Oldboy (2003)
Some mystery tales are remembered for the motivation of their protagonists, others for the indelibility of their imagery, and many for having an unforgettably shocking conclusion. South Korean auteur Chan-wook Park’s masterful modern classic, Oldboy, is the rare kind of thriller admired for all three, telling the harrowing story of Dae-su Oh (Min-Sik Choi), a man who, after being held captive for 15 years, is released and tasked to figure out the identity of his captor, why he kidnapped him, and why he let him go. If Dae-su could never imagine a worse nightmare than his 15 years of imprisonment, solving this mystery will prove otherwise.
Stream it on Shudder here