No Other Choice
BFI LFF 2025 Gala: Commentary on the South Korean job market
Sijung Lee:
No Other Choice is a savagely humorous black comedy that turns South Korea’s hyper-competitive job market into a blood-soaked satire. The narrative this film relies on is a radical one: the modern capitalist economic system can push ordinary people to pathologically ridiculous extremes. The film stars Lee Byung-hun as Yoo Man-soo, a middle-aged paper factory manager, who is laid off after 25 years of dedication to his craft. Despite its depressingly dark theme, what this film does well is its use of humour. Scenes of violence are offset by moments of clumsy, botched plans and hilarious domestic subplots, often featuring his brilliant but long-suffering wife (Son Ye-jin). Every character, setting, and dialogue seems to be a gloomy caricature of Korean culture, and the film fits right into the same category as Parasite and Squid Game.
David Latimer:
Fresh off his new-found worldwide fame from the second season of Squid Game, Lee Byung-hun stars as a freshly fired paper employee desperate for a new job. The entire cast gave incredible performances, even the children, but Lee Byung-hun was a league above. The film takes its simple sounding title and twists it into three or four different meanings. This thriller dips its foot into black comedy in a lot of scenes but isn’t afraid to get nasty with some of the violence it shows. No Other Choice is filled with a lot of incredibly beautiful shots and scene transitions – notably many great looking screen dissolves. This picture was one of the most enjoyable films that I watched at the festival, and it is absolutely one that I would recommend.
Crime/Comedy/Thriller
Director: Park Chan-wook
Screenwriters: Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Jahye Lee, Don McKellar
Starring: Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min, Yeom Hye-ran
Run time: 139 min
Release date: Limited release
