Decision to Leave

"The closer you look, the harder you fall."

2022 2h 19m KO

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 1,638

ThrillerMysteryRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“The closer you look, the harder you fall.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

MUBISubscription

MUBI Amazon ChannelSubscription

Cast

Tang Wei
Song Seo-rae
Park Hae-il
Jang Hae-joon
Lee Jung-hyun
Jeong-ahn
Go Kyung-pyo
Soo-wan
Park Yong-woo
Lim Ho-shin
Kim Shin-young
Yeon-su
Yoo Seung-mok
Ki Do-soo
Jung Yi-seo
Mi-ji

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Park Chan-wook
Writers: Park Chan-wook, Lee Yoon-ho, Jeong Seo-kyeong
Languages: Mandarin, English, Korean
Countries: South Korea

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 4 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Mandarin, English, Korean.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Park Chan-wook, shot by Kim Ji-yong. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Cho Young-wuk. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Kim Sang-bum shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Tang Wei and Park Hae-il and Lee Jung-hyun carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The closer you look, the harder you fall.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt12477480 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Park Chan-wook directs. Kim Ji-yong behind the camera. Cho Young-wuk scores. Kim Sang-bum cuts. Produced in South Korea. Dialogue in Mandarin, English, Korean.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 4 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Mandarin, English, Korean.
3Directed by Park Chan-wook, shot by Kim Ji-yong. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Cho Young-wuk. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Kim Sang-bum shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Tang Wei and Park Hae-il and Lee Jung-hyun carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The closer you look, the harder you fall.".
8IMDB entry: tt12477480 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 19 themes, including "sea", "secret love", "police", "widow".

The technical file

Cinematography: Kim Ji-yong
Original score: Cho Young-wuk
Editing: Kim Sang-bum
Production design: Ryu Seong-hie
Costume design: Kwak Jung-ae
Makeup / hair: Song Jong-hee
Runtime: 139 min · 2h 19m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $16,914,773
Original language: KO
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Decision to Leave (2022)

Awards

Cannes Best Director Award

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Park Chan-wook

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

badelf2022-09-28
★ 7/10
Based on the pacing and acting, this should be a top-tier movie, but I found it difficult to watch because of the cruddy subtitles I had.
Manuel São Bento2022-10-23
★ 6/10
MORE SPOILER-FREE MINI-REVIEWS @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/other-films-watched-lff-2022 "Decision to Leave is far from Park Chan-wook's best works, but it's still an intriguing, layered story about obsession and "forbidden love". It captures the viewer's full attention during the engaging first part, where the central theme and the respective romance appear to be in sync. However, momentum is lost with the repetitive, lengthy second half in which the same narrative points are approached without the same impact. Surprising humor provides a good balance, but it strangely ceases to be used after a certain point." Rating: B-
CinemaSerf2022-10-30
★ 7/10
When a man is found at the base of a mountain with his skull crushed, it looks like he slipped, or did he commit suicide, or was he pushed? Well it falls to detectives "Jang Hae-joon" (Park Hae-il) and his young sidekick "Soo-wan" (Go Kyung-Po) to get to the bottom of it. They are suspicious enough, but the only realistic suspect is his younger widow "Song Seo-rae" (Tang Wei) - but she has an alibi. She looks after ageing grannies and they swear that she is the milk of human kindness. Gradually, the older policeman begins to obsess a little about her. He stakes out her apartment at all hours, follows her - and she knows it too. Is she playing with him? Toying with him? Skip forwards a few years and he and his wife are in a market where they encounter "Seo-rae" and her brand new husband - a man on the run from folks he owes a great deal of money to. An embarrassed exchange follows before they leave, only for the officer to discover a few days later that there is a corpse in swimming pool and yep, it is that of her new husband. Is she a serial killer? Is she completely innocent? The inspector is convinced she is behind it, but he cannot prove it and his personal and increasingly destructive fascination with the woman, along with her own considerable skills at deception and manipulation lead us to a denouement that, well, certainly surprises. The acting here is strong, especially the young Tang We; there is some humour and we are also given a few clues, ourselves, as to just what might have happened - and whether or not she might be (or not) the perpetrator - there are red herrings a-plenty here. Jung Young Sook offers quite a charming contribution as the ageing and ostensibly corroborating granny "Hae-dong" too. The plot has loads of twists and turns, and essentially offers us two stories rolled into one. It's quirkily entertaining - and we are never quite sure! I really enjoyed this.