Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- brooding
- paranoid
- visceral
- late night thriller viewing
- disturbing cinema marathon
What critics said
Critics generally found the remake grim and bloody but shallow and overly dependent on the original, despite occasional praise for its energetic genre craft.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Joe Doucett's obsessive search for the person who imprisoned him gradually turns punishment into a cycle of manipulation and torment.
Joe is released without explanation and must reconstruct the purpose of his twenty-year confinement while Adrian Pryce controls the terms of discovery.
Joe's two decades in solitary captivity define his violent behavior, fractured relationships, and compulsive need to understand his punishment.
The film combines bloody combat, obsessive melodrama, and disturbing revelations around Joe's physical and emotional deterioration.
Films like Oldboy, and why
I Saw the Devil
shared revenge thriller structure, conspiracy mystery, graphic violence, and psychologically destabilizing revelations
Prisoners
shared neo-noir atmosphere, obsessive investigation, criminal conspiracy, and morally corrosive revenge
The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)
shared captivity premise, brutal action, traumatic isolation, and escalating psychological torment
The Departed
shared American remake status, mystery-driven revenge narrative, disturbing family secrets, and stylized violence
Movie Details
- Director
- Spike Lee
- Release Date
- 2013-11-14
- Runtime
- 104 min
- Rating
- 5.9 / 10 (2195)
Cast
- Josh Brolin
- Elizabeth Olsen
- Sharlto Copley
- Samuel L. Jackson
- Michael Imperioli
- Pom Klementieff
- James Ransone
- Max Casella
- Linda Emond
- Elvis Nolasco
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- fuboTV, Philo
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Oldboy about?
- After two decades of solitary imprisonment, a driven advertising executive hunts the architect of his captivity through a brutal maze of revenge, conspiracy, and forbidden secrets.
- What is Oldboy like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Oldboy as brisk, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Oldboy violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Oldboy as graphic.
- What did critics think of Oldboy?
- Critics generally found the remake grim and bloody but shallow and overly dependent on the original, despite occasional praise for its energetic genre craft.
- Which films are like Oldboy?
- Films with a similar feel include I Saw the Devil, Prisoners, The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence), and The Departed.
- How long is Oldboy?
- Oldboy runs 104 minutes.
- Where can I watch Oldboy?
- In United States, Oldboy streams on fuboTV, Philo.
