The Tagline For Thirst

States that this film is "A Mad Love Story".



That it is indeed.

From Chan-wook Park, the director of Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, and Lady Vengeance, this film plays with expectations and morally ambiguous characters just as the director's previous films have.

I am not sure the whole works: romance, vampirism, horror, a greater sense of the violation/worship of the body than just about anything Cronenberg ever imagined, murder, guilt, and especially religion.

Plus there are definitely some uneven performances from the actors, especially the female lead, Kim Ok-vin playing Tae-ju, who seems to swing wildly, perhaps intentionally so, from innocence to non-innocence.

And some questionable cinematography and a very video feel to the whole that did not seem to match the exquisite framing of the previous films.

But I still felt extremely engrossed in the film even when laughing/crying at the boundaries being pushed both in terms of genre and taste.

Would I recommend it?

Yes!

With a warning: be prepared!

IMDB.