Sightlines · reception
How Thirst was received
2009 · Park Chan-wook · Thirst on Sightlines
The arc
It won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2009 but landed as the 'divisive one' in Park's run — praised as audacious, knocked for its length and tonal whiplash. It's since climbed steadily, with Song Kang-ho's post-Parasite global fame sending a new wave of viewers back to call it one of Park's best.
What’s debated
The perennial fight is where it ranks in Park Chan-wook's filmography — a vocal camp insists it's his most underrated film, better than its reputation next to Oldboy and The Handmaiden.
Its footprint
It's a fixture of the 'vampire movies for people who hate vampire movies' conversation — the arthouse counter-programming people cite from the Twilight era, usually in the same breath as Let the Right One In.
Where it stands
A canon climber: once the deep cut in Park's filmography, now a Letterboxd favorite that fans hand to anyone who's finished the Vengeance trilogy.
Did you know? Thirst was partly financed by Universal, making it the first Korean film produced with direct investment from a major Hollywood studio — and it took the Jury Prize at Cannes 2009, shared with Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank.