What would you do if you were trapped in a hotel room for 15 years? Would you make sure you get room service comped? Would you be enthralled by Cinemax for about a month or two before losing it entirely?

Oldboy ((Korean: 올드보이; RR: Oldeuboi; MR: Oldŭboi) is a Korean action flick par excellence. It’s simply amazing, and even with a premise like the one described above, it’s can’t miss.

But it takes us places above and beyond that.

It’s the late 80s. A salary-man named Oh Dae-su is arrested for public intoxication, missing his daughter’s birthday and sitting in the drunk tank.

His friend picks him up from the cop shop, and they go to a phone booth so Oh Dae-Su can make amends with the missus. Suddenly, Oh Dae-su is kidnapped and wakes up in a sealed hotel room, where food is delivered through a trap-door and he’s periodiocally gassed by unknown captors. Watching the television news, Oh Dae-su learns that his wife has been murdered and he’s the prime suspect.

Of course, he’s gotta wrest himself from the predicament and go hog wild with revenge.

What a plot, folks. Oldboy (not the terrible remake) is a higher-order action film, smart and savvy as hell and with some showstopping fight scenes. Join us for this episode of the Really Awful Movies Podcast.