No Other Choice
- South Korea
- 2025
- 139'
- Cinema Under the Stars
Man-su is living a perfect life with a stable job, family, and a house. It will just take one day to turn this idyll into a nightmare, when the man is fired from a local paper mill, losing not only his job, but his status, identity, and purpose in life along with it. He will stop at nothing to get all of that back. In the new film from Park Chan-Wook, author of ‘Oldboy’ and ‘The Handmaiden,’ we find a disturbingly accurate assessment of contemporary fears. Ruthless in his mockery of the rat race, corporate mentality, and the male ego, the film director also addresses the reality of the AI-driven labour market. Very much in the manner of his classic ‘Parasite,’ the film ‘No Other Choice’ delivers very profound insights into class tensions and social transformations, masked by thick layers of dark humour. It also asks a provocative question: is there a job you would be willing to kill for?
- Directed by: Park Chan-wook
- Screenplay: Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar, Lee Ja-hye
- Photography: Kim Woo-hyung
- Music: Jo Yeong-wook
- Editing: Kim Sang-bum, Kim Ho-bin
- Cast: Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min, Yeom Hye-ran, Cha Seung-won
A film director and screenwriter from South Korea, born in 1963. He is considered to be one of the most important filmmakers of international cinema of the 21st Century. He gained international fame with the film ‘JSA: Joint Security Area’ (2000), which at the time became the highest earning film in the entire history of South Korea. He then filmed the so-called Vengeance Trilogy: ‘Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance’ (2002), ‘Oldboy’ (2003) and ‘Lady Vengeance’ (2005). Out of the three films, ‘Oldboy’ has earned a reputation of the greatest film in cinema history. His successive films, namely ‘Thirst’ (2009), ‘The Handmaiden’ (2016), winning the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language, and ‘Decision to Leave’ (2022), winning the prestigious Best Director Award, only helped to cement his international reputation. Park Chan-wook was also involved in the mini-series ‘The Little Drummer Girl’ (2018) and ‘The Sympathizer’ (2024), both filmed in English. The film ‘No Other Choice’ is his latest full feature film.
