With this seductive, serpentine neo-noir, Park Chan-wook raised the bar in the 2022 Cannes competition programme and reasserts his position as a peerless visual stylist. But there’s nothing superficial or superfluous about his style here: it’s all in the service of the film’s mercurial and at times disorientating blend of crime and passion.

Detective Hae-joon (Park Hae-il) is a Busan-based homicide specialist renowned for his obsessively dedicated stakeouts and his diligence when it comes to unravelling the threads of a murder investigation. When a Korean man, a keen climber, falls to his death from a mountain, it at first seems like a clear cut accident. However, there’s something off in the reaction of the man’s Chinese wife, Seo-rae (Tang Wei), which marks her out as a suspect. But as Hae-joon’s fascination with her becomes all-consuming, it obscures his usually clear professional eye.

Wendy Ide, Screen Daily