For a film inspired by Oedipus Rex, I was expecting this film to be dark, but after watching the movie, I think even Sophocles would've been unable to dream this up. If sex or extreme violence spoils a movie for you, please avoid this film.
Oldboy is a genre film, so I understand it will not appeal to everyone’s taste. However, for fans of action thrillers, this movie is a must-watch. The film follows Oh Dae-su, a violent, chronically drunk man, after he is kidnapped on a rainy night while trying to get home to his family. We see him spend 15 years imprisoned in a room, not knowing the reason or the duration of his punishment, and Choi Min-sik (lead actor) brilliantly captures the psychological impacts of this imprisonment. In one scene, we see him plead with his captors for a bit of conversation, then turn to cursing at them, and finally go back to sobbing, apologizing, and begging to know why he’s been jailed. Choi’s brilliance as an actor makes the anguish and desperation of his character come to life, making the first 30 minutes of this film already horrifying.
The film turns even darker, however, after Oh Dae-su is released. During his confinement, he spent years punching the walls, thinking about how to track down his captors and get his revenge on them. Once out of prison, he immediately starts getting mysterious clues from his captors about how to find them. His search for answers leads him into increasingly dangerous situations, creating intense action sequences and increasing the terror we feel throughout the movie. There is less action here than in films like John Wick, but the action sequences are of incredible quality and add to the gritty nature of the movie.
Choi’s struggle grows more intense after he falls in love with Japanese sushi chef Mi-do — their relationship is marked by Choi’s suspicion of her and his violent, erratic behavior as his desire for revenge consumes him. Eventually, the film approaches its climax as Choi’s former captors threaten to kill Mi-do in 5 days unless he can figure out why he was imprisoned and then released.
The film’s climax lasts around half an hour and is some of the most powerful cinema I’ve seen in my life. Towards the end, you feel like crying, vomiting, knocking yourself out, and screaming at the director all at the same time. There is a horrifying twist, heart-wrenching acting all around, and even more grisly violence to add to the evil of this movie.
The film’s ending allows multiple interpretations, adding confusion to the already powerful emotions of rage, disgust, and horror that I felt. I spent half the movie on the edge of my seat, as desperate as the protagonist to understand why he was jailed for 15 years. By the end, after finding that answer, I was just desperate for Choi and Mi-do’s suffering to be over — their superb acting elicits sympathy and anguish from the audience.
My only complaint with the film would be slightly stretching reality at two points — however, the dramatic value of this outweighed the loss of realism, so it hardly detracts from the film’s quality.
This movie doesn’t have any deep themes or much of a message, but fans of action thrillers must watch Oldboy. Incredible acting, great action sequences, and a horrifying plot — seriously, this movie’s ending goes in my “top 10 most horrifying, disgusting, and depressing endings” list.