Decision to Leave

Park Chan-wook puts a ravishing spin on a timeless story of romantic obsession and a detective who falls for his suspect.

It’s not as immediately gripping as his previous work, but it lingers like perfume.

Possibly the sexiest movie of the year and certainly one of the best.

Park’s willingness to court a lot of momentary confusion about who’s who and what’s what will be a little much for some. I feel this way: When the filmmaking and the acting’s on this level, Park can zag around all he wants.

One of the smartest, most satisfying murder mysteries in years.

The narrative is structurally audacious, and regularly deploys flashbacks and clever cuts, and scenes within scenes. It’s also the most melancholic film of Park’s career...

While this mingling of crime and romance plots reveals the stern policeman to be a fundamentally fallible person, it also underscores the problems inherent in police work.

Director Park weaves many clever motifs and symbolic imagery into his film to heighten the tension and keep up the storm of anxiety as the characters’ clashing duties and wants threaten to finally meet.

It’s a tale told in yearning glances and whispered half-truths, one where the words “I did it” and “I love you” always seem to be just out of reach.

Unlike once great directors whose vision becomes stale, repetitive, and predictable, Park is always raising the bar for himself and setting the new standard for those behind him. His work is always fresh, and I love that he keeps pushing himself