Decision To Leave (2022)

By: Mike Ward on Wednesday, November 02

R Running Time: 139 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • One of 2022’s best films, South Korea has a strong contender for the upcoming International Feature award at the 2023 Oscars.

  • A brilliant ensemble, led by an intoxicating Tang Wei, amplifies the twists, turns and surprises Park Chan-wook has waiting in his slow building, deeply satisfying mystery thriller.

  • Uses manipulation and morality as one and the same, leading to characters constantly playing emotional chess and jockeying for leverage and control.

NO

  • The ending has proved polarizing with some, like myself, finding it worth a standing ovation. Others feel it derails everything which came before it.

  • May take too long to get rolling for some of the more impatient of viewers. Requires a fair amount of attention and focus as Park constantly folds in information and details which may, or may not, help us figure out what actually has taken place.

  • Decisions made are not always the right ones and morality is in constant turmoil, For films where characters are distinctively drawn as good or bad, Decision to Leave argues that everyone is prone to immorality, depending on the circumstances, and embraces that uncertainty.


OUR REVIEW

Mesmerizing, moody and full of curiosity and intrigue, Park Chan-wook’s latest mystery, Decision to Leave, is a film that crawls into your body and won’t let go. For example, the ending alone will require many to reflect with quiet contemplation and long stares out the window. And the journey to get to those final moments are dotted with unforgettable imagery, some diabolical decision-making, and one clever spin on the film’s title.

In short, the film is challenging in all the right ways.

Like Park often does at the start of his films, we are thrown into something of a deep end, unsure of surroundings and lacking context. In this story, his first feature since 2016’s The Handmaiden, two Korean police officers are wrapping up target practice. We learn that a wealthy businessman has died in a climbing accident and his much younger wife, the Chinese-born Seo-rae (Tang Wei), is under suspicion of murder. When lead detective Hae-jun (Park Hae-il) digs deeper and starts to question Seo-rae’s potential involvement in the death of her husband, the two start to develop a deeper connection.

Hae-jun however is in something of a “weekend marriage,” where he sees his wife (Lee Jung-hyun) on weekends only. During the week, he’s back at work and drawn in by the mystery and seductive charm of Seo-rae. Once everything is properly investigated, we surge ahead over a year later to see Seo-rae has a new husband and Hae-jun and wife are settled into their more comfortable arrangements. Questions still linger. And things only intensify as Park’s modernized film noir works its magic, clouds its issues, and makes you try to connect the dots alongside its characters.

Park’s film is heavy, uncomfortable, and full of atmosphere. Comparisons to Hitchcock are valid. Toss in Scorsese and Welles and a few other noir filmmakers for inspiration if you must. However, Park Chan-wook’s film is distinctly his own creation. His densely layered screenplay is buoyed by a stunning look and feel throughout the film. 

Mirrors are a constant, reflecting moods and expressions back on the characters directly, as well as giving us plenty to contemplate and observe. The cinematography of Kim Ji-yong is stunning. Threading light through darkness and balancing those mirrored glances and impressions with a slightly disorienting teeter between truth and fiction. 

Because Hae-jun is never quite certain of his discoveries and investigatory success, and more consumed by the person at the center of all of those observations and disclosures, we remain uncertain as well. Kim Ji-yong’s work, coupled with an unrelenting tableau of greyed-out environments, impersonal dark-hued interrogation rooms, passionless bedrooms, and cloudy outdoor settings from Park Chan-wook’s collaboration with production designer Ryu Seong-hie, make this thriller deeply compelling. 

Though it lacks any jump scares, Decision to Leave has us cinched up, feeling like we may be one moment away from everything falling in place (or falling apart). In reality, this cat-and-mouse game is something no one really has control of, though a stunning variation of the film’s title in the final moments may indeed say otherwise. 

Park Chan-wook’s masterful, gripping film is worth investing time in. Full of nuance, mystery and intrigue, Decision to Leave is one of the more entertaining cinematic journeys of 2022.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Tang Wei, Park Hae-il, Lee Jung-hyun, Go Kyung-pyo, Park Yong-woo, Jung Yi-seo

Director: Park Chan-wook
Written by: Park Chan-wook; Chung Seo-kyung
Release Date: October 14, 2022
MUBI