No Other Choice – Film Review

Director – Park Chan-wook
Writers – Donald E. Westlake, Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi
Stars – Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Woo Seung Kim

Yoo Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) has it all: a perfect house and wife, Lee Mi-ri (Son Ye-jin), two beautiful children, and two gorgeous dogs. That is, until he loses his job at the paper factory where he has worked for 25 years. He’s the wrong side of 50 and has to start again, going to interviews and worrying about how to pay his mortgage. That’s when the cracks start to show, and Yoo Man-su has to make some surprising choices!

Park Chan-wook, the director of “Decision to Leave”, “Old Boy” and “The Handmaiden”, has returned with his latest creation. He rarely puts a foot wrong, and even his weaker releases have much to delight the viewer. The film is based on the novel The Ax by Donald Westlake, published in 1997. This is an updated version that takes into account AI and other innovations.

Park Chan-wook is one of the finest filmmakers alive today, and some of his releases are undoubted classics. This is another impressive addition to his body of work. It is a dark comedy, as we see our main protagonist going to extraordinary lengths to get his life back on track. If there is a failing, it’s the plot, which doesn’t step outside what has been seen before. The twists are not as surprising as in his previous works. The cinematography is consistently inventive, featuring numerous interesting cuts and camera angles that make the film look impressive. It’s a very enjoyable vision of life in this twisted version of suburbia!