The Netflix Revenge Thriller Is One Of The Greatest Movies Of All Time

It’s safe to say, with a great deal of certainty, that Netflix hasn’t produced the majority of the content on its platform, and that is common practice among all streamers. However, the sheer popularity of Netflix as the most popular streaming service allowed movies, such as Oldboy, to gain significant viewership through Netflix’s streaming platform.

The movie itself was released in 2003 by a South Korean cast and crew as the second part of its director’s Vengeance trilogy, but the narrative is actually a loose adaptation of the Japanese manga of the same name.

The narrative follows the story of Oh Dae-Su, who has been imprisoned in a cell that resembles a hotel room for 12 years, without knowing the identity of his captor or the captor’s motives. When he’s finally released from imprisonment, he seeks vengeance against those who had wronged him, and his quest becomes tied in with romance when he falls in love along the way.

Oldboy received critical acclaim upon release and gained numerous accolades worldwide, including the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, where he gained high praise from Quentin Tarantino—no surprise there.

The critics praised the narrative despite it deviating significantly from the original manga. The movie’s director, Park Chan-wook, is well-known for his meticulous attention to visual detail, which provided Oldboy with a unique cinematographic style that made the movie pop among Western audiences.

Domestically, and by that we mean South Korea, the movie wasn’t a massive success, at least initially. However, the film’s international release and success eventually warranted attention in South Korea, as well.

Oldboy ultimately proved to be a massive success that warranted two additional adaptations, an unauthorized Hindi remake in 2006, titled Zinda, which gained some attention from a legal standpoint, but no legal actions were taken, as the production studio had shut down.

Unsurprisingly, it was a financial disappointment for those involved. Another remake, the official American version of the movie, was directed by Spike Lee and featured Josh Brolin as the film’s protagonist. Unfortunately, it didn’t fare well and bombed the box office—hard!

The original Oldboy is now regarded as one of the best movies ever made and has been included in numerous “best-of” lists by many publications, including Empire, which placed it on its top 500 movies of all time list. The Guardian, on the other hand, named Oldboy as 3^rd best classic of modern South Korean cinematography. Those interested in watching this cinematographic gem can stream Oldboy on Netflix.