Cover From a Hong Kong movie prequel to South Korea’s biggest box-office hit, these are the blockbuster films to catch at the 2026 New York Asian Film Festival (Photo: IMDB)
From a Hong Kong movie prequel to South Korea’s biggest box-office hit, these are the blockbuster films to catch at the 2026 New York Asian Film Festival (Photo: IMDB)
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From Hong Kong movie franchises to South Korea’s biggest box-office sensation, these films are taking over Manhattan at the 2026 New York Asian Film Festival
The New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) has never drawn a hard line between popular entertainment and critical prestige. Since its founding in 2002, the festival has championed the full breadth of Asian cinema, giving action blockbusters, horror, comedy and crime thrillers the same platform as arthouse standouts. Long before many of the region’s biggest filmmakers became international names, NYAFF was introducing audiences to their work, earning a reputation as one of the world’s most influential showcases for contemporary Asian cinema.
That philosophy continues at the festival’s 25th edition, running until July 26 across five Manhattan venues. This year’s programme brings together some of Asia’s biggest commercial hits alongside emerging voices from across the region, making it as much a snapshot of the industry’s present as a glimpse of its future. These are some of the standout Asian films from this year’s NYAFF worth adding to your watchlist.
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1. ‘The King’s Warden’ (2026): South Korea’s biggest box-office hit of all time
Above ‘The King’s Warden’ turned a quiet historical drama into a national event
This sageuk drama, starring Yoo Hae-jin and Park Ji-hoon, dethroned Parasite to become the highest-grossing South Korean film ever made, crossing 16 million admissions within weeks of its February 2026 release. Set during the exile of a deposed teenage king, the film pairs Park’s fragile, wounded monarch with Yoo’s bumbling but big-hearted village chief. Its NYAFF special screening arrives on the back of a genuine cultural moment back home, one that has even revived tourism to its real-life filming region.
2. ‘Cold War 1994’ (2026): Hong Kong’s pre-handover political thriller
Above 'Cold War 1994' rewinds the clock on Hong Kong's most gripping franchise
A prequel to the Cold War franchise, this political thriller rewinds to 1994, three years before the British handover, when the kidnapping of a tycoon ignites a four-way power struggle between colonial police, triads and outgoing authorities. Daniel Wu plays the ambitious Peter Choi in a role that marked his return to Hong Kong movies after a six-year absence. Wu was also honoured with NYAFF’s Best from the East Award during his festival visit.
3. ‘Filipiñana’ (2026): the Sundance-winning breakout from the Philippines
Above ‘Filipiñana’ turns a Manila country club into a biting class satire
Directed by Rafael Manuel, this Sundance-winning debut follows a young caddy from the Ilocos region who is drawn deeper into the workings of an exclusive Manila golf club after misplacing a member’s club. Wry, sharp-eyed and quietly devastating, the film uses one gilded institution to dissect class, labour and belonging across the Philippines. Now a major highlight of NYAFF 2026, it represents the kind of internationally co-produced discovery—spanning Singapore, the UK and France—that has become a hallmark of the festival’s expanding footprint across Southeast Asia.
4. ‘Colony’ (2026): South Korea’s fastest box-office hit of the year
Above ‘Colony’ traps Jun Ji-hyun in a high-rise outbreak thriller
Directed by Yeon Sang-ho, the filmmaker behind Train to Busan, this action-horror film became the fastest Korean release to cross four million admissions in 2026. Jun Ji-hyun plays a biotechnology professor trapped inside a sealed Seoul high-rise as a fast-mutating virus turns a corporate conference into a fight for survival. Its Cannes Midnight premiere only sharpened appetites ahead of its NYAFF opening-night slot.
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5. ‘The Dumpling Queen’ (2025): Hong Kong’s rags-to-riches biopic sensation
Above ‘The Dumpling Queen’ tells a real-life immigrant success story
Directed by veteran filmmaker Andrew Lau, this Hong Kong movie dramatises the true story of Zang Jianhe, the entrepreneur behind the global Wanchai Ferry dumpling empire. Ma Li plays Zang, who fled to Hong Kong in 1977 and built her business from a wooden cart at the Wan Chai Ferry Pier. Lau’s reconstruction of 1970s Hong Kong streets gives the film its nostalgic, lived-in texture. The Dumpling Queen opened at number one during China’s May Day holiday and went on to become one of the season’s biggest crowd-pleasers.
6. ‘The Undertaker 2: World After Death’ (2025): Thailand’s Isan folk-horror hit
Above ‘The Undertaker 2’ brings Thai folk horror back from the dead
Director Thiti Srinuan’s Isan folk-horror comedy became a genuine box-office juggernaut in Thailand, and arrives at NYAFF for its North American premiere. The plot follows a small town thrown into chaos after a deceased grandmother, struck by lightning, mysteriously returns to life. Blending regional folklore, slapstick comedy and genuine scares, the sequel taps into a distinctly Thai vein of horror-comedy that has proven hugely exportable across Southeast Asia.
7. ‘Night King (Director’s Cut)’ (2026): Hong Kong’s hostess club comedy phenomenon
Above ‘Night King’ reunites Hong Kong stars for a lavish nightlife comedy
Directed by Jack Ng, the theatrical cut of this comedy-drama became the third-highest-grossing local Hong Kong movie ever, and NYAFF is presenting its rougher, 161-minute international premiere cut. Dayo Wong plays a hostess club manager fighting to save the last grand palace in Tsim Sha Tsui from a hostile takeover, teaming up with his sharp-elbowed ex-wife (Sammi Cheng) along the way. Kaleidoscopic nightlife cinematography gives the film’s world a real seductive pull.
8. ‘Dear You’ (2026): China’s biggest word-of-mouth sleeper hit
Above ‘Dear You’ closes NYAFF with China's breakout sleeper hit
Produced on a modest budget with a largely non-professional cast, this Teochew-language family drama became a word-of-mouth sensation across Asia. Newcomers Li Sitong and Wang Yantong star as a young couple whose search for a long-lost grandfather in Thailand uncovers a decades-old love affair told through old letters. Its closing-night NYAFF premiere caps a remarkable rise for a film nobody expected to become a national event.
9. ‘Mr Hero’ (2026): Vietnam’s viral charity-fraud sensation
Above ‘Mr Hero’ turns a desperate father into a viral street hero
Marking the feature debut of director Vo Thach Thao, this Vietnamese dramedy stars box-office king Thai Hoa as a struggling taxi driver who stages a public rescue to raise money for his critically ill daughter’s treatment. What begins as a harmless hoax spirals into a viral spectacle, forcing him to confront what the Internet’s appetite for heroism really costs. Released over the Reunification Day holiday, the film anchors NYAFF’s first-ever Spotlight on Vietnam, giving audiences an early look at Vietnamese cinema’s growing commercial confidence.
10. ‘Kung Fu’ (2026): Taiwan’s biggest martial arts production in a decade
Above ‘Kung Fu’ delivers Taiwan's most ambitious martial arts spectacle yet
Ten years in the making, Giddens Ko’s action-fantasy arrives at NYAFF as Taiwan's biggest film production in a decade. Led by Kai Ko, Berant Zhu and Wang Ta-lu, it follows two teenage outsiders who cross paths with a mysterious, centuries-old martial arts master. Mixing affectionate wuxia parody with blockbuster-scale action, the long-awaited epic has become one of the festival's most anticipated premieres.
11. ‘Initial D’ (2005): the iconic drift-racing Hong Kong classic in 4K
Above ‘Initial D’ returns to screens in a restored 4K anniversary print
Part of a Filmmaker in Focus retrospective honouring director Andrew Lau, this 20th-anniversary 4K restoration brings the mountain drift-racing Hong Kong movie back to the big screen. Jay Chou plays a tofu-delivery driver whose late-night mountain runs turn him into a street-racing legend. The restoration lets NYAFF audiences experience the film’s hairpin turns and screeching tyres with the visual clarity its cult following has long wished for.
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After more than a decade in lifestyle media, Clifford has mastered the art of writing seriously about things that are fun—and writing fun things about people who take themselves very seriously. At Tatler Asia, he helped steer its flagship lists, Tatler’s Most Influential and Asia’s Most Stylish. And today, he leads T-Labs, Tatler Asia’s content innovation hub, where he continues the noble pursuit of lifestyle storytelling, spinning stories on wealth, entertainment, necessary style, Hallyu, Hollywood, beauty and more for audiences across Asia.
