Bakjwi (Thirst) (2009)
82%RT Audience Score: 75%
Awards & Nominations: 17 wins & 19 nominations
The stylish Thirst packs plenty of bloody thrills to satisfy fans of both vampire films and director Chan Wook Park
Thirst is a vampire movie that’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s definitely for those who want to see something different from the usual bloodsucker flicks. Park Chan-wook’s direction is as weird and wonderful as ever, and the movie manages to be both sexy and brutal at the same time. It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely worth a watch if you’re in the mood for something that’s both disturbing and entertaining. Plus, who doesn’t love a good vampire dance of destruction?
Production Company(ies)
Warner Bros., Malpaso Productions,
Distributor
Focus Features
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Seoul, South Korea
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for graphic bloody violence, disturbing images, strong sexual content, nudity and language
Year of Release
2009
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby Digital DTS
-
Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
-
Runtime:2h 13m
-
Language(s):Korean, English, French
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jul 31, 2009 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 17, 2009
Genre(s)
Horror
Keyword(s)
starring Song Kang-ho, Kim Ok-bin, Shin Ha-kyun, Kim Hae-sook, Oh Dal-su, Mercedes Cabral, directed by Park Chan-wook, written by Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong, horror, R rating, box office gross $296.4K, Focus Features, reviewed by Hank Sartin, Joshua Rothkopf, Derek Malcolm, Wendy Ide, Peter Bradshaw, Tim Robey, Yasser Medina, Gena Radcliffe, Kaleem Aftab, Annalee Newitz, David N Butterworth, vampire, priest, experimental procedure, deadly virus, blood transfusion, faith, bloodlust, Tae-ju, childhood friend
Worldwide gross: $13,085,023
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $18,084,951
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,747
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 1,972,187
US/Canada gross: $318,574
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $440,305
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,357
US/Canada opening weekend: $55,889
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $77,245
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,042
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $5,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $6,910,554
Production budget ranking: 1,810
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $3,721,333
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $7,453,064
ROI to date (est.): 70%
ROI ranking: 1,063
Kim Ok-bin – Tae-ju
Shin Ha-kyun – Kang-u
Kim Hae-sook – Lady Ra
Oh Dal-su – Yeong-du
Mercedes Cabral – Evelyn
Director(s)
Park Chan-wook
Writer(s)
Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong
Producer(s)
Park Chan-wook, Ahn Suhyeon
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
17 wins & 19 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (115) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (92) | Rotten (23)
November 18, 2011 | Rating: 3/5
Hank Sartin
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 3/5
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Park is clearly an exceptional director capable of being weirdly funny, quirkily fantastical, brutal and sexy, sometimes at one and the same time. There’s no one quite like him.
October 20, 2009 | Rating: 3/5
Derek Malcolm
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
With its rapacious appetites and forceful directing style, is definitely a vampire film for grown-ups.
October 16, 2009
Wendy Ide
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Not one of Park’s best films, but it has bite.
October 16, 2009 | Rating: 3/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
This fervid extravaganza is easily Park’s best film since Oldboy.
October 16, 2009 | Rating: 4/5
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Its overhaul of vampire terror with certain erotic registers leaves me as cold as a corpse, in a state of perpetual apathy. [Full review in Spanish]
February 18, 2021 | Rating: 5/10
Yasser Medina
Cinemaficionados
For a movie so relentlessly bleak, Thirst is also one of the most erotically charged movies in the vampire genre.
August 19, 2020
Gena Radcliffe
The Spool
The few funny or visceral scenes cannot hide the fact that in the year that the vampire flick has been reinvigorated… this is a major disappointment.
November 1, 2018
Kaleem Aftab
The National (UAE)
Thirst truly enters the dreamy, disturbing world of psychological horror. Park manages to sidestep a lot of the cliches of this subgenre by injecting seemingly inappropriate bits of humor.
May 23, 2018
Annalee Newitz
io9.com
The broad humour ends up undercutting the potential poignancy of the ending… Never mind, because it’s not every day you see two vampires locked in such a colourful apache dance of destruction, filmed with such aplomb.
November 27, 2017
Anne Billson
The Arts Desk
Leave it to the South Koreans to inject new blood into the seemingly eternal vampire oeuvre.
June 18, 2017 | Rating: 3/4
David N. Butterworth
La Movie Boeuf…
Plot
Sang-hyun, a priest working for a hospital, selflessly volunteers for a secret vaccine development project intended to eradicate a deadly virus. However, the virus eventually takes over the priest. He nearly dies, but makes a miraculous recovery by an accidental transfusion of vampire blood. He realizes his sole reason for living: the pleasures of the flesh.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels praises director Chan Wook Park’s “forceful directing style” in Thirst and notes that lead actor Song Kang-ho delivers a standout performance as the conflicted vampire priest.
Park-Chan-wook.jpg
