NO Other Choice is the latest film from legendary South Korean director, Park Chan-wook. In it he asks a rather simple question, “what would you do to survive?” From there, in classic Park Chan-wook fashion, the story quickly goes off the rails. One paper professional sets out to do whatever it takes to position him and his family for success, and soon finds out just how shockingly far he is willing to go – with others not as far behind as they may first appear.
No Other Choice follows Yoo Man-su (Lee Byung-hun, of recent Squid Game fame), a long time paper industry professional. After 25 years of loyalty, his company abruptly lays him off and casts him off into the world to fend for himself. As his homemaker wife Mi-ri (Son Ye-jin), teenage step son Si-one (Woo Seung Kim), and young neurodivergent cello prodigy daughter Ri-one (So Yul Choi) start to notice their carefully cultivated lives fray at the edges, Man-su realizes he’ll have to take his job hunt (*wink wink*) to the next level. With his Pulp Man of the Year award not doing the heavy lifting he had hoped it would, Man-su shifts from trying to out-class his competition, to trying to out-last them instead. Of course, what kind of man would he be if he didn’t try and hurry them along?
One of the first things you’ll notice on a craft level with No Other Choice is that Park Chan-wook considers every frame. Shots are grand and filled with vibrant color, and the camera has tremendous confidence in letting the perfectly choreographed scenes unfold. No Other Choice is consistently and beautifully shot.
Its leading man, Lee Byung-hun, also turns in a commendable performance as Yoo Man-su. He brilliantly captures the psyche of a man teetering on the edge, with just the right amount of darkly comedic flair sprinkled in. Tagging along with Man-su as he glimpses into the personal lives of his soon to be victims is a delightfully voyeuristic adventure and is immediately gripping.
Those peeks into lives beyond Man-su’s are where No Other Choice really finds its footing and begins to shine brightest. Those are the moments when the film first starts to peel back the curtain on its world, and offer a fresh perspective on what you’ve been watching. It’s the first time you truly get to see the full extent of the cognitive dissonance on display, as everyone – everyone, does what they “need to do” to survive. Whether that’s laying off their friends, stealing phones, seducing the neighbor, assassinating the competition, having an affair, drinking away their sorrows, or any other vice under the sun. And while it might be cleaner and more satisfying to simply blame this all on capitalism or any single economic system, the overwhelming variety of vice points to something much larger – that this is a fundamentally human experience. It’s a coping mechanism for survival that can lead even the best down a dark and winding path that just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense by the end. And it can do that because, people at least believe they have no other choice.
While No Other Choice is enamoring on both technical and thematic levels, it does lack some of the moment-to-moment bite that makes Park Chan-wook’s most well known films stand out. Make no mistake, this is no Oldboy (2003), The Handmaiden, or Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. The buildup to No Other Choice’s crescendo is much more drawn out, and while all of the pieces fall into place by the end, there are several noticeable points in the second act where it starts to drag. It never approaches “unenjoyable”, but it doesn’t emotionally escalate like Park Chan-wook’s best works.
While No Other Choice might not have as much bite as the Vengeance Trilogy, it’s not fair to make a man do the same trick for the rest of his life… even if it’s a really good trick. That goes for directors as well as paper professionals. No Other Choice still delivers in spades when it comes to its characters, cinematography, and overarching themes, and is definitely worthy of inclusion in Park Chan-wook’s stellar filmography. So when you have a moment of peace in your life as you look out from the mountaintop, remember to take a deep breath and maybe give this one a watch, as you never know how long you’ll be up there or what you’ll have to do to make it back.
