Here’s every feature film directed by Bong Joon-ho, ranked from worst to best. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho started in the industry with various gigs as a cinematographer, lighting technician and maker of short films before breaking through with his first feature-length movie Barking Dogs Never Bite in 2000. Since then Bong Joon-ho has established himself as one of South Korea’s most talented filmmakers and his releases have ranked as some of the country’s highest-grossing movies.

Bong Joon-ho’s body of work spans a wide range of genres – from black comedy and crime thriller to creature feature and action sci-fi – yet his genre-mashing movies often defy easy categorization. He recently made the move into television too, working as a writer and executive producer on TNT’s adaptation of his 2013 film Snowpiercer. Next up, Bong Joon-ho is set to collaborate with HBO on a limited series based on his latest acclaimed movie Parasite.

Related: Where To Watch Bong Joon-ho's Movies Online

To date, Bong Joon-ho has directed a total of seven feature-length films during his career. Here they are ranked from worst to best.

Barking Dogs Never Bite

To be fair, there’s no such thing as a bad Bong Joon-ho movie but if one has to be ranked as “least amazing” it’s his first film Barking Dogs Never Bite – a black comedy that follows a frustrated, unemployed academic driven to drastic measures by the incessant barking of a neighbor’s dog. It might not be Bong Joon-ho at his very best, but it’s nevertheless an assured and impressive debut.

Okja

A weird and wonderful tale about the bond between a young South Korean girl and her genetically modified super-pig, Okja is Bong Joon-ho’s sixth film. The movie mixes fantasy, fairy tale and satire and boasts big name talents like Tilda Swinton and Paul Dano but suffers somewhat from a jumbled tone and an OTT performance from Jake Gyllenhaal.

Snowpiercer

Sci-fi action flick Snowpiercer was Bong Joon-ho’s first English-language film and is based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige. The movie is set in a future ravaged by a second ice age in which the last surviving members of humankind have been crammed into a constantly moving train segregated by class. Its message can be a little heavy-handed, but Snowpiercer is still a brilliant contribution to dystopian cinema.

The Host

Monster movie The Host sees a mutated beast emerge from Seoul’s Han River to wreak havoc on the city and follows one father’s attempts to save his daughter from its clutches. It’s more than just a creature feature, however; inspired by real-life pollution problems in Seoul, it’s infused with plenty of political critique too. It just so happens to be one of Quentin Tarantino’s favorite movies too.

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Mother

Mother follows a widow as she tries to prove her intellectually disabled adult son isn’t guilty of committing the murder he’s been accused of. What sounds like maudlin Oscar bait on paper is instead a poetic mix of family drama, murder mystery, horror and humor that’s bolstered by a powerhouse performance from veteran actress Kim Hye-ja as the movie’s titular, unnamed mother.

Memories Of Murder

Bong Joon-ho’s second feature Memories Of Murder was the movie that really put him on the map and it’s not hard to see why. Inspired by the case of South Korea’s first serial killer, the film centers on two mismatched detectives trying to solve a series of grisly murders in a small, rural town. Tense and haunting with stunning cinematography, it’s been described as South Korea’s answer to Zodiac.

Parasite

Put simply, Parasite is Bong Joon-ho at the pinnacle of his career – at least for the time being. Deftly mixing black comedy, social commentary and suspense, Parasite is an exercise in layered storytelling that follows a lower-class South Korean family as they insert themselves into the lives of a wealthier family with disastrous consequences. Not only is Parasite universally acclaimed, but it’s also the only non-English language film to win Best Picture at the Oscars.

Next: Parasite's Black & White Version Is Like Watching A Different Movie