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● Movie Guide · Last updated May 18, 2026

Oldboy: Plot, Cast, Ending & Where to Watch

2003 · South Korea · Drama, Thriller, Mystery, Action · 2h 00m · Korean

Oldboy is a 2003 South Korea drama film directed by Park Chan-wook. This guide covers the plot, full cast, an overview of the ending, where to watch, and similar films you might want next.

Read Ending Explained → Movies Like Oldboy Where to Watch
DramaThrillerRecommended
Original Title
Oldboy
Director
Park Chan-wook
Writers
Hwang Jo-yoon, Lim Joon-hyung, Park Chan-wook
Country
South Korea
Runtime
2h 00m
Release
Nov 21, 2003
§ 01 Plot · 6 min read

Oldboy Plot Summary

Oldboy (Korean: 올드보이) is a 2003 South Korean action thriller film directed and co-written by Park Chan-wook. A loose adaptation of the Japanese manga Old Boy by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, the film follows Oh Dae-su, who is imprisoned for 15 years without knowing the identity of his captor or his captor's motives. When he is released, Dae-su finds himself trapped in a web of conspiracy and violence as he seeks revenge against his captor who promises that if Dae-Su cannot find him within five days, the captor will kill himself and thus ensure that Dae-Su will never find the truth behind his capture. His quest becomes tied in with romance when he falls in love with a young sushi chef, Mi-do.

● Quick takeaway

Oldboy (2003) is a South Korea drama film, directed by Park Chan-wook, running 120 minutes. With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate man seeks revenge on his captors. Stars Choi Min-sik and Yoo Ji-tae. Critical reception: IMDb 8.3/10, Rotten Tomatoes 82%, Metacritic 78/100. Tagline: "15 years of imprisonment, five days of vengeance.." This guide covers the plot, full cast, ending, and where to watch.

§ 02 Cast · 6 roles

Cast and Characters

Choi Min-sik headshot
Choi Min-sik
as Oh Dae-Su
Choi famously ate four live octopuses for the sushi-restaurant scene — the film's most-discussed set-piece — and gained and lost over twenty pounds across the shoot to track Dae-su's fifteen-year cell transformation. The performance is the film's single greatest asset: a working-class salaryman remade by isolation into a creature of pure forward motion, and the actor whose face carries the closing sequence's refusal of resolution as a single sustained reaction shot.
Yoo Ji-tae headshot
Yoo Ji-tae
as Lee Woo-jin
Yoo plays Lee Woo-jin as the film's polished, polite antagonist — a wealthy Seoul businessman with a penthouse, a private elevator, and fifteen years of patient planning behind every line. The performance refuses every Korean-thriller-villain register the genre had standardised by 2003: Woo-jin is not loud, not unhinged, not menacing in the obvious ways. Yoo gives him the stillness of a man who has already won the argument and is now waiting for the other side to catch up.
Kang Hye-jung headshot
Kang Hye-jung
as Mi-do
Kang, then a relative newcomer to South Korean leading roles, plays Mi-do as the young sushi chef whose small apartment becomes Dae-su's first refuge after his release. The character is the film's emotional ground — the relationship that humanises Dae-su's investigation and the relationship the closing sequence detonates — and Kang plays her against the genre's instinct to make her a passive love interest, giving Mi-do a curiosity of her own that drives several of the middle act's most important reveals.
Kim Byeong-ok headshot
Kim Byeong-ok
as Mr. Han
Kim plays Mr. Han as the soft-voiced enforcer who runs Woo-jin's day-to-day operation — the figure who collects Dae-su, who escorts the unconscious body to the rooftop on release day, and who supervises the prison itself across the fifteen-year stretch. The performance is calibrated to read as functionary rather than antagonist: a man doing competent work for a wealthy employer whose grudge he does not need to understand.
Ji Dae-han headshot
Ji Dae-han
as No Joo-hwan
Ji plays No Joo-hwan as Dae-su's only friend from before the imprisonment — an internet-café owner who helps him reconstruct his old life from web traces and high-school yearbook contacts during the investigation arc. The role is the film's small slice of normalcy: a friendship that has survived fifteen years of unexplained absence and that quietly accepts Dae-su back without demanding the version of the story he himself is still figuring out.
Oh Dal-su headshot
Oh Dal-su
as Park Cheol-woong
Oh, in the year of his major commercial breakout (Oldboy and Memories of Murder both released in 2003), plays Park Cheol-woong as the owner of the private prison facility that has held Dae-su for fifteen years. The performance is the film's quiet workplace-comedy register dropped into a revenge plot: a small-business proprietor with overhead and clients, who happens to be in the long-term human-storage business, and who treats his clientele with bureaucratic professionalism.
§ 03 · Spoiler Zone · Read with care

Ending Overview

How does Oldboy end? Our spoiler-aware breakdown walks through the final act beat by beat — including the choices, motivations, and ambiguous final shot that viewers most often debate.

Read full Ending Explained →
§ 04 Watch · Updated May 18

Where to Watch Oldboy

Availability may vary by region and change over time.

K
Kanopy
Free with ads
● Available
F
Fandango at Home Free
Free with ads
● Available
A
Amazon Video
Rent
● Available
A
Apple TV Store
Rent
● Available
View all regions & options →
§ 06

Frequently Asked

What is Oldboy about?

With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate man seeks revenge on his captors.

Where can I watch Oldboy?

See the Where to Watch section below for the current streaming, rental, and purchase options in your region.