Park Chan-wook directs Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin and Park Hee-soon in this Korean neo-noir where a recently laid off family man decides to assassinate his competition for a new opening at a paper plant.

Magisterial, wicked. A patient, coiled thriller with some of the most insane virtuoso visuals of the last 10 years. There’s that mordant sense of humour. That plotting which feels somehow both randomly squirrelish and fatefully composed. You can’t tame chaos, the best laid plans… etc. Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin put in two of my favourite performances of this Oscar season. Expressing emotions, frustrations and schemes that ironically go unsaid but are viscerally felt. I would have liked to have seen both nominated. As with all Park Chan-wook, this will infest my brain until the next watch.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Parasite (2019)