How “Decision to Leave” Weaponizes Misdirection

Every director gets to make a Hitchcock.

By Meg Shields

To be perfectly clear, this is a compliment. Especially given that Park Chan-wook has made a film that would make good ole’ Hitch vibrate in his chair like a jackhammer. Decision to Leave follows Hae-Jun (Park Hae-il), an obsessive, insomniac police detective who finds himself on the case of a peculiar murder case. The prime suspect? Song Seo-rae (Tang Wei), the deceased’s wife. What follows is a cat-and-mouse game of stolen glances, sushi-based flirting, and the occasional dash of violence.In the abject bloodbath that is Park Chan-wook’s filmography, Decision to Leave is easily the director’s most “mundane” film. But don’t get it twisted. As the video essay below outlines, all those deceptively quiet moments hide delicious mysteries that only unfold fully on a repeat viewing. After all, we’re seeing things from Hae-Jun’s perspective. And as observant as he is, the big picture never quite comes into focus.