TV tonight: Park Chan-wook’s adaptation starring Hoa Xuande and Robert Downey Jr
The watcher
The Sympathizer: Robert Downey Jr totally steals the show in electric spy thriller
March 2024
BTS, Blackpink, Squid Game, kimchi … what’s the secret of South Korea’s world-conquering culture?
From K-pop to K-beauty, via film and fashion, South Korea is punching way above its weight. The boyband BTS alone rakes in billions every year. Are there lessons for other countries?
January 2024
The seven best films to watch on TV this week
Killers of the Flower Moon to The Kitchen: the seven best films to watch on TV this week
Martin Scorsese’s 206-minute epic stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone, and a striking sci-fi that’s part Blade Runner, part District 9 and brims with rage
October 2022
Decision to Leave review – Park Chan-wook at his playful, slinky best
Park Chan-wook: ‘We must accept we have an illness in our society’
May 2022
Peter Bradshaw's film of the week
Decision to Leave review – Tang Wei stuns in Park Chan-wook black-widow noir
Park’s tale of a married detective torn between infidelity and moral duty keeps the viewer off-balance at every turn
September 2019
Best culture of the 21st century
The 100 best films of the 21st century
Gangsters, superheroes, schoolkids, lovers, slaves, peasants, techies, Tenenbaums and freefalling astronauts – they’re all here in our countdown of cinema’s best movies since 2000
August 2019
Oldboy review – a beautifully blood-spattered modern classic
Limbs, teeth and live octopuses all come in for unblinkingly brutal treatment in Park Chan-wook’s stunning revenge epic
February 2018
Best films
The best films of 2017 so far
La La Land and The Love Witch wove magic, Moonlight and Lion wrung out tears, while Get Out and Lady Macbeth got nasty. Plus, there were striking debuts, returns to form by seasoned directors and reunions for the Trainspotting rogues
December 2017
Top UK films 2017
The 50 top films of 2017 in the UK: No 6 The Handmaiden
Continuing our countdown of the year’s finest films, Peter Bradshaw praises Park Chan-wook’s dazzling film about a lesbian love affair in 1930s Korea
August 2017
Guy Lodge's streaming and DVDs
Ghost in the Shell; The Handmaiden; Viceroy’s House and more – review
Carnal pleasures and clever plotting combine in Park Chan-wook’s thrilling The Handmaiden, while Scarlett Johansson is a woman of steel
May 2017
Cannes 2017 day seven: Charlize Theron and Naomi Campbell on the red carpet – in pictures
Box office analysis: UK
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 blows away UK box office with huge debut
April 2017
Mark Kermode's film of the week
The Handmaiden review – a ripe, erotic tale
Peter Bradshaw's film of the week
The Handmaiden review – outrageous thriller drenched with eroticism
March 2017
The Handmaiden: the return of erotic cinema
Eroticism has long been a dirty word in film. But a new thriller about a clandestine affair between two women in 1930s Korea returns the genre to its transgressive roots.
December 2016
Top US films 2016
The 50 best films of 2016 in the US: No 9 The Handmaiden
As our countdown moves into the final fortnight, Peter Bradshaw welcomes a dazzling and sexy adaptation of Sarah Waters’s story about lesbian love
November 2016
Top US films 2016
The 50 best films of 2016 in the US: the full list
The Guardian film team’s favourite movies released in the US this year
May 2016
Park Chan-wook on relocating Sarah Waters' Fingersmith to Korea
He made his name with the hyperviolent Oldboy. Now Park Chan-wook has turned Sarah Waters’ novel into a swooningly erotic thriller. The director talks about vengeance and finding his feminine side
