Decision to Leave, 2022.
Directed by Park Chan-wook.
Starring Tang Wei, Park Hae-il, Lee Jung-hyun, Park Yong-woo, Go Kyung-pyo, Kim Shin-young, Yoo Seung-mok, Jung Yi-seo, Jung Young-sook, Lee Hak-joo, Park Jeong-min, Jeong Ha-dam, Seo Hyun-woo, and Yoo Teo.
SYNOPSIS:
Hae-Joon, a seasoned detective, investigates the suspicious death of a man on a mountaintop. Soon, he begins to suspect Seo-rae, the deceased’s wife, while being unsettled by his attraction to her.
Widely celebrated for The Vengeance Trilogy, it simply feels fitting that the latest labyrinthine thriller from Park Chan-wook (co-writing alongside Seo-kyeong Jeong), Decision to Leave, involves a murder possibly motivated by revenge.
Also known for extreme violence, it is also interesting to note that here the filmmaker has dialled back those deliciously savage impulses to craft a compelling, darkly romantic murder mystery (technically, it’s two murder mysteries), wisely using its reveals to either recontextualize or reinforce character traits while playing into thematic context.
Decision to Leave is Park Chan-wook doing noir to stunning effect beyond the richly layered plotting; the cinematography from Ji-yong Kim dazzles, whether floating across rooftops as characters chase one another or getting more inventive with reflections from inside technology (communication is a large part of the story here, regarding Internet text language translations and the complications that still arise from such language barriers, alongside the growing power of words to characters that initially plays higher value on images and pictures).
Complementing the visual beauty is a hypnotically hazy and dreamlike score from Yeong-wook Jo that accentuates palpable emotions ranging from a yearning to shattered dignity to devastation.
The plot follows Detective Hae-jun (Park Hae-il), an insomniac fixated on solving cases, an obsession that will prove to be his downfall for several shocking and emotionally draining reasons. He’s also a professional through and through and a real stickler for the rules, especially when bossing around his young partner.
Nevertheless, once Seo-rae (a remarkable performance from Tang Wei) is brought in for questioning as the prime suspect in the death of her much older, 60-year-old husband, Hae-jun’s personal code is tossed out the window, even as his partner openly throws the hypocrisy back into his face. He finds her alluring, for sure, but also somewhat inspiring as a Chinese immigrant illegally crossing over into Busan, also the descendent of a resistance fighter. Perhaps he also sees someone he can protect.
Seo-rae makes for a fascinating character considering the laws of femme fatales and screenwriting indicates that something is up and that Hae-jun is being used in some way, but the specifics are often impenetrable. It’s a dynamic that is also appropriately mined for dark laughs. Having given in to her mother’s request for assisted suicide, she has become a nurse and generally comes across as a noble and likable person on the receiving end of physical abuse.
Meanwhile, Hae-jun begins conducting stakeouts that border on obsession (strikingly realized by artistic flourishes that see him imagining himself near her while effectively stalking). By the way, he’s also married to a woman living in another part of the country; it is a somewhat loveless relationship, although she believes that everything will be right for any couple as long as they make love once a week.
Decision to Leave is a twisty picture that demands multiple watches, even if one is sufficient enough to get the gist. Quite a few subplots crash into the bigger picture to satisfying effect, especially as the narrative builds to a tragic statement about technology, language, love, obsession, and the nature of mysteries.
On a technical level, the film is astounding, and the crafty story nearly matches it. It feels like a more restrained, minor work from Park Chan-wook, but deceptively so; it’s not quite another masterwork but still lingers. Nearly every frame of the film is so exquisitely shot with such volcanic chemistry between Park Hae-il and Tang Wei, one hopes they never have to leave these characters.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
