One of Quentin Tarantino's Favorite Movies is This Flawless Thriller

26, 2026, 2:00 PM EDT Movies are my true calling, and when he isn't logging reviews on Letterbox, he is covering the latest happenings in the movie and TV world, with the occassional contrarian feature essay. Sign in to your GameRant account Quentin Tarantino is one of the most influential directors, and he has never been shy about celebrating the movies that shaped him as a filmmaker. Throughout his career, the Pulp Fiction and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood director has championed everything from overlooked films and foreign movies to Hollywood classics, often introducing audiences to movies they may not have found otherwise. Among Quentin Tarantino's recommendations is a flawless 2003 crime thriller from director Bong Joon Ho, titled Memories of Murder. Long before Parasite turned Bong Joon Ho into an Academy Award-winning household name, the South Korean filmmaker delivered a haunting detective story that many critics now regard as one of the greatest thrillers ever made. It's also a film that Tarantino has singled out as one of his personal favorites. Memories of Murder is a 10/10 Masterpiece From Start to Finish Inspired by South Korea's first confirmed serial killings and set in 1986, Memories of Murder follows two investigators, local detective Park Doo-man and Seoul detective Seo Tae-yoon, as they look into a string of murders that leave an entire rural community living in fear. Rather than presenting a conventional procedural built around clever clues and dramatic revelations, Bong Joon Ho's film focuses on the investigators themselves as they slowly unravel under the pressure of a case they seem incapable of solving. As the bodies multiply, their desperate hunt dissolves into obsession, exposing institutional incompetence and a haunting, unsolved societal trauma. The result is an absorbing mystery and a clever critique of institutional failure, and Memories of Murder is as much of a neo-noir detective movie on the country's most infamous serial killings as it was an analysis of why it even happened in the first place. Bong seamlessly shifts between tones without ever losing balance, effortlessly blending dark comedy, tense thriller sequences, and heartbreaking drama to create a completely unpredictable viewing experience. The cinematography perfectly captures the isolated South Korean countryside, while Song Kang-ho delivers one of the finest performances of his career as a detective forced to confront his own limitations. The sense of dread and uneasiness never let up, and some of the earlier, funnier moments in Memories of Murder soon turn on their head and dissolve into devastating realities. The Korean crime movie offers an unforgettable conclusion, but even after the movie ends, Memories of Murder lingers long in viewers' minds because of its refusal to provide a neat emotional resolution. It's No Surprise Quentin Tarantino is Such a Big Fan Tarantino has praised Bong Joon Ho for years, describing Memories of Murder as one of his favorite films and highlighting the director's extraordinary ability to balance suspense with character-driven storytelling. Tarantino singled out Memories of Murder alongside The Host and Mother, calling it one of the "most interesting and complex" films in the video. Over the years, Tarantino has published lists celebrating dozens of personal favorites, from Charlie Chaplin's The Kid and Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly to Brian De Palma's Blow Out and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. His recommendations frequently side-step mainstream successes and instead highlight movies that pushed their genres in bold directions or demonstrated completely original filmmaking, and Memories of Murder firmly belongs in that company. Having influenced countless thrillers since, thanks to its ability to combine technical precision with emotional depth, Memories of Murder remains every bit as it was in 2003. The movie withholds the climactic satisfaction other movies would so easily hand out, and the agony fans go through is nothing compared to the South Korean public's lack of resolution to the real case until decades later. Whether fans find Memories of Murder through Bong Joon Ho's remarkable filmography or because of Quentin Tarantino's recommendation, it's difficult not to agree with the Kill Bill directory once the credits start rolling. Memories of Murder Not Rated Crime Drama Mystery Thriller Release Date May 2, 2003 Runtime 132 Minutes Director Bong Joon Ho Cast See All Kang-ho Song Sang-kyung Kim Roe-ha Kim Jae-ho Song Writers Bong Joon Ho, Kwang-rim Kim, Sung-bo Shim Powered by Expand Collapse