Reviews: Thirst (2009) Movie Review
Subgenres: Mystery, Vampires, Medical, Virus
HellHorror’s review of Thirst (2009) breaks down the plot, scares, cast performances, and its lasting impact on the horror genre.
Thirst (2009), aka Bakjwi (2009), is a rated R 2h 13 min South Korean fantasy horror that was loosely based on the Emile Zola novel titled, Therese Raquin. Director and co-screenplay writer Chan-wook Park (Oldboy (2003), The Handmaiden (2016), Lady Vengeance (2005)) excelled at executing this great film about a Catholic priest. I admire how the director lets his camera roams/wanders freely without getting the viewers dizzy. Thirst was one of the best vampire movies in 2009. The film contains graphic bloody violence, nudity, s**ual content, mild language, vampire, blood, virus, gore, self-mutilation and tons of suspense along with tension.
Thirst revolves around Catholic priest Friar Hyan Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho - Snowpiercer (2013), The Host (2006), Memories of Murder (2003), Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)) is a good man that wants to do good. He talks nurses out of suicide, ministers to the ill, and does other good deeds but he did one good thing that was proven wrong for him, and that was volunteering to test an experimental vaccine for the Emmanuel Virus. Emmanuel Virus is a flesh-eating disease. Friar was the only one to survive the experiment amongst 500 people, and he did not return to his usual self. Friar began having a strong urge for human blood, and he also started having other intentions that a Catholic priest should not have.
Friar childhood friend Kang-woo (Shin Ha-kyun - Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), The Front Line (2011), Save the Green Planet! (2003)) wife Tae-ju is not happy with her life. Tae-ju (Ok-bin Kim - The Front Line (2011), Dasepo Naughty Girls (2006), Yoo-Na’s Street (2014)) instantly became attracted to the priest. The ending of the film could have been better although it was tragic and playful at the same time. I felt Thirst’s primary objective was for it not to be labeled as a horror movie as it tried to stay away from many horror elements and instead included black comedy, melodrama, and suspense. Both main lead actors gave us outstanding performances displaying many emotions.
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Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Thirst Rating Scores
- Our Score: 8/10
- Overall Score: 7.68/10
- IMDB: 7.1/10
- MetaCritic: 7.3/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 8.1/10
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