[Review] Decision To Leave (8.5/10)

 

Title - Decision To Leave
Production - CJ Entertainment, Moho Film
Starring - Tang Wei, Park Hae Il, Lee Jung Hyun, Go Kyung Po, Jung Young Sook, Kim Shin Young, Park Jeong Min
Writer - Park Chan Wook, Chung Seo Kyung
Director - Park Chan Wook
Release - 21 October 2022

This was a major slow-burn of a movie. But by the time we reached the half-way point, I was fully engrossed and could not look away.

A big part of that reason was Tang Wei. How she portrayed this character, full of mystery but completely captivating; I wanted to know more about who she was. And it was a strange way Park Chan Wook directed her first ever scene. He chose not to show her features but only from her back and from a distance to show her body language, almost as if she was not the lead. And then she slowly grew on me.

Playing opposite her, Park Hae Il, was no slouch either. Their chemistry made their relationship work, and made the story possible. His anguish at the end stayed with the audience after the credits started rolling. It was such an atmospheric experience that doesn't leave you very quickly. 

But the movie was long and felt longer. In the middle of the second act, I thought we would have been going into the third act already and was surprised we weren't. Having said that, however, I wouldn't know where to cut to make the movie shorter.