# Oldboy (2003)

> A vengeful captive’s search for the stranger who imprisoned him becomes a hallucinatory descent into memory, guilt, and devastating revelation.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/movie/546

## Facts

- Runtime: 120 min
- Genres: Thriller, Mystery
- Director: Park Chan-wook
- Cast: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jung, Kim Byeong-ok, Ji Dae-han, Oh Dal-su, Lee Seung-shin, Yoon Jin-seo
- TMDB rating: 8.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364569/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: extreme
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: graphic
- Mood: visceral, anguished, surreal, late night thriller marathon, cult cinema night

## Synopsis

A man’s quest for vengeance leads him down a dark and twisted path of discovery and despair.

## Movies like Oldboy

- [Lady Vengeance (2005)](https://ember.film/movie/2628)
- [Pieta (2012)](https://ember.film/movie/80446)
- [The Isle (2000)](https://ember.film/movie/4164)
- [The Ugly (2025)](https://ember.film/movie/7334741)
- [Forgotten (2017)](https://ember.film/movie/335526)
- [A Bittersweet Life (2005)](https://ember.film/movie/6327)
- [Breath (2007)](https://ember.film/movie/15215)
- [Memoir of a Murderer (2017)](https://ember.film/movie/291876)
- [A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)](https://ember.film/movie/2630)
- [The Housemaid (2010)](https://ember.film/movie/29847)

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