Oldboy (2003)

Everyone told me to watch Oldboy for years. Finally did and instantly understood why. the narrative ruthlessness is immediately apparent. Now I'm recommending it just as loudly to everyone else.

Whatever you think of the story, Oldboy is one of the most visually extraordinary films ever shot. There are frames here that belong in a gallery. Worth seeing on the biggest screen possible.

There are scenes in cinema you never forget. For me, the corridor fight in Oldboy is one of them. Park Chan-wook constructs it with total precision and it lands exactly as intended. Pure craft.

Oldboy is not background viewing. Every scene requires you. Put your phone down, dim the lights. Park Chan-wook is doing too much to be half-watched. Give it the attention it deserves.

Oldboy deals with the horror of truth in a way that's genuinely uncomfortable at times. But that discomfort is the point. Park Chan-wook never lets you look away, and the film is better for it.