(No Other Choice)
Premiere:
August 29, 2025 (Venice Film Festival-Italy)
Country
of origin:
South
Korea
Directed
by: Park
Chan-wook
Written
by: Donald
E. Westlake, Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi
Distributed
by: CJ
Entertainment
Genre:
Drama: Dark
Comedy
Runtime:
2h19min
Starring:
Lee
Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Woo Seung Kim
This film is about paper, machines, workflow and what pressure can do to a human being.
Directed by Park
Chan-wook known for movies like Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy,
Three... Extremes, Lady Vengeance, Thirst, The Handmaiden and more.
In this film we follow Man-su, played by Lee Byung-hun, known to many from Squid Game. He is on his way up at a paper factory, fully aware that management plans to cut staff. Confident in his position, he prepares a major speech to protect the workers, never once imagining that he himself could be the one let go. Man-su has a large house, a loving family and two dogs. When his income disappears, the budget no longer adds up. Without a new job, everything collapses. So what is the only choice left? Remove the competition.
The film is based on the 1997 novel The
Ax by Donald E. Westlake.
The story has previously been adapted
for the screen in the 2005 in the French film Le Couperet
(The Axe), directed by Costa-Gavras. I have sadly not seen
that one.
In this South Korea version I really love the storytelling and visual framing often found in Asian cinema. This film fully embraces that strength. It moves with a slow, obscure rhythm, supported by beautifully composed shots and an excellent musical score. The acting is outstanding. There is something unique about Asian performances here, an ability to make a single scene feel dramatic, deep, awkward and genuinely grotesque at the same time. Few other cinematic traditions manage that balance. When others try, usually only one emotion survives.
There are several brutal and bizarre moments that are treated as if they are part of an ordinary day, while clearly being anything but. That nonchalant tone is one of the film’s greatest strengths and gives the story a disturbing edge, it is kinda known by this director to have this storytelling in his works.
I found the film deeply engaging, though I struggled slightly with
the moral resolution. With stories like this, you often sense the
direction early, even if the exact path remains unclear. This one
chooses a different route. I will not spoil the ending, it is
something you need to experience yourself. At its core, the film
explores family, pressure and the evolution of modern
workflow.
Another interesting choice lies in the film’s
marketing. The original South Korean poster, that you can see at the
top of this post, leans heavily into a sitcom aesthetic. At first
glance it looks like a cheerful, almost happy poster, something that
could belong to a light comedy. But look again. There are details
that only reveal themselves on a second glance. That is quite clever,
but also a huge gamble. Most people do not spend much time studying
this type of posters and I suspect many never saw what was hiding in
plain sight. Outside of South Korea the film was marketed very
differently, framed as a dark and strange drama, which is clearly
reflected in the alternate poster shown below.
This one also reference the classic panting American Gothic by Grant Wood, it also fits the tone of the film.
The feeling of the film moves from mundane to bizarre, poetic and emotionally corrosive.
