"Resolution to Break Up") is a 2022 South Korean neo-noir romantic mystery film directed, co-written and produced by Park Chan-wook.
[3] In April 2022, Decision to Leave was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival,[4][5] where Park Chan-wook won Best Director.
[10] Decision to Leave received critical acclaim, being named one of the top five international films of 2022 by the National Board of Review.
[11] It was selected as the South Korean entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards,[12] making the December shortlist.
Insomniac detective Jang Hae-jun works in Busan and only sees his wife, Jung-an, a nuclear power plant worker residing in Ipo, once a week.
Hae-jun and his partner, Soo-wan, encounter a case where a retired immigration officer, Ki Do-soo, is found dead at the foot of a mountain he often climbed.
They suspect her because of her insufficient displays of grief, a scratch on her hand, bruises on her legs and torso, broken ribs, and a tattoo of Ki's initials in the manner that he also marked his belongings.
Questioned about her background, Seo-rae admits that in China she killed her terminally ill mother with fentanyl pills when requested to do so.
Before dying, she told Seo-rae to go to Korea to climb the mountain her Korean grandfather, an independence fighter in Manchuria, had left her.
On the client's phone, he sees that the housebound woman apparently walked up 138 flights of stairs on the day of Ki's death.
Hae-jun says Seo-rae has destroyed his pride in his job and that, since meeting her, he has become "shattered"; nevertheless, he has covered up the evidence and instructs her to throw the incriminating phone into the sea before leaving.
The website's critics consensus reads: "If Decision to Leave isn't quite on the same level as Park Chan-wook's masterpieces, this romantic thriller is still a remarkable achievement by any other metric.
"[35] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 based on 44 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
[36] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter, praising the director Park Chan-wook, wrote: "A world-class artist at the top of his game...all while navigating multilayered plots that continue to deliver surprises right up until the end.
"[37] Peter Howell of Toronto Star rated the film four out of four, and wrote: "Every frame is like a painting, with hints to character motivation and plot twists.
"[39] Luke Goodsell of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation called the film "a testament to Park's undimmed talent...Decision to Leave is one of his best".
[30] Wendy Ide gave it five stars out of five in The Observer, describing it as an "enthralling, serpentine crime drama" that possesses "dangerously handsome cinematography, as precise as it is playful, is full of layers and flipped mirror images.