This 94%-Rated Movie From the Director of 'Oldboy' Is a Hypnotic Tale of Obsession & Love
It tells the story of how professional duty clashes with personal feelings and how attraction to the "wrong" person can destroy everything.
In 2022, Park Chan-wook, the director of cult classics such as Oldboy and The Handmaiden, returned with a film that won the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Decision to Leave is a poetic exploration of love, obsession, and inevitability, shot in the tradition of Hitchcock but with a uniquely Korean flair.
It was not only a critical hit but also one of the most beautiful and emotionally complex movies of the director's career.
What Is 'Decision to Leave' About?
Detective Jang Hae-jun is investigating the mysterious death of an influential man who fell from a cliff. The prime suspect is the deceased's widow, Seo-rae. The police officer develops a mutual attraction with her that threatens to have dire consequences.
The difficulties of translating from Chinese to Korean, secrets from the past, and the unusual behavior of the grieving widow draw Detective Jang ever closer to the suspect, even when all the evidence points to her guilt and her alibi falls apart.
The deeper he gets into the case, the more he suspects the widow, and the more deeply he falls in love with her.
'Decision to Leave' Is a Poetic Exploration of Obsession & a Subversion of Genre Expectations
Decision to Leave is a movie that subverts audience expectations at every turn. Park Chan-wook breathes new life into the tired police drama genre by imbuing it with romanticism and borrowing elements of twisted, dizzying thrillers from Hitchcock.
Rather than typical erotic tension, the director offers something more complex and subtle: an obsession that becomes the meaning of life.
The film's inventive editing and Tang Wei's poignant performance as an atypical femme fatale culminate in a breathtaking finale – rather than focusing on the killer's identity, we are drawn into the complex emotional circumstances in which the characters find themselves.
'Decision to Leave' Is a Hitchcockian Thriller That Will Keep You on the Edge of Your Seat
Korean cinema frequently plays with the tropes of Hitchcockian thrillers, and Decision to Leave is one of the most successful examples. Hitchcock mastered the plot device of characters being inexplicably attracted to mysterious women, and Park Chan-wook follows the rules diligently to heighten the intrigue.
Decision to Leave is unlikely to take the title of Chan-wook's best romantic project from The Handmaiden, but the film takes a different approach. It persistently gets under the viewer's skin, stunning them and forcing them to wallow in its complexity.
It's a must-see for fans of Korean cinema, intelligent and emotional thrillers, and anyone ready to immerse themselves in a story where love and crime are inextricably intertwined.
What Did Critics & Viewers Think of 'Decision to Leave'?
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Decision to Leave has 94% from critics and 92% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.
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On IMDb, the movie has a score of 7.3/10.
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On Letterboxd, Decision to Leave scored 4.0/5.0.
Where to Watch 'Decision to Leave'?
Decision to Leave is available to stream on Mubi.
