Review: No Other Choice

Image courtesy of Neon.

It's hard out there for job seekers and the unemployed, a theme that Park Chan-wook's latest film, "No Other Choice," which is the second adaptation Costa Gavras' 2005 picture "The Axe," explores to brutal and occasionally hilarious ends.

The film starts out as upbeat - paper industry manager Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) lives in a gorgeous house that once belonged to his father and that he has now bought, refurbishing it and even adding his own greenhouse (he's obsessed with plants). He has a supportive and loving wife, Mi-ri (Son Ye-jin), two children - a cello prodigy daughter and somewhat delinquent teenage son - and two big fluffy dogs.

But his life quickly takes a turn when an American company with intentions of substituting A.I. for workers purchases his Korean one and he is among those to get laid off. He spends months searching for a job to no avail, his unemployment runs out, and Mi-ri has a blunt conversation with the family about everything they'll have to give up - the dogs (who will stay with her parents), various extracurricular activities, Netflix (the sound of the channel being turned on moments later elicited a laugh from the audience with which I saw it), and possibly even the house.

Out of fear and desperation that he'll lose all he has, Man-su realizes that the only way that he will survive is if he literally eliminates his competition in the seemingly cutthroat world of the Korean paper industry. This plan starts out comically. His first attempt to bump off a competitor is the most hilariously botched murder attempt since the hitman's spree at the office in "Mulholland Drive." Seriously, I don't know if I laughed harder at any other movie scene this year, with the possible exception of the removal of snake bite venom that is also in this movie.

But the film increasingly gets darker as he begins to stalk a second victim - a former paper industry leader fallen on hard times who now sells shoes - and then a third, a heavy-drinking young man who tempts Man-su back toward the bottle (it is hinted at that he's a former alcoholic). Meanwhile, Mi-ri and Man-su's son, who has some crime-related problems of his own, begin to get suspicious.

Despite the film beginning to feel more like a dark thriller in its final third, "No Other Choice" remains one of Park's most accessible and least gruesome films to date. Keep in mind that he's the director of the bleak "Oldboy" and the violent "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance." It is also his best film to date, both due to the terrific performances of its cast and its incredible visual style. Park knows where to point a camera and so many of the shots have a gorgeous, painterly quality to them.

2025 was a very strong year for world cinema and Park's latest ranks high among the best foreign language films. Last year was also a very political year for the movies, and "No Other Choice" is one of the year's angriest, which is evident in its final shots over the credits in which A.I. is used to chop down treats, cut paper, and completely operate in a factory with hardly any workers to be seen. This is an intelligent, suspenseful, and grimly funny picture.