Decision to Leave

Name: Decision to Leave
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Romance, Crime
Released: October 14, 2022
Duration: 138 min
Rating: 84
Cast: Hae-il Park, Hak-joo Lee, Jeong Esuz, Jung-hyun Lee, Jung-min Park

2022

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 44 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 72 Ratings

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7.7

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7.7	Your Score
7.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 72 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

MUBI | Release Date: October 14, 2022 | Not Rated

Starring: Hae-il Park, Hak-joo Lee, Jeong Esuz, Jung-hyun Lee, Jung-min Park, Kyung-pyo Go, Lee Jung-Hyun, Seo Hyun-woo, Seung-mok Yoo, Teo Yoo, Wei Tang, Yong-woo Park

Summary: From a mountain peak in South Korea, a man plummets to his death. Did he jump, or was he pushed? When detective Hae-joon arrives on the scene, he begins to suspect the dead man’s wife Seo-rae. But as he digs deeper into the investigation, he finds himself trapped in a web of deception and desire.

Director: Chan-wook Park

Genre(s): Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Romance, Crime

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 138 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Manohla Dargis

Oct 13, 2022

From the very first destabilizing moments of this movie, Park dazzles you with the beauty of his images and the intoxicating bravura of his unfettered imagination. And then, just when you think you have found your bearings, he unmoors you yet once more, blowing minds and shattering hearts, yours included. Read full review

Shirley Li

Oct 25, 2022

If the erotic thrillers of the past explored the dangers of lust, Park Chan-wook explores the risks of longing. His take on the genre isn’t just sexy; it’s playful and mordant and convoluted—and it begs to be rewatched, for the electrifying performances and for every frame he composes. It’s the kind of film that, like an overpowering attraction, refuses to be ignored. The only relief comes from indulging it. Read full review

The Playlist Iana Murray

May 24, 2022

Decision to Leave is ultimately a seductive romance, one made all the more fascinating by the boundaries the characters tread but never dare cross. Stories of longing are so tantalizing because they hang in that gray space of potential. The build-up is often more gratifying than the release, and Park wrings it for all its worth. Read full review

Neil Smith

May 23, 2022

A master filmmaker mines cinema’s glamorous past in a nostalgic neo-noir you don’t so much watch as surrender to. Read full review

Tara Brady

Oct 21, 2022

Another director might have fashioned Basic Instinct from such voyeuristic clay. Park dances with the material. Eschewing sex in favour of simmering sensuality, Decision to Leave coalesces into an intricate ballet between the main characters, Park’s careful choreography and Kim Ji-yong’s acrobatic camerawork. Read full review

Andy Howell

Sep 14, 2022

Decision to Leave deals with the biggest subjects humans have to grapple with: love, sex, and death, and does so in what amounts to a serious, dramatic fashion. Read full review

Michael O'Sullivan

Oct 18, 2022

Needlessly complicated and at times almost impossible to follow, its narrative inscrutability often coming across less as the result of nonlinear storytelling than as simply a cinematic affectation. Read full review

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User Reviews

LoverBoy36

Oct 15, 2022

One of the most beautiful romance movies ever! Director Park never disappoints us.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

nutpnutp

Oct 22, 2022

Director Park Chan Wook’s Decision To Leave makes me feel shattered… Loved every elements of the movie.

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

EVCHANSW

Oct 14, 2022

Not unlike Park’s earlier film.As far as people’s concerned his style is pretty hardcore , but in DTL you can catch different feeling,energetic and simple.After Lust Caution,Tang Wei redefines femme fatale,she’s performance in this film is nothing short of spectacular

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

JLuis_001

Oct 15, 2022

It can be said that Park Chan-wook is a director who seems to overcomplicate certain matters, but I think his desire to be intricate is much more than a pretentious element on his part, but rather what motivates him as a filmmaker.

Now, to make the follow-up of a film like The HandmaidenIt can be said that Park Chan-wook is a director who seems to overcomplicate certain matters, but I think his desire to be intricate is much more than a pretentious element on his part, but rather what motivates him as a filmmaker.

Now, to make the follow-up of a film like The Handmaiden was going to be a tough job, even for him, surpassing himself was more than just a challenge.
For my part I don't think he succeeded, but that in no way means that this is a lesser film.

Decision to Leave is something that could be categorized as a love story. One that is far from simple, but not really complicated either.
Here what at first seems like curiosity, quickly turns into an obsession. An obsession that does not seem to be repressed and yet never explodes even though the two people involved are fully aware of the situation, and both reciprocate their feelings.

The chemistry between the leads is essential for that and they both deliver. In their scenes together there's more meaning in what they reflect physically than in what they express with words and that is not easy.

The questions raised by their interactions is the spice of this film and what provides most of its suspense.
The concept of self-destruction looms large between the motivations locked in two unreliable people as to what their emotions are expressing and what they are hiding, so at the conclusion, it becomes quite clear that the sad ending was all they were going to be able to aspire to.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

AncientAmber

Dec 20, 2022

Very good, but not truly great. I didn't really deliver the emotional gut punch that I think it was going for. I think that's because the film was too busy, too frenetic, to let me sink into that feeling. It's a film that seems to want to do everything, and the result is that it doesn'tVery good, but not truly great. I didn't really deliver the emotional gut punch that I think it was going for. I think that's because the film was too busy, too frenetic, to let me sink into that feeling. It's a film that seems to want to do everything, and the result is that it doesn't excel at any one thing and is probably a bit too long. Don't let any of these quibbles put you off watching it though. It's still a good time overall and does a lot of interesting things. I found Tang Wei to be quite an enchanting presence.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

AJ_13

Apr 10, 2023

THE GOOD: Romance and tragedy meet in this sharply-written noir, supported by insane editing and powerful imagery. Park Chan-Wook is a visionary.

THE BAD: I found it hard to follow at times. It is so dense that overwhelms.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Broyax

Mar 8, 2023

Sauf exception, j’aime beaucoup les films de Park Chan-Wook, son ironie, sa mise en scène au cordeau et son talent pour installer des atmosphères… ou pour se lancer dans quelques provocations… au fil de scènes plus ou moins choquantes ici ou là… bref, c’est un sacré style, difficile àSauf exception, j’aime beaucoup les films de Park Chan-Wook, son ironie, sa mise en scène au cordeau et son talent pour installer des atmosphères… ou pour se lancer dans quelques provocations… au fil de scènes plus ou moins choquantes ici ou là… bref, c’est un sacré style, difficile à décrire d’ailleurs.

Mais ici, il s’est loupé le gars, complètement loupé…! il ne se passe rien ou quasiment rien pendant plus d’une plombe dans son film de merde (une plombe et quart même) et on s’aperçoit (car on regarde régulièrement sa montre avec un air de reproche) qu’il reste encore une putain d’heure au compteur !!

Non, ça va pas le faire, vraiment pas… parce que si on continue comme ça, on va mourir d’ennui ! littéralement. D’autant que la fille est plutôt moche -excusez-moi, c’est un jugement de valeur, je suppose, mais voir une actrice moche, ça me déprime. Et déjà qu’on s’emmerde à mort… alors bon, voilà quoi.

Et le pire dans tout ça, c’est qu’il ne s’est pas foulé côté histoire le gars, puisqu’il s’agit -je vous le donne en mille- d’un ‘Basic Instinct’ qui ne dit pas son nom…! mais une mauvaise, très mauvaise copie, édulcorée et chiante comme la pluie ! avec une actrice moche qui a le charisme d’une vieille moule cabossée. Et toujours habillée, car tout cela reste étonnamment très prude. Et le dindon, le flic insomniaque a plus l’air con qu’autre chose… en définitive. J’ignore comment ça finit et je m’en contrefous, pour tout dire : j’ai assez perdu de temps comme ça avec ce film de merde !… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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