Decision to Leave is in theaters now.
It’s a pretty neat trick for a director to lure you into his story under the guise of a murder mystery and then reveal that he’s actually been laying the groundwork for an exquisite love story the whole time. With Decision to Leave, director Park Chan-wook is arguably the most playful and romantic, artfully unfolding the story of a would-be black widow pursued by a stubborn but empathetic detective whose fascination with the other turns into something deep.
The film opens with Detective Hae-joon (Park Hae-il) stuck in a rut. As a city detective, he drives hours to see his 16-year-old wife on the weekends because their jobs keep them apart during the week. They are childless and happy with each other, but he is clearly taking action. He is far more committed to his work and is tasked with shedding light on what happened to an older, experienced climber (Park Yong-woo) found dead at the base of a lookout. Hae-joon finds the man’s much younger wife, Seo-rae (Tang Wei), to be rather unemotional about her husband’s death, prompting him to follow her throughout the day. , watching her act as a caregiver to a list of elderly clients. .
Fashioned in the mold of a Hitchcockian femme fatale but without the slick exterior, Seo-rae is an enigma, seemingly empathetic towards her clients, but emotionless when summoned for questioning by Hae-joon. Increasingly intrigued by her, he finds himself increasingly obsessed with the idea of how and why she was able to orchestrate the death of her husband. And she is just as drawn to his interest. Aware of their orbit, she invites him to her home where they observe each other more closely and end up sharing the stories of their lives.
Because so much of the story is a psychological thriller, Decision to Leave is wordy by necessity, but Chan-wook uses a host of engaging techniques to keep the visuals startling and kinetic. From a wild Steadicam run between Hae-joon and a robbery suspect, to the deft use of transitions when he’s watching his house, or the clever use of on-screen text messaging between characters, there is a subtle but constant movement. But Chan-wook also knows when and how to build intimacy between Hae-joon and Seo-rae in long scenes where they talk to each other and gently reveal their complex layers. They’re also well supported by a set of quirky character actors that add a huge amount of rich texture. From Hae-joon’s worried wife to his junior detective partner, who operates in the field like he’s in an action movie, they flesh out the world and make it real and lived.
And just when you think the story has unfolded, Chan-wook introduces a twist that reframes everything we think we know about the characters, then sets them on a new path that takes the film into unexpected territory. The change only amplifies the longing and star-studded dropout of Hae-joon and Seo-rae’s unconventional connection. Park Hae-il and Tang Wei conjure up a major In the Mood for Love energy that is equally captivating and swooning.
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The only misstep of the entire movie comes in the closing minutes as Chan-wook eerily allows the ending to swing into melodramatic territory, which clashes with everything that came before. Perhaps he saw this as the deserved moment to open the emotional floodgates, given how he modulated such measured restraint throughout. How it lands with audiences overall will be up to my personal tastes, but for me, this was the only place where “less is more” came to mind. However, that doesn’t temper how confident, memorable and eloquent the decision to leave is.
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