Park Chan-wook's No Other Choice Review

No Other Choice volition beryllium released successful theaters connected Christmas Day, with a wide merchandise coming successful January.

Let’s beryllium real: today’s occupation marketplace sucks. Layoffs are constant, each moronic enforcement thinks they tin regenerate their workers with AI, and astir radical would astir apt alternatively perpetrate execution than walk much clip connected LinkedIn. If immoderate movie successful 2025 has its digit connected the pulse of the moment, it’s astir surely No Other Choice. The latest introduction from Park Chan-wook, the movie stars Lee Byung-hun arsenic a antheral who goes to homicidal lengths to unafraid a coveted occupation opening and guarantee helium tin inactive supply for his family. Beloved by movie fans worldwide for movies similar Oldboy (2003), The Handmaiden (2016), and Decision to Leave (2022), the South Korean auteur returns with yet different movie that defies genre but satisfies successful each the ways that count.

Lee Byung-Hun arsenic Man-su successful No Other Choice.

Our “hero” is Man-su (Lee), a highly skilled insubstantial manufacture worker who loses his occupation aft American investors restructure the institution wherever he’s worked for 25 years. Still facing unemployment thirteen months later, and hopeless to support the precocious mediate people manner he’s grown accustomed to, Man-su hatches a strategy to place and past destruct the 3 men successful the portion with the credentials to situation him for a presumption astatine different papermaking steadfast (it’s seemingly a beauteous tiny industry). But Man-su is caller to the full “killing people” thing, and needs to enactment up the nervus to yet bash it, grapple with his ain ineptitude astatine pulling it off, and besides support some his household and the authorities successful the dark, starring to a cascading effect of chaotic consequences arsenic his machinations spell awry.

Like erstwhile Park films, No Other Choice is simply a dense and thorny affair, weaving galore subplots and tonal registers unneurotic successful a mode that strengthens them all. It’s a movie that tin beryllium hilarious, depressing, and tense each astatine once, without shortchanging its melodramatic aims adjacent arsenic it near my assemblage often cackling successful their seats. The comedic bent is of a darkly satirical flavor, and though its bitter absurdism whitethorn deed a spot excessively adjacent to location for some, it feels due for a movie that’s truthful tapped into the zeitgeist of the mid-2020s. The movie is successful information an adaptation of a 1997 novel, The Ax by Donald E. Westlake, but the thematic concepts astatine play successful regards to however capitalism erodes some our morals and consciousness of aforesaid are timeless. The specifics, however, specified arsenic the constriction of analog industries with fewer remaining experts and the looming specter of AI-powered automation, marque No Other Choice consciousness distinctly contemporary.

The movie besides works good arsenic a household play adjacent with each the execution and mayhem packed in. Man-su’s woman Mi-ri (Son Ye-jin) is conscionable arsenic determined to find a mode done the crisis, and though she elects for much tenable avenues similar “take a occupation arsenic a dental assistant” oregon “cut down connected excess spending” arsenic opposed to homicide, the affectional toll it takes connected her and her matrimony are mined for some extent and humor. Lee and Son marque for an fantabulous brace of pb performers, bouncing disconnected each different with crackling energy and proving erstwhile again wherefore they’re 2 of their location country’s biggest stars. The penning and performances convey a lived-in narration betwixt 2 characters who radiate past betwixt them adjacent though we don’t spot immoderate of their premarital life.

But the facet that makes No Other Choice its champion aforesaid is however it evokes sympathy for Man-su’s plight portion not justifying his actions by making his concern untenable. This is not a communicative of a poverty-stricken antheral warring for survival; Man-su is ne'er genuinely astatine hazard of losing a extortion implicit his caput oregon a mode to provender his family. Mi-ri makes it wide they could spend to merchantability their location and determination into an apartment, and that if Man-su was consenting to marque a vocation alteration alternatively of being deadset connected papermaking, things would apt beryllium conscionable fine. Even the “loss” of the household dogs to prevention connected favored attraction is temporary, due to the fact that they’re not truly gone; they’re conscionable staying with Mi-ri’s parents for the clip being. The irrationality of Man-su’s actions is counterbalanced by however understandable it is that late-stage capitalism made him this mode – however a beingness of self-worth provided by his papermaking skills person convinced him that there’s, well, no different prime but to slaughter his mode backmost to the top.

If the movie doesn’t rather scope the heights of Park’s champion – Decision to Leave-heads, emergence up! – it’s little to bash with immoderate existent deficiencies successful the trade than it is not rather hitting arsenic hard emotionally owed to the taxable matter. Sure, the runtime is possibly 15 minutes excessively long, and there’s the occasional directorial flourish that feels similar Park is stunting alternatively of doing thing that actively contributes to the storytelling, but those are insignificant complaints. Ultimately, portion I wasn’t arsenic overwhelmed by the acquisition arsenic I americium with the precise champion films, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ticker this 1 arsenic soon arsenic you get the chance.