Revuew of No Other Choice / 어쩔수가없다, directed by Park Chan-wook

If you’re new here, and stumbled upon this blog through the mythical powers of the Internet, welcome! I know a lot of visitors to my website are people who randomly come upon this website through search engines like Google, but I also do have a lot of visitors who come back. Regardless: my name is Ashley, and I started this blog in order to keep track of everything I’m coming across in the world.

I recently started an 8-5 job and have been trying to reclaim my sanity and hobbies by finding fun things to do on the weekends and after work, and one of my saving graces truly has been my AMC A List subscription. I’ve always had one on and off throughout graduate school, and I recently reclaimed my subscription after a brief stint of thinking I was going to move to India (long story).

Sometimes the movies I really want to see aren’t included on AMC A List, which is sad, but I accept the reality of the situation. I get a ton of use out of this subscription. On a slightly different note though, I used to work professionally as a film critic, which is very much a dying career, and when I would go to the film festivals I watched everything that really excited me.

I very clearly remember going to see Decision to Leave, even though I wasn’t doing the coverage for that movie, and sitting right at the front for the New York Film Festival. It was the first time in a long time I had seen a Park Chan-wook movie on a big screen, and I loved every moment of it.

So when I saw No Other Choice was having a Dolby early screening nationwide, I jumped on it immediately. Now let’s get into the review!

After being laid off from his job of 25 years, one man is pushed to murder the top candidates at his job interviews.

Our main character in this movie is Man-su, who has worked at his company, Solar Paper, for 25 years. Because of his job, he was able to buy back his childhood home (and the site of his father’s former pig farm, which has a messed up background as well) and give his wife, stepson, and daughter a comfortable life with everything they want.

Everything changes when he finds out he’s been laid off from his job after Americans took it over. Man-su is thrust into a life of unemployment and swears he’s going to find work within three months. When that doesn’t happen, his wife, Mi-ri, realizes she needs to take matters into her own hands.

She cuts down on the necessities they need in life, and then tells him they need to sell the house. They still pay for Ri-one’s cello lessons, as she’s a prodigy and it’s the only thing that gets her to communicate, but Man-su is determined to still work in the paper industry. That’s a big mistake in itself.

As more time comes to pass and Man-su is unemployed, the strain on his family is felt. His son starts stealing cellphones in order to sell them online, while his wife gets a job at a dentist. Man-su is jealous of the dentist, as he feels like he’s flirting with his wife.

Man-su eventually decides to resort to more desperate measures, including collecting the names and information of his fellow applicants with a fake job posting in a magazine geared towards paper nerds. He then starts plotting ways to kill them off so he will become the top candidate.

Park Chan-wook, in his more recent films, is showing off a lot more witty moments. This is actually a PCW movie where I found myself laughing out loud, and some of the audience members, who definitely did not know what they were getting into, were not laughing at the darker humor he displays throughout this.

At the same time, there’s a lot to unpack with this movie. The Americans being the one to buy out local Korean companies is one thing, but the gender dynamics I also found a little messed up sometimes, especially when it came to how these men neglected their wives and their feelings. Is what they do in return justified? No, but we can see a root cause in some ways.

Overall Thoughts

I enjoyed this movie a lot because of how thought provoking it was. I think I haven’t felt that as much with a Park Chan-wook movie lately, even though his films do tend to touch on societal issues in different ways. This one felt more direct to me in a way that strikes how I’m feeling lately, especially considering how many people have been laid off.

Lee Byung-hun is the standout in this movie for sure, and his laurels and nominations have been much deserved. His entire career has been great, but he plays this guy who’s slowly falling apart and taking his father’s North Korean gun around a Korean countryside town pretty well. I wasn’t honestly as impressed with Son Ye-jin’s character, although it’s remarkable she stays faithful to Man-su.

Overall, I did enjoy this movie, but I don’t know if I’ll be returning to it any time soon. Park isn’t my personal favorite director, and the only movie I see myself coming back to is Decision to Leave. The Vengeance Trilogy is a classic, but it also isn’t my favorite or typical cup of tea.

Go watch this if you have the chance, love Korean movies, or are a dedicated Park Chan-wook fan! I think you might find it worth it. There are some really great scenes sprinkled throughout this.

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