No Other Choice had its North American Premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Neon will release it in theaters on December 25.

Man-soo has it all. A beautiful wife whom he can shower with expensive gifts, such as dance lessons and imported shoes. Two kids, one of whom is a cello prodigy. Two golden retrievers, each named after one of the kids. A nice house, the one he grew up in and poured his blood, sweat, and tears into when he rebought it once he had the money to do so. His company sends over expensive eel for his family to eat, a thank-you present for the many years of loyal servitude.

If this were a Christmas movie, the obviously impending bad times would be a wake-up call for Man-soo to take a step back and appreciate all that he has. But No Other Choice isn’t that type of film, and Man-soo is already very appreciative of the material and emotional wealth that he has. It’s what makes the words “no other choice” sting just a little bit more, and why he twists them into a comically sadistic motivational phrase for getting his life back on track.

Those words are first used by an American businessman visiting Man-soo’s paper mill, a forewarning of upcoming layoffs. It turns out that the expensive eel was part of his severance package, a faceless and empty gesture to soften the blow. His self-imposed three-month unemployment period quickly becomes thirteen months, plunging the family into dire financial straits. The job he’s perfectly suited for at a different mill is currently filled by a yuppie, a resentful fact that leads Man-soo to seriously ponder killing him. But Man-soo is only one of several in an identical situation, with a few possibly even more qualified. So he pivots to the next best option: create a fake job posting to attract all his rivals, use that information to kill them off, kill the yuppie, and waltz into the open position.

This darkly comedic scenario is lifted from the 1997 American thriller novel The Ax by Donald E. Westlake, first adapted into a feature film by Costa-Gavras in 2005. Director Park Chan-wook has been a lifelong fan of the novel, an adaptation perpetually teased as his next project since he first publicly announced his intent back in 2009. Coupled with his staggeringly immense filmography, which includes international hits such as Oldboy, The Handmaiden, and Decision to Leave, Park’s further statement that it is a "lifetime project" elevated the bar just that much higher. Luckily, this is one of those circumstances where the right filmmaker meets the right story.

Those decades of pent-up giddiness are evident in Park’s visuals. Crisp digital cinematography is punctuated by fluid camera movements, many of which astounded me in how they were able to pull it off. Even the opening of a mortgage default letter gets a camera swoop and zoom. And in a time when most filmmakers have a phobia of cell phones (looking at you, Robert Eggers…), Park embraces them with open arms. You can bring a surprising amount of characterization to the surface through the jolt of a sudden phone call or the tiny expressions during FaceTime.

Although he’s attempting to circumvent the job market grind, Man-soo’s plan just perpetuates the cycle of rejection. The people that he’s killing are under the impression that they’re applying for a respected position, another glimmer of hope in a long series of misery. Park grants these men just as much compassion as he has for Man-soo, making the farce of these violent acts all the more tragic. The rich get richer, all while the poor literally kill each other for the ever-shrinking scraps.

Korean superstar Lee Byung-hun reunites with Park a quarter century after their initial breakthrough in Joint Security Area. He continues Park’s trend of totally emasculating the desperately pathetic male lead, while also earning the pathos. Son Ye-jin rises as Mi-ri, the matriarch of the family, who, unlike everyone else, is allowed to be very conscious about choosing what path she wants to take.

The pendulum between comedy and drama may swing a little too leniently towards the former, keeping the ball from fully leaving the park. Still, this is a stand-up triple from one of our best working directors, someone who continues to find more passion in his craft. You should always cherish someone who consistently makes movies with this caliber of entertainment and intelligence.