Sightlines · reception
How Decision to Leave was received
2022 · Park Chan-wook · Decision to Leave on Sightlines
The arc
It arrived already crowned — Best Director at Cannes 2022 and the top of Sight and Sound's year-end poll — but plenty of first-watchers found it cooler and more elusive than The Handmaiden. Rewatch culture did the rest: it's since hardened into many fans' pick for Park's best film.
What’s debated
The eternal fight: is it Park's masterpiece or does Oldboy/The Handmaiden still hold the crown — usually settled by whether you've seen it once or twice, since 'confusing first watch, devastating second watch' is practically its slogan.
Its footprint
It's the patron saint of 'this film shattered me' Letterboxd reviews, and the line about love ending the moment it's spoken gets endlessly quoted and screenshotted. Its images of fog, phones, and translation-app flirtation made it shorthand for modern longing-at-a-distance romance.
Where it stands
A fast-track canon climber — a fixture of best-of-the-2020s lists and a Letterboxd darling that already carries 'you must have seen this' status among younger cinephiles.
Did you know? Park Chan-wook and co-writer Jeong Seo-kyeong wrote the role of Seo-rae specifically for Chinese star Tang Wei — and despite Cannes glory, the film's failure to land a Best International Feature Oscar nomination was one of that season's most complained-about snubs.
Named by the director
- Brief Encounter (1945) — Park cited David Lean's restrained, unconsummated romance as the model for the kind of classic adult love story he wanted to make.
- Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö — Park said the film began with his love of the Swedish duo's Martin Beck detective novels, wanting a weary, meticulous investigator in that mold.