Beautiful and intriguing
Park Chan Wook director is back in 2022 Cannes and won the Best Director award this time around. His signature touches are so precise that it looked like beautiful portrait shots with extremely fine details for each and every of the scenes and frames, even the editing and transition is extraordinarily stylized. He has the ability to find the beauty of the broken love in this wicked romance story which works wonders, where even a subtle affection comes in great effect on a person's mindfulness, and reaching it through extreme means might be of utmost importance. The broken ones will definitely understand the intention of this film where protecting that little love in this shattered world is what all we had left.Was this review helpful to you?
"Killing is like smoking...only the first time is hard"
Decision to Leave was another provocative Park Chan Wook film combining murder and obsession. At times it felt like he was being provocative for provocative’s sake, but it was a hauntingly beautiful, if disturbing film to watch.Detective Jang Hae Jun and his partner are investigating what appears to be an accidental death of a mountain climber. But they become immediately suspicious of his gorgeous Chinese wife because she’s not grief stricken enough. A chronic insomniac, Hae Jun stakes out the widow Song Seo Rae’s apartment and place of work. To his surprise, he sleeps on the stakeouts. And he also begins to question whether Seo Rae is guilty. As he falls deeper into her spell, she becomes not only the cure for his insomnia but its cause as well.
This never seemed like a murder mystery to me. It was not, “Did she?” or “Didn’t she?” More like, “Does she?” or “Doesn’t she”? Hae Jun appeared to be happily married to his weekend wife in Ipo, yet Seo Rae spoke to a deeper place inside. The song “Mist” was played often and Ipo’s fog was mentioned repeatedly. Just as the fog of war can obscure thinking and action so can the fog of lust. The mist of miscommunication (mistcommunication?) clouded conversations as Seo Rae’s Korean wasn’t strong. Translation apps and mistranslations of words hampered understanding in an already twisted and stressful environment.
If you have more problems with infidelity than bug covered dead bodies, this will be a film to skip. Aside from a scene with Hae Jun and his wife, the most intimate moments involved lip balm and hand lotion which were quite sensual. Much was made of the mountains and the sea, at times touching but never truly together. The film started on a mountain and ended at the sea, both beautiful and deadly. I had a few issues with the film, but like Hae Jun, I was willing to suffer to watch Tang Wei.
28 March 2026
Trigger warning: Bugs, dead bodies, creepy bugs. Mostly emotional infidelity. Suicide
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Aberrant romance and captivating mystery that leads to making a difficult decision to leave
A multilayered neo-noir with a dash of eccentric yet almost inappropriate romance. This film conveys an outlandish narrative wherein the rigid, workaholic police officer Hae-joon (Paek Hae-il) obssesses then falls for the main suspect of a murder case he is investigating, Seo-rae (Tang Wei).The first half was not immediately engaging, but it was able to successfully build-up tension between the complex lead characters while in a middle of an intricately-created murder mystery. What I find unique here compared to previous Park Chan-wook's filmography was that I was able to follow the plot easily compared to some of his works yet there were still subtle context clues and nuances that I had to think twice. Unfortunately, the second half was not able to hold the same calibre of obsession and tension as the first half. For me it was quite draggy, and the runtime could've been shortened since it already had a tight and suspenseful first half.
Also, the well-thought cinematography helped the overall quality. It was carefully crafted which was very prominent on the scenes where Hae-joon was imagining he was on Seo-rae's side. The camera angles and shots amplified his obsession towards the case and towards her as well. The foggy weather, the mountain and the sea (based on the Confucius quote mentioned) striked to me and perhaps to the storyline as well.
Aside from that, I highly applaud Tang Wei's performance here. It's the first time that I watched her and the fact that she's not Korean but speaks the language suprisingly well, together with her morally-gray characterization, speaks amounts of her effort as an actress to nail the role. Park Hae-il's performance is also nothing to be brushed off. I think that this might give him a nomination for this year's Baeksang, if not win just for that final scene where he was able to portray anguish and longing emotions (very well).
Overall, a great movie despite with its fuzzy moments. This may not have the same quality as Oldboy and The Handmaiden, but Decision to Leave creates a distinct caliber that proves why Park Chan-wook definitely is a master of this craft. The neo-noir element was not as intense as the aforementioned movies, but the addition of the aberrant romance and captivating mystery ultimately proves why there was a difficulty to make a decision to leave.
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Beautifully sad love in a illusory and unrealistic story
Distinguish between movies that create interesting fantasy stories and movies that talk about stories that happen in everyday life but make no sense. The first one is a movie genre, but the second one is a failure. If you want to create a compelling story that happens in everyday life, you're going to want the story to be as real as possible, I mean, the characters, the dialogue in the movie has to be very natural and look good, like a documentary film. About this movie, it's pretty illusory. I mean, there are details that make me laugh, they just can't happen in real life. So the story in the movie also has no truth.It's really a pity, because I really love the love between the two main characters in the movie, the relationship between them is as gentle as the wind, very poetic and beautiful, I mean their acting, very natural and attractive. I can compare this love to everyone's childhood memories, things that are beautiful but no one can experience again in their life. Because I liked this love story so much, I was even more upset with the detective investigation story in the movie, too complicated and confusing. The detail of Seo-rae going to the police station making the fire alarm ringing is too ridiculous, it's a police station, not a school. No matter how smart she is, she can't do it so comfortably, she's no god. Even Hae-joon and Ji-goo's chase scene and the scene where they fight while Miss Seo-rae peeks from inside the car, what? She's not a super cop to be able to drive after them from start to finish. This makes no sense. The character Seo-rae is a complicated and unpredictable person who falls in love with Hae-joon, but the director only shows us that she is a girl like Gone Girl's Amy Dunne towards the end of the film, due to so I can't sympathize with her death, which the director could have done better.
The fact that Seo-rae was brutally beaten by Do-soo was only mentioned once, through the doctor's account with Hae-joon. Do-soo even stamped his wife, right? And with Hae-joon's love and concern for Seo-rae, he doesn't question her injuries, not even a word. Am I missing something, or does Hae-joon have amnesia? Or the doctor gave the wrong patient's medical record and X-ray film? Not to mention the absurdity of Hae-joon having feelings for Seo-rae just because she's pretty and good looking? Give me one good reason why a police officer who is questioning a suspect falls in love with the suspect. Even the identity of Seo-rae's grandfather is a detail that needs attention, it can't be used as a reason for Seo-rae to kill her own mother.
It is also a pity that the supporting characters in the film, Hae-joon's wife, young inspector Soo-wan and the female assistant, Hae-joon's boss, Hae-joon's son, Ho-shin, Do-soo, San-Oh, Chul-sung... they're all just useless puppets in the movie, none of them leave an impression, it's a waste of characters. The fact that there are so many characters that do not affect the two main characters makes the story of the supporting characters seem to be thrown away.
Another unfortunate detail that is missed is that Inspector Hae-joon has dry eyes, is it because he has trouble sleeping? Anyway he often uses a bottle of solution to put in his eyes, and after all this detail is not important, just a guy who likes to put liquid in his eyes, over.
I really wish Park Chan-wook could have made this movie simpler, with fewer supporting characters, connecting them with the main characters so deeply and solving the absurd details, turning Seo-rae into a The girl looks like a normal person. This could make this movie a living novel. Because I really like the scenes in the movie, the angles, the scenes with the colors in the movie, even the metaphorical details and the cutscenes, they are all very unique and personal. Music is also a point of interest for me, sometimes the tunes appear very timely and full of passion, but sometimes a bit too much, making me not like it very much.
And lastly, I don't know if this is true or not, but it seems that the police characters in the film are portrayed unduly poorly, they look almost incompetent and useless, or this is a hint of disparagement of the police industry by the director? I don't know lol and in the movie too much use of cell phones and smart devices, as well as scenic locations, I guess this is for advertising purposes? Too obvious, isn't it? To me, these things made the movie less interesting. They should reduce these.
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The temptation of a burning romance made alive through suspense.
What a strange movie it was.It's one of those slow burners where you wonder what's there to it , at every moment .
The pristine romance, the feeling of yearning for someone yet falling short every time.
The illegality of a relationship shared.
The chemistry of both MC and FMC is one you'll rarely see.
A sadist story.
It's a really long movie, it takes it time and somehow to the end , you'll yourself see falling for the charm of FMC .
Those long stares, endless pauses, dual translation.
Her job was to make the role shine through a mysterious aura , and she just made sure we feel tempted towards her through out, an award-winning performance that's for sure.
The movie is just storytelling, nothing more to it.
It's one of those where to sit back and enjoy the form of storytelling.
The sense of suspense it maintains through out each scene is what tempts you to watch it cautiously.
The magic is in the direction and interaction of the characters, not the screenplay which rarely happens.
I enjoyed it. You'll too .
Just be in the mood .
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The ending just shows human nature is selfish
the movie was indeed Intriguing but haphzardous at times, the way they shift from one event to another can be really hard to catch if you don't watch too Intently, the love story is really hard to watch as it involves infidelity at some point but it still drags your empathy and tear at your heart, I couldn't understand her decision at the same time I could see her mind, nice movie still though, but it needed better arrangements with the scenesthe little details from when he bought her food till how he couldn't bring himself to turn her in when he eventually solves the case, her keeping of his recording he lest with her which she called his love for her and the fact shes attracts abusive men while holding him close to her heart because he treats her well will make you wonder if she loves him as he is or the idea of him and her as they could be ... these little details kind of makes the ending where she chose to leave in that brutal manner confusing, because if she loves him truly why hurt him so, if she didn't why crave his love.
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"The moment you said you loved me, your love is over. The moment your love ends, my love begins."
In the first half, I thought that this was a murder mystery film mixed with a simple romance, but it turns out to be very intimate. As the film progresses, the second half of it becomes more like a romance wrapped in a murder mystery.I gotta say that I like this film, to see this film more as a romance film, how it gave me the feeling that I usually get from conventional romance films. My emotions are raging, and my chest tightens as I witness this love relationship that feels both wrong and cozy, wrapped in a murder mystery that somehow becomes the sentimental playground of this love story.
One of the things that makes this film good, IMO, is that it looks too beautiful, combined with the good performances of the actors, making this film even more charming.
Anyway, this film made me absolutely sad, it hurts my meow meow. The moment Hae-joon found the stock analyst's phone, can I put "if only" to what it brings to the story? Knowing there's a chance they'll get the ending I dream of, if they wait patiently. I'm weak for this.
Idk what to type anymore. That's all. Thanks.
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Good Enough
Korean Movie " Decision to Leave " is a drama about obsession, love and crime.The movie's charm is its oddness, with wild edits, strange POVs and magnetic scenes; a cinematography that trully steals the scene.
The performances were also great and captivating, especially by the female lead who was excellent. The rest of the cast did a good job as well.
However, dispite being intriguing at first, the movie fails to deliver enough emotion for the romance-obsession part of the film to be believable. And yet, that's where the movie should have exceled. Hence, the story feels flat and abstruct, with shots of the main character's life and a mystery that was partially presented. The finale of the film is probably its most intense part.
So, overall, six out of ten.
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Wonderful cinematography but predictable
There will be minor spoilers, but I wouldn't watch this film again tldr;I loved the way it was filmed, I like the director and his other movies, the acting was great and I enjoyed chemistry and it's not.. a bad film. But the story and this man cheating on his wife the entire time left the most awful taste in my mouth and it took away from the movie for me personally. A predictable ending and the 'second act' felt tiresome.
If you want to watch this because of the director I think you'll enjoy the film in that way and less so for the story or plot. The filming locations, the slow way of pace and movement, The Mist song coming on over and over. Actors are enjoyable I think this would have scored higher had it been not for the whole cheating story point which a lot of movies and dramas have done before, and for me personally cheating is a HUGE irritation for me. Emotional counts, lack of communication, and maybe you're supposed to dislike the main lead and thats also the point. But it made it a grind to watch for us (myself and my partner) I really thought there was going to be more... suspense and crime and this movie is not that. Its not even a big mystery because its been done before so you catch on fairly quickly and then the second portion feels dragged on because its a repeat in a way of what happened the first time. The ending was... an ending. We looked at each other and sighed, not because of her choices but this man is tiresome haha. Had he simply not been married and been cheating I think the way this movie would have come across so differently and being able to really get into the chemistry of the main leads, but alas.
Overall when it wasn't the ML's unwise choices with FL it was an okay movie. If cheating bothers you like us then I would recommend skipping it. Felt like something from some eras ago, the cooking scene with them where she's smoking, them out in the rain visiting the temples, mesmerizing. I dont even wanna talk about the snow scene near the end, it did not draw us in in anyway apologies xD Beautiful filming spots along the water. I'll look forward to more from this director in the future
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A Neo-Noir Masterpiece of Visual Poetry
Decision to Leave (2022) is a multilayered neo-noir that skillfully blends mystery with a touch of eccentric, almost unsettling romance. What makes this film stand out from Park Chan-wook’s previous works is its accessibility. Unlike some of his more abstract films, the plot here is easier to follow, yet it still maintains the subtle nuances and hidden layers that make you pause and reflect.While this film may not hit the same notes as Park Chan-wook's previous films, I was captivated from start to finish. Visually, this movie is nothing short of a masterpiece. Every frame feels meticulously crafted, like a piece of visual poetry. Each cut seems deliberate, adding emotional weight and narrative depth. The film has a dreamlike quality, almost as if you're drifting through a fever dream. I lost track of how many times I paused just to soak in the beauty of a particular shot. I think I took over 50 screenshots because the visuals were just that stunning. Not a single frame was wasted.
Ultimately, the film reveals that sometimes the decision to leave is an expression of love, capturing the delicate balance between loss and sacrifice. It’s a quiet kind of heartbreak, but one that lingers just as powerfully.
Content Warning: Violence, Death, Self-harm, Sexual Content
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An eerie relationship between a detective and his murder suspect
A dark romance between a detective and his murder suspect certainly captivates its audience. Me.The story is about a detective helplessly falling in love with a murder suspect who was the main suspect of her husband's murder. As the movie takes us through the journey of the detective's romantic and emotional roller coaster, the woman was cleared of the murder simply because she had an alibi.
However, the detective discovered another piece of evidence that proved otherwise.
What did he do?
The story began from the moment he decided to deal with the evidence.
The last scene on the beach is cruelly heartbreaking.
Watch this movie.
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Not for everyone, but for its target audience, it's brilliant!
Slow? Yes.Pretentious? Some will say so.
Worth watching? See the above.
A man is found dead at the bottom of a mountain; the lead detective is very thorough but also unhappily married, and the widower is a stunner he feels himself gradually falling for. As emotions begin to cloud his judgement and the case becomes much too personal, can the detective re-establish a professional distance... and does he want to?
This film reminded me of Hitchcock's stuff; I personally enjoyed it a great deal but I can understand why others wouldn't like it.
The acting is really good - I was totally enthralled by the characters - the script is definitely faultless for the most part and, where I really liked the way it was shot and cut together, there will be many who will say it's "arty" or "pretentious"... and I can see their point, but it's by no means one of those crappy style over substance type of films.
Recommended.
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