In 2017, Ryu featured in political crime drama film The King alongside Jo In-sung and Jung Woo-sung, which became the 7th highest-grossing South Korean film of the year and for which he won the Best New Actor in Film award at the 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards.[20][2] The same year, he featured in biopic A Taxi Driver with veteran actors Song Kang-ho and Yoo Hae-jin,[22] which became the highest grossing Korean film of the year and the twelfth highest-grossing South Korean film in history.[23] Ryu also appeared in legal thriller Heart Blackened alongside Choi Min-sik and Park Shin-hye.[24]