Decision to Leave (2022)

A 2022 South Korean neo-noir romantic mystery film. The story revolves around an insomniac detective, Jang Hae-jun, who works in Busan and only sees his wife, Jung-an, a nuclear power plant worker residing in Ipo, once a week.

Hae-jun and his partner, Soo-wan, encounter a case where a retired immigration officer, Ki Do-soo, is found dead at the foot of a mountain he often climbed. They interview his much younger wife, Song Seo-rae, an emigrant from China who works as a caretaker for seniors. They suspect her because of her insufficient displays of grief, a scratch on her hand, bruises on her legs and torso, and a tattoo of Ki’s initials in the manner that he also marked his belongings.

Hae-jun conducts further interviews with Seo-rae and conducts nightly stakeouts outside of Seo-rae’s apartment building, becoming infatuated with her in the process. Seo-rae observes him outside her building and witnesses one of his other investigations in turn.

Seo-rae’s Monday client says Seo-rae was with her on the day that Ki died, and camera footage is found showing Seo-rae outside her Monday client’s home shortly before Ki’s time of death. 

Before dying, she told Seo-rae to go to Korea to climb the mountain her Korean grandfather, an independence fighter in Manchuria, had left her. Seo-rae gives Hae-jun letters written by Ki admitting to corrupt business dealings, including a letter sent to a subordinate that Hae-jun interprets as a suicide note.

The film received critical acclaim and was nominated for numerous awards.