Transposing the French classic Les Liaisons dangereuses to late 18th-century Korea, this luxuriant saga of boudoir intrigue begins as playboy nobleman Jo-won (a delightfully roguish Bae Yong-joon) makes a bet with his scheming cousin Lady Cho (Lee Mi-sook) that he can seduce a virtuous young woman (Secret Sunshine’s Jeon Do-yeon), setting into motion a salacious drama of erotic gamesmanship, jealousy, betrayal, and revenge. Elegantly directed by E J-yong, who delights in the opulent period trappings, Untold Scandal is a deliciously…

Blurring the lines between cinema, virtual reality, and choose-your-own-adventure thrill ride, this postmodern, mind-warp techno-fantasy comes perhaps as close as any film has to replicating the labyrinthine logic of a video game. Ju (Kim Hyun-sung) is a computer game–obsessed delivery boy who finds himself seemingly living in an elaborate video game based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale “The Little Match Girl.” His morbid objective: to lead her into a peaceful death while thinking only of him. As he is…

The Irishman is a richly textured epic of American crime, a dense, complex story told with astonishing fluidity. Based on Charles Brandt’s nonfiction book I Heard You Paint Houses, it is a film about friendship and loyalty between men who commit unspeakable acts and turn on a dime against each other, and the possibility of redemption in a world where it seems as distant as the moon. The roster of talent behind and in front of the camera is astonishing,…