Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy may frequently shock and disgust you, but you’ll find yourself unable to look away from the excellent filmmaking on display.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jan 7, 2025

The messy, imperfect and chaotic nature of the action belies the precise choreography and consideration behind it.

| Dec 11, 2023

Oldboy is flashy, but there’s a moral and social disconnect between showing off Park’s undeniable chops and Choi Min-sik’s wild-haired, wild-eyed, poignant descent into madness.

| Sep 6, 2023

There’s a core element of emotional realism that accentuates Park’s brutal narrative beats, leaving us to ponder something more than a bloody body.

| Aug 22, 2023

It’s hard to think of any movie that's come out since (outside Park’s own oeuvre, at least) that so directly challenges audience’s expectations about revenge stories, and the value we expect them to carry.

| Aug 19, 2023

A wildly entertaining, twisted, gripping and exhilarating ride that deserves to be among the timeless crime thriller classics like <i>Seven</i>. See it on the largest screen possible. Be sure to skip the dumbed-down, forgettable remake by Spike Lee.

| Aug 19, 2023

Given its highly stylish presentation, the unfolding mystery, several notable sequences, and a tremendous all-in lead performance from Choi Min-sik, it’s easy to see why the film has stood the test of time.

| Aug 18, 2023

When [Oh Dae-su] pieces it all together and finally sees himself reflected back, it is too much for him to bear. As he then tries to forget, the final shot of his shattered smile turning to silent laughter ensures we never will.

| Aug 17, 2023

There’s something viscerally uncomfortable about seeing what torment does to [Oh Dae-su] and what he becomes in the process.

| Aug 16, 2023

One of the most electrifying films you'll ever see.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Aug 15, 2023

Visceral storytelling, told with rich visuals, impassioned style, and poetic purpose.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 20, 2022

All of that being said, I did get through the film. [But] I had big issues with it as I was watching it...

| Mar 29, 2021

Hailed as one of the top ten movies in the history of Asian cinema, it's hard to suggest Oldboy should not be on that list.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 14, 2021

Culminates in such outlandish morbidity that it's difficult to admire as a competent whole.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Nov 9, 2020

A powerful and smart ode to tragedy, Park's film manages to provoke you, dishearten you, and thrill you.

| Aug 13, 2020

Oldboy still stands up as a modern revenge masterpiece, full of extreme violence and brutal shocks but with heart and a story that draws you in and keeps you invested with every twist and turn.

| Oct 13, 2019

Still holds up as a true tour de force that is just as fresh and hard-hitting in 2019 as it was upon its release 16 years ago.

| Original Score: 10/10 | Oct 4, 2019

Oldboy is so much more than an action film; it takes the viewer on a journey through a life destroyed, rebuilt and abolished once more. It teaches us lessons about consequences from our actions, the need to get revenge and find truth...

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 10, 2019

Oldboy has more to offer than action and violence - it's an imaginative tale of guilt and revenge, with a shocking climax that will live long in the memory.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 5, 2019

When it was first released back in 2003 Park Chan-wook's Oldboy hit audiences like a hammer. Forget Spike Lee's 2013 US remake with Josh Brolin, this South Korean film is the only version of Oldboy that needs to be seen.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 3, 2019