Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave is a film that lingers in the mind like a half-remembered dream haunting, elusive, and impossible to shake. At its core, it’s a detective story, but one where the mystery isn’t just in the crime it’s in the detective’s own unraveling. Tang Wei delivers a performance of mesmerizing ambiguity as Seo-rae, the enigmatic widow at the center of the investigation, while Park Hae-il’s Detective Jang is a man slowly drowning in his own fascination.

The film’s greatest strength is its refusal to be pinned down. Is it a noir? A romance? A psychological thriller? It slips between genres like a shadow, defying expectations at every turn. Park Chan-wook’s direction is as precise as ever, but here he trades the visceral intensity of Oldboy for something more delicate a film built on glances, silences, and the unbearable tension of what goes unsaid. The cinematography by Kim Ji-yong is stunning, with compositions that feel like moving paintings, each frame layered with meaning.

Where Decision to Leave stumbles, slightly, is in its pacing. The middle act drags as the film luxuriates in its own atmosphere, and some viewers may find themselves craving more momentum. But this is a minor flaw in what is otherwise a masterclass in mood and restraint. The score, when it appears, is sparing but effective, a whisper rather than a shout.

This is a film about the impossibility of truly knowing another person and the dangerous allure of trying. By the end, you’re left with more questions than answers, but they’re the kind that linger, unresolved, like a love letter you can’t bring yourself to throw away.