Overview

• Park Chan-wook’s film premiered August 29 in competition at the Venice Film Festival, where it is vying for the Golden Lion.
• Critics at Venice delivered enthusiastic notices, highlighting the film’s darkly comic tone, Lee Byung-hun’s performance and Park’s meticulous visual style.
• Adapted from Westlake’s 1997 novel The Ax, the project took about 20 years to realize, which Park attributed to securing a budget he deemed sufficient.
• The ensemble includes Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin alongside Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min, Yeom Hye-ran, Cha Seung-won and others.
• Neon holds U.S. and Canada rights and Mubi acquired multiple international territories, with the film set to open the Busan Film Festival after Venice; Park has denied a report that he and co-writer Don McKellar were expelled from the WGA.