No Other Choice
Detroit Film Theatre
January 17, 2026
There wasn’t much debate before, but South Korean Park Chan-wook has cemented himself as one of the greats with his latest No Other Choice.
He does it by crafting a message that’s heavy on message, character development and – thankfully – an insane, sick sense of humor. Not something that usually comes along with a film that’s already shortlisted for best international film at the Oscars.
The plot is a menacing one. Meet Yoo Man-su (played by “Squid Game” alum Lee Byung-hun), who has spent years working away at the paper mill before he was laid off. When he takes the news home to his family (in their gorgeous wooded estate – seriously, this film has some of the best real estate I’ve ever seen on film), his wife, Mi-rim (played by Son Ye-jin), tells the kids it’s time to tighten the belt around here – which includes too many mouths to feed, so even the beloved family dogs are sent away.
That’s when the plot starts to thicken, with Man-su entering the job market and realizing the best way to eliminate competition gunning for the same job… is to actually eliminate the competition.
That’s where this movie kicks into high-gear, with Man-su pathetically shuffling his way through job interviews and just as desperately trying to be a hit-man, stalking fellow paper salesmen who have lost their jobs and finding a sense of kinship in their situations. How do you kill the foes gunning for the same job as you when they’re just so damn relatable?
This film and concept are as dark as they come, a twisted take on late-stage capitalism, what we’re willing to do to get ahead and ultimately the frail state of manhood and its connection to needing / wanting / having a job to be complete and to be a provider.
Park Chan-wook approaches it through the lens of dark-as-night comedy, as if the cartoons he grew up with were a prominent influence on the look and mechanics of the violence in this movie. It’s not drab or down-on-its-luck at any point. It doesn’t drown itself in mute colors to drive its belief system home to you. It’s vivid, lively and never has you thinking too much about the big picture. It wants you to focus on the actual picture that Park Chan-wook spent nearly 20 years developing and getting on the big screen.
In his other movies like Oldboy, Chan-wook shows off not only his gift for gruesome storytelling but also radical, entrancing cinematography. No Other Choice is no different. It's one of his finest films to date and another entry in the long list of South Korean exports that should get its deserved love on American shores.
