Oldboy might not be billed as a horror like some of my other Netflix movie of the day recommendations, but that doesn’t stop it from being a harrowing watch. This is one that’s best experienced knowing as little as possible, so I will do my best to be vague when summing it up.
The movie follows Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) after he is arrested for being drunk in public, which causes him to miss his daughter’s fourth birthday. Following his arrest, Oh Dae-su is kidnapped and held captive in a hotel room, where he’ll remain until finally being released 15-years later. It is now up to him – a newly freed from captivity, confused man – to find out why he was put there. That’s about all you need to know, because Oldboy takes you on a truly wild journey that will shock you throughout, making it the perfect choice if you’re wanting to check out a new Netflix movie that’s dark and twisted.
If you need convincing even further, Oldboy won the Grand Prix at Cannes Film Festival in 2004, a prize which has also been awarded to movies like The Zone of Interest and Inside Llewyn Davis.
The iconic Korean drama movie has an 85% Rotten Tomatoes rating, indicating mostly favourable reviews from critics – including from your very own TechRadar, which has previously recommended it as one of three skilful assassin movies.
Described as a “strange, powerful tale of revenge” in the critics consensus on Rotten Tomatoes – that is certainly one way of putting it. Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian put it another way: “A dark and thrillingly horrible adventure into the realms of the unthinkable.”
Legendary critic Roger Ebert added in his perfect review: “Oldboy is a powerful film not because of what it depicts, but because of the depths of the human heart which it strips bare.”
Finally, the BBC summed it up best saying: “Full of insanely grand passions, bloodthirsty violence and jet black comedy, it’s a sadistic masterpiece that confirms Korea’s current status as producer of some of the world’s most exciting cinema.”
