SEOUL, April 16, 2024 — A corporate downsizing spirals into darkly comedic revenge in “No Other Choice,” the latest film from South Korean director Park Chan-wook. The movie, starring Lee Byung-hun, explores the desperate measures a man takes after losing his job to a company takeover.
Downsizing and Desperation: A Korean Thriller’s Dark Humor
Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice” offers a biting look at economic anxiety and the lengths people will go to in a competitive job market.
- The film is a second adaptation of Donald E. Westlake’s novel “The Ax.”
- Lee Byung-hun delivers a frenzied performance as a man driven to extreme measures.
- Park Chan-wook balances dark comedy with moments of unsettling violence.
- “No Other Choice” examines themes of masculinity and the struggle to adapt in a changing economy.
You Man-su (Lee Byung-hun), a veteran employee at the Solar Paper pulp manufacturer, finds his life upended when American investors take over the company and initiate widespread layoffs. Months of fruitless job searching, coupled with mounting financial pressures—canceling Netflix, selling furniture, and even rehoming the family dogs—push Man-su to the brink. When his house is put on the market, he snaps, convinced he has “no other choice” but to take drastic action.
A Subgenre of Discontent
The film taps into a growing cinematic trend—stories about the fallout of job loss. Unlike protagonists in Laurent Cantet’s “Time Out” (2002) and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Tokyo Sonata” (2009), Man-su doesn’t conceal his unemployment from his family. The question becomes: will he pursue new opportunities like the tram driver in Aki Kaurismäki’s “Drifting Clouds” (1998), or succumb to rage like the character in Joel Schumacher’s “Falling Down” (1993)?
Park Chan-wook, known for the intense revenge thriller “Oldboy” (2005), signals early on that Man-su won’t choose a peaceful path. He plots to eliminate Choi Sun-chul (Park Hee-soon), a rival, hoping to secure a line manager position at another paper company. But removing Sun-chul proves insufficient. Man-su, seeking a realistic assessment of his competition, creates a fake job posting to identify other qualified candidates—Gu Bum-mo (Lee Sung-min) and Go Si-jo (Cha Seung-won)—who he deems threats and must also eliminate.
Adapting a Satirical Tale
“No Other Choice” is the second cinematic adaptation of Donald E. Westlake’s satirical crime novel “The Ax” (1997), originally set in Connecticut. The first adaptation, titled “The Ax” (2005), unfolded in France and Belgium and was directed by Costa-Gavras, to whom Park dedicated his version. Park, along with co-writers Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar, and Jahye Lee, successfully transplants the story to Korean soil, finding a surprisingly fertile setting for its themes.
Park updates the story to reflect contemporary concerns, acknowledging the impact of automation and sustainability on the paper industry, while also highlighting the enduring uses of paper—from lottery tickets to cigarette filters. However, the film’s most significant shift lies in its tone. Westlake’s novel is narrated by the culprit, beginning with the line: “I’ve never actually killed anybody before, murdered another person, snuffed out another human being.” Costa-Gavras maintained this hard-edged, noirish style.
A Shift in Style
Park, however, has moved away from the extreme gore that characterized earlier works like “Oldboy.” While “No Other Choice” contains unsettling imagery—a particularly disturbing shot of a bound and compacted corpse—it leans more toward dark comedy and farcical exuberance. The director’s recent films, “The Handmaiden” (2016) and “Decision to Leave” (2022), demonstrate this tonal shift.
The film reunites Park with Lee Byung-hun, who rose to prominence in Park’s 1999 political thriller “Joint Security Area.” Lee, also known for his role in the series “Squid Game,” delivers a versatile performance, showcasing both comedic timing and physical prowess. He portrays a murderer whose ingenuity is often undermined by clumsiness, whether he’s evading detection, tumbling down a hill, or reacting to a sudden snakebite.
