Every so often, a movie comes along that you just can’t stop thinking about. Maybe you catch it on a whim, or maybe you’ve been anticipating it for a while, and it’s the rare film that not only meets whatever expectations you had but exceeds them. When it comes to South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, that’s exclusively the case. I’ve never been let down, and I consider Oldboy and The Handmaiden among my favorites of all time.
How wonderful that a single filmmaker has two masterpieces. Only, Park Chan-wook doesn’t just have two. His entire filmography is pretty much banger after banger, and just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, his latest film premiered. Decision to Leave is a masterpiece. The film will certifiably renew your faith in cinema—yeah, cinema, baby. It’s gorgeous, stirring, romantic, frightening, funny—everything you could hope for. Better still, after several years of being limited to streaming on Mubi, you can now catch Decision to Leave streaming on Hulu.
Per Hulu: A detective investigates the unnatural death of a man in the mountains and begins to develop feelings for the murder suspect, the man’s mysterious wife.
In our review at the time of Decision to Leave’s release, we wrote, “Solving the case is closure for him just as much as it is for them. If he can’t solve the mystery at the heart of Decision to Leave, he’s destined to live a life of obsession and never-ending longing that will never cease. That’s the true horror Park Chan-wook wants to explore. It’s one of his most dire endings and, if you’ve seen the Shakespearean-level finale of Oldboy, that’s really saying something.”
The film lingers in the best possible way, and I’d go as far as to say it’s among the best murder mysteries of the century.
The film ranked as my second-favorite international horror movie of 2022, and in retrospect, it’s taken over the top spot. At the time, I wrote, “The real exceptional standout is Tang Wei. As Song Seo-rae, the woman suspected of murdering her husband, she lingers more effectively than any ghost. It’s one of the year’s best performances, and her performance will haunt audiences for years.” Watch Decision to Leave for Tang Wei alone. Seriously, a generational talent.
I’m so happy Decision to Leave is more widely available. Let me know if you have any plans to stream the film on Hulu, and if you do, chime in over on Twitter @Chadiscollins and let me know what you think!
Categorized:News