Few movies fit into the dark comedy, horror film and psychodrama category at the same time. “Thirst” is one of them. The latest film by South Korean director Chan-wook Park won the Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival but beware, it’s not your typical vampire movie.
This was my first time seeing a Chan-wook Park film and it’ll probably be my last — not because it’s a bad movie per se, it’s just not my type. Let’s face it, just like people have preferences over blondes and brunettes, movie goers have genre preferences and gore is not one of mine. So if you love blood (and not just blood, but blood with plot), “Thirst” is definitely for you.
The film tells the story of Sang-hyun (played by South Korea’s Song-kang Ho), a priest who values life enough to risk his own by volunteering for a secret vaccine development project meant to destroy a deadly virus.
Of course, the virus takes hold of the priest and they’re forced to transfuse blood into Sang-hyun. It just so happens that the blood was infected, leading the priest to turn into a vampire.
“Thirst” starts to pick up when Sang-hyun bumps into a sickened childhood friend and his family, including his friend’s wife Tae-ju (Kim Ok-vin), who asks for the priest’s help in escaping her life. So the once goody-two-shoe priest finds himself embarking into a world of sexual pleasure, committing the Seven Deadly Sins.
