This 2003 K-Drama on Netflix Is the Best Cat-and-Mouse Thriller
Old but gold, as they say.
There's no denying that K-dramas have been at the top of their game for decades now, and it doesn't matter what genre they're in – they always try to attract as many viewers as possible.
However, one of the most popular genres of K-dramas is thriller, and with the way South Koreans approach their creations, it's clear that each one has many chances to be perfect.
Still, with the huge variety of things to see in the genre, there's one movie that is considered to be the best cat-and-mouse thriller ever created by the industry. It's without a doubt Park Chan Wook's 2003 movie called Oldboy.
Oldboy Turns Tables From the Start
The premise of the movie is quite unusual: we meet a rather unpleasant character, Oh Dae-Su, when he is being arrested for being drunk, but then after being taken to the police station he was kidnapped by unknown ones.
Dae-Su wakes up in a place resembling a hotel room, where there’s no windows and the only means of entertainment is a TV. His capturers are feeding him and actively sedate him every day to keep him from committing suicide.
In such conditions he has spent 15 years, only to be unexpectedly released in one day without any understanding of whatever happened. Filled with rage and long awaited desire to seek revenge, he now realizes that he has only several days to find out whoever was responsible for his kidnapping.
He begins by finding out where his food came from, where he was kept, who was responsible for every step his unseen captors took toward him. But what happens next is something nobody expected.
What Do Fans Say About Oldboy?
Park Chan Wook took the audience into a completely different world of storytelling, and that’s what makes the movie incredible.
“The gradual buildup of the story is the strongest aspect of the film. The tension just keeps on building as we near the resolution. Every minute the movie progresses, the plot keeps on getting better and better with no dull period in between. And the twists are just so shocking. Completely unpredictable,” Redditor Boss452 said.
Oldboy is available to stream on Netflix.