is so integral to the genre. Set in an elite neighborhood in Seoul, the series followed a group of ambitious, driven housewives as they did everything in their power to score the best college admissions for their children.
The show executed the idea marvelously, with intriguing characters and balanced plotlines that gave the perfect dash of drama with comedy, throwing in all the exciting K-drama elements, like secret backstories and the like. What’s more, the inclusion of genuinely kind-hearted characters allowed the show to also advocate for better parenting, without taking away from the heart of the series.
The addictive combination madeSky Castlethe highest-rated Korean TV series of all time upon its release (perSoompi). It’s the kind of entertainment that showcases all the fun elements of K-drama without getting tiring. So, here are 10 K-dramas likeSky Castlefor you to watch next.
10The Penthouse: War in Life (2020-2021)
The Penthouse: War in Lifecomes first in this list, as it has a nearly identical premise toSky Castle. This K-drama, too, is set in an elite apartment complex, and follows its families as they secretly compete with each other for higher social standing, and better prospects for their children’s education. But whileSky Castleinvolves career aspirations in medicine, the leading characters inThe Penthousecompete to get their children into the prestigious Cheong-ah Arts School.
How It’s Like Sky Castle
The Penthouseis a perfect recommendation if you enjoyed the themes ofSky Castle, but wanted a bit more flair and drama.Sky Castlecan come as a surprise for casual K-drama viewers with how conventional it looks. In contrast,The Penthousehas no shortage of melodrama, withdramatic plot twists, familial secrets, and murder all figuring into the plot in major ways.Stream on Netflix
9The World of the Married (2020)
The World of The Married
The World of the Marriedwas the series that brokeSky Castle’s record to become the highest-rated drama in Korean TV history. As the title states, this K-drama focuses on marriages instead of toxic parenting. The series stars Kim Hee-ae as a successful doctor and associate director at a hospital, in a happy marriage for more than a decade. Her picture-perfect married life is shattered in an instant one day when she discovers that her husband has been cheating on her.
What follows is an unflinching character drama exploring the repercussions of infidelity, and how it destroys everyone involved.The World of the Marriedis unlike any other K-drama, and is an engrossing cinematic experience that is a must-watch for everyone. While it offers an excellent depiction of the typical K-drama thrills, it is so much more than that, taking the time to explore its story from every side of the equation. There is the gratifyingdrama of revenge, but also the most incisive exploration of various character interrelations, and how their motivations express themselves in the most dysfunctional acts.
A major aspect that makesSky Castleso fun is that it expertly blends humor into the mix to keep things light. However,The World of the Marriedis completely devoid of any lighthearted tone; in fact, it will keep you in a constant state of frustration as it outdoes one terrible development with another that’s even worse. With flawed and toxic characters making appearances at every turn, it will give you an amped-up thrill of the social machinations that are so instrumental to the plot ofSky Castle.Stream on Netflix
8Green Mothers’ Club (2022)
Green Mothers’ Clubmoves the mothers’ rivalry from elite neighborhoods to the playground of a competitive elementary school. This series follows the lives of five mothers who have a working relationship as parent volunteers at their children’s elementary school. In between various volunteering duties at the school, each parent secretly wishes to be seen as the best and most successful.
Like any Korean drama, secrets abound, and some even seem too over-the-top, considering that much of the series takes place in an elementary school. But it all makes for great casual entertainment if you’re interested in a show likeSky Castleset in more everyday settings.
Green Mothers’ Clubis a perfect show for you to watch if your favorite part aboutSky Castlewas Seung-hye’s character arc as a mother who learns to become a better parent. This series starts with all the elements of a rivalry drama — dark secrets, elaborate backstories, and even a murder — however, it gradually grows to take on a more wholesome direction as the mothers inspire each other to become better mothers, moving away from the extreme pressure that they put on their children to succeed.Stream on Netflix
7High Class (2021)
High Classis another story featuring the basicSky Castleelements: a community of elite families, ahighly competitive school, and lots of conspiracies. Its central plot, though, is related to an unusual mystery. The series focuses on the life of Song Yeo-wool (Cho Yeo-jeong) after her husband mysteriously disappears during a yacht trip. Yeo-wool becomes a murder suspect for a period of time, after which she decides to move to Jeju for a fresh start. At Jeju, she gets into acquaintance with a new community through her son’s new school. However, these people seem to have hidden connections with her husband.
High Classis set apart by the mystery surrounding the dead husband, which isn’t revealed until the very end. The motivations of many of the characters in the K-drama are kept hidden for much of the series as well, revealed gradually for an exciting watch. Aside from that, the journey of Yeo-wool as she tries to fit into her new community, and the side plots related to the children, gives the show plenty of similarities toSky Castlethat you can enjoy.Stream on KoreaOnDemand
Related:20 Korean Dramas You’ll Be Thinking About Long After They End
6Woman of Dignity (2017)
Woman of Dignity, also known asThe Lady in Dignity, is a K-drama where greed, infidelity, and misguided social aspirations come together for an exciting mix. This series, too, is structured around a central mystery that lends a great deal of intrigue and suspense to every episode. Kim Hee-sun plays the leading role as Woo Ah-jin, a kind-hearted woman who lives a life of luxury with her well-off husband.
Her happy life takes a turn for the worse when she decides to help two women by hiring them in different roles within her family. The art teacher Yoon Sung-hee (Lee Tae-im) ends up seducing Hee-sun’s husband, destroying her marriage, while the caretaker Park Bok-ja (Kim Sun-ah) ends up seducing her father-in-law, becoming the new matriarch of the household.
Woman of Dignitydrives its tension in interesting ways as itbegins with the ending, showing Bok-ja lying dead in a pool of blood. The entire series is a slow unraveling of the events that led to her death. While there is no direct storyline related to parental pressure, we get a comparable and just as captivating story about social aspirations, and about discovering one’s own happiness. This latter theme is portrayed in an especially beautiful way asWoman of Dignityfocuses greatly on the relationship between Hee-sun and Bok-ja, and how each seeks to find their dignity through two drastically different approaches.Stream on Netflix
5Class of Lies (2019)
A murder mystery set in a school for the wealthy,Class of Liesfinds its home ground in the dark underbelly of the education system, where corruption, manipulation, and extreme bullying runs rampant. The K-drama begins with the murder of a popular student from Chunmyung High School — Jeong Soo-ah was found in her own bed with her classmate and boyfriend Kim Han-soo holding the knife.
Yoon Kyun-sang takes the lead role as star attorney Gi Moo-hyeok, who is assigned to defend Han-soo. But after he botches his defense, he is swiftly thrown under the bus to displace all the negative attention the school was receiving. In a last bid to revive his career, he decides to solve the case himself, going undercover as a teacher at the very school. There, he finds deeper conspiracies at play, starting with a secret club of influential students who routinely forge student records for a better chance at college admissions.
The change in perspective from conniving parents to dangerously ambitious students is one thatClass of Lieshandles marvelously. Posed mainly as a murder mystery, this series comes with a much more sinister tone as it unravels the depths to which its young cast can go in order to secure their dreams. At the same time, its exploration of the evils that are beset within the education system is a theme similar toSky Castle.Stream on Viki
4Extracurricular (2020)
The Netflix series,Extracurricular, has proven to be one of the more popular K-dramas on the platform, and is the only show on this list that is not based on a community of high-profile families. Instead, it is an excellent crime thriller that runs under the same mechanisms: secrets, greed, and rivalries.
The show is set in a high school and follows the criminal exploits of Oh Ji-soo, played by Kim Dong-hee. A model student by all outward appearances, Ji-soo comes from an impoverished background and supports himself by secretly working as a security provider for sex workers. His dual lifestyle works smoothly until the day his secret is inevitably discovered by a classmate, who begins to blackmail him for her own purposes.
Extracurricularis made up of 10 intensely suspensefulepisodes that keep you hookedwith one damning reveal after another. The show basically follows a template where the lead character finds himself navigating one ruinous problem after another. Along the way, the series does a wonderful job of humanizing characters on various sides of the equation. This creates a slight tone of wholesomeness even as we see these same characters getting enmeshed in complicated problems.Stream on Netflix
Related:Underrated Korean Crime Drama Series
3Graceful Friends (2020)
Graceful Friendsbrings the intrigue surrounding the characters’ shared histories and takes it up a notch in this drama-infused murder mystery. Created in the vein ofSky Castle, this K-drama features a tightly-knit group of successful friends, with a shared history that goes back 20 years. It begins when their everyday life is disrupted one day with a murder taking place among them. The show then begins to slowly reveal the complex relationships that each of the central characters has with the deceased.
Along the way, their messy history together also comes to the fore: age-old resentments over romantic interests, and more.Graceful Friendsdoes a wonderful job of crafting suspense and intrigue, where each one of the leading characters has an equal motive to commit the murder.
Secrets and shared histories are the core thrust ofGraceful Friends, through which it entertains its audience. The show runs out of the gate with an elaborate setup: each of the main characters is dealing with a unique personal problem, and there is a fair share of dark secrets among them. The series follows each of those characters as they come face to face with their old demons, and follows how these old feelings carry over to their actions in the present day.Not Currently Available to Stream or Purchase
2The Last Empress (2018-2019)
The Last Empressis one of the longer shows on this list, with 52 total episodes. Written by the same person behindThe Penthouse, this show sets its family politics within the royal family that rules over Korea in the modern day. Jang Na-ra stars in the leading role as Oh Sunny, a commoner theater actress who finds herself at the highest echelons of society when the emperor takes a liking to her, and decides to marry her. Once there, she has to navigate a path full of thorns as the royal palace is full of conniving, ambitious nannies and family members who are no less toxic.
The Last Empresscomes off as something of a parody to theKorean period dramagenre, and is quite loud and often absurd with its storylines and melodrama. You get a negative character in the Emperor who slowly grows to become endearing, not unlike some of the characters inSky Castle. Secret histories and murder also figure into the plot for a truly makjang-esque K-drama experience. It’s the perfect next series for you to watch if you would like the drama ofSky Castledone in an enjoyably exaggerated way.Stream on Kocowa or Viki
1The Glory (2022-2023)
One of the most popular Korean dramas of recent time,The Gloryfeatures a story about bullying and revenge with a group of high-profile individuals at the center. Events in the series begin in 2006, when the reserved Moon Dong-eun (played by Song Hye-kyo) goes through a period of extreme bullying at the hands of the school’s most popular group. The incidents are enough to scar her for a lifetime.
She then resolves to do whatever is necessary to get her revenge one day. Years later, when her former bullies have all become successful in their own right, Dong-eun reappears in their lives armed with an elaborate plan to exact revenge.
The Glorycasts a very different look from most K-dramas at first glance, with thoughtfully crafted visuals and a meandering pace that nevertheless packs in a lot of incidents in each episode. A great deal of focus is placed upon Moon Dong-eun and how she copes with her past trauma while executing her revenge plan. It finds a similarity toSky Castlein how her revenge ends up working out: she manages to insert herself in an awkward way in the lives of her bullies, and gradually pushes them to destroy each other.Stream on Netflix
