---
title: "No Other Choice"
year: 2025
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/no-other-choice"
fi1m_id: "no-other-choice"
imdb_id: "tt1527793"
tmdb_id: 639988
wikidata_id: "Q129906152"
fi1m_score: 78
critics_score: 81
critics_reviews: 13
published: "2026-09-09"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:45.519258+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# No Other Choice (2025)

Directed by Park Chan-wook · 2h 19m · MPA R · Comedy, Crime, Thriller

## Identity

No Other Choice

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/no-other-choice
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** no-other-choice
- **IMDb ID:** tt1527793
- **TMDB ID:** 639988
- **Wikidata ID:** Q129906152
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1527793/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/639988, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q129906152

**Fi1m score: 78** · Critics 81 from 13 reviews

*In a sentence:* He has the CV, the experience and the garden; all he lacks is the nerve to leave the other candidates alive

> Park Chan-wook turns Westlake’s novel about a laid-off man killing his rivals for a job into a broad, exact black comedy, and Lee Byung-hun is superb in it. It runs long, it repeats itself, and the pictures carry it whenever the script does not.

## Synopsis

Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) works at Solar Paper, and he has the house, the garden, the wife and the two children that a long career is supposed to buy. Then the company lets him go. Months of interviews and rejections follow, and his wife Mi-ri (Son Ye-jin) starts counting what is left. Man-su works out that the one job he is qualified for has only a handful of other men qualified for it, and he decides that the shortlist would be easier to top if it were shorter. Park Chan-wook directs, from the Donald E. Westlake novel *The Ax*, with Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min and Yeom Hye-ran as people whose lives cross his plan.

## Review

Park Chan-wook has made a comedy about redundancy, and it is a comedy in which people die. Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) has a job at Solar Paper, a house with a garden he tends himself, a wife and two children. Then the company lets him go, and the film follows what a man does once he has been told he is surplus. What he does is notice that the one job he can get has a small number of other candidates, and that the number could be made smaller. It is very funny, it is handsomely made, and at 139 minutes it tells its best joke more than once. We recommend it, with that caveat.

The book is Donald E. Westlake’s *The Ax*, about an American paper man, and the four screenwriters (Park, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar and Lee Ja-hye) move it to Korea without anything feeling forced. Costa-Gavras filmed the same novel in 2005 as *Le Couperet*; Park’s version is broader and more physical, and it adds a firm that is replacing its people with software, which gives the killings a grim modern logic. Man-su is not competing with the men he targets. He is competing with a machine, and they are simply in the way.

Kim Woo-hyung shoots it clean and wide, with the camera at odd heights and rooms that tilt when Man-su’s reasoning does. Ryu Seong-hie’s production design gives the family a house that is the real object of the film: wooden, warm, full of plants, every room shown long enough for you to understand what losing it would mean. Editors Kim Sang-bum and Kim Ho-bin let scenes run into each other so that you sometimes see what Man-su intends before he has done it, which is where much of the comedy lives. Jo Yeong-wook’s score stays light, strings that sound amused rather than alarmed, and it never tells you the killings are wrong. It does not need to.

Lee Byung-hun plays Man-su as a man who has only ever had to be competent and does not know how to be anything else. He plans the murders the way he would plan a product launch, and he is bad at them. We laughed at the first attempt, which goes wrong in about four different ways, and then the film cut to Yeom Hye-ran, as the wife of the man he is trying to kill, and we stopped. Park does this repeatedly: he gives you the slapstick and then bills you for it. Lee Sung-min, as Gu Bum-mo, a rival as unemployed as Man-su, gives the target a face and a kitchen and a marriage. Son Ye-jin’s Mi-ri is not the wife who nags; she has her own arithmetic to do, and the film gets better whenever it lets her do it.

The trouble is the middle. One rival, then another, then another, and by the third the mechanics are familiar and the film knows it and carries on anyway. Park Hee-soon’s Choi Seon-chul, who holds the job Man-su wants, and Cha Seung-won’s Ko Si-jo are each given business the script does not have time to finish. The farce and the grief sit side by side, and there are scenes where one of them should have given way. Twenty minutes could go and the jokes would land harder.

Against Park’s own films it is less cruel than *Oldboy*, less ornate than [*The Handmaiden*](https://film.one/film/the-handmaiden) and less romantic than *Decision to Leave*. It is plainer and broader than any of them. Some critics have called it his best; we think it is his most likeable, and we would not put it above *Decision to Leave*.

See it in a full cinema. The laughs need company, and the middle hour needs the laughs. At home you will have time to notice that the third murder looks a good deal like the second.

*Fi1m score 78, published 9 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics are won over by Park Chan-wook’s black comedy about a laid-off paper executive who murders his way back into work, and the spread of opinion is narrow: nearly every review lands between warm and delighted, with a single mixed notice. Praise clusters on Park’s direction, with reviewers describing inventive camera angles, elegant framing and set pieces that stage the killings as slapstick, and on Lee Byung-hun, whose sad-sack lead performance is singled out again and again. The satire of the job market, downsizing and AI is widely called timely, and several critics draw comparisons with Parasite.

Reservations are mild. Radio Times finds it broader and less subtle than Park’s earlier work and slightly overlong; The Hollywood Reporter thinks the slapstick short-changes the pathos and thriller stakes; The Playlist and Paste both fault the structure, one for too many plot strands, the other for repetition. The Guardian, otherwise approving, stops short of ranking it with Park’s best.

## Straight answers

**Is No Other Choice worth watching?**

*No Other Choice* is worth watching for anyone who can take a black comedy in which a redundant man kills his rivals for a job, and we scored it 78. Lee Byung-hun is superb and the film is very funny and handsomely made, but at 139 minutes it repeats its best joke, and the middle hour sags. See it with a full audience if you can.

**How long is No Other Choice, and what is it rated?**

*No Other Choice* runs 2h 19m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a comedy and crime film.

**Where can I watch No Other Choice in the US?**

*No Other Choice* is streaming on Hulu and Disney+ in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $5.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is No Other Choice, and is it suitable for children?**

*No Other Choice* is a 15 in the UK and rated R in the US, and it is not for children. The comedy comes from a man planning and bungling murders, and the film keeps cutting from the slapstick to the wives and kitchens of the men he targets, so the deaths are meant to land. It is not frightening so much as uncomfortable; the squeamish should know people die and it is played for laughs.

**How does No Other Choice compare to Kind Hearts and Coronets?**

*No Other Choice* and [*Kind Hearts and Coronets*](https://film.one/film/kind-hearts-and-coronets) both follow a man murdering his way up a list, but Park Chan-wook's film is broader, more physical and more openly sad, where Robert Hamer's is precise, cruel and impeccably mannered. The earlier film is the tighter of the two. Park's gives more attention to the victims and their families, which is its strength and what makes it run long.

**Is No Other Choice based on a true story or a book?**

*No Other Choice* is based on Donald E. Westlake's novel *The Ax*, about an American paper-company man who kills the other candidates for the one job he can get; it is not a true story. Four screenwriters move it to Korea and add a firm replacing its people with software, which the book does not have. Costa-Gavras filmed the same novel in 2005 as *Le Couperet*, and you need to know none of this to follow it.

**What should I watch after No Other Choice?**

After *No Other Choice*, try [*Kind Hearts and Coronets*](https://film.one/film/kind-hearts-and-coronets) (1949, Fi1m 91): Murdering your way up a list, done with impeccable manners and Alec Guinness eight times. Then [*Fargo*](https://film.one/film/fargo) (1996, Fi1m 91): An ordinary man’s crime goes wrong in the snow, and the wrongness is the comedy; and [*Two Days, One Night*](https://film.one/film/two-days-one-night) (2014, Fi1m 88): The Dardennes on a woman fighting for her job over a weekend, without a single body.

### Reviews we read (21)

- **Time Out**, John Bleasdale (5/5): The critic hails the film as a masterful black comedy and possibly Park Chan-wook’s masterpiece, a successor to Parasite in its take on late capitalism and job-market desperation. They single out the brilliant lead performance by Lee Byung-hun and the beautifully wrought, labyrinthine narrative. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/no-other-choice-review-2025)
- **Vulture** (90/100, inferred): Park coaxes total audience identification with the protagonist's insane actions through expressionist filmmaking that bends time and space, making the satirical thriller about capitalism and desperation feel deeply emotional and formally inventive. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-venice-loves-park-chan-wooks-no-other-choice.html)
- **The Independent** (85/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a brutal and hilarious black comedy about an unemployed man who resorts to murder to secure a job. They praise Park Chan-wook's visual finesse and Lee Byung-hun's comedic performance in depicting the protagonist's desperate moral decline. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/no-other-choice-review-park-chan-wook-b2904961.html)
- **Financial Times**, Danny Leigh (80/100, inferred): A company man tries to save his own neck by targeting rivals in this bloody and beautiful film from virtuoso director Park Chan-wook. Adapting The Ax, it captures the brutal truth of downsizing through a midnight-dark comedy that puts the implicit violence of job cuts front and centre. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/a08bf630-3a0a-4912-aad7-89d7e4add042)
- **Screen Daily** (80/100, inferred): The critic calls it a wildly enjoyable economic satire and darkly comic treat with elegant filmmaking that balances psychological tension and hilarious comic set pieces. They single out the mordantly comic tone and its timely relevance to job cuts and AI. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/no-other-choice-review-park-chan-wooks-economic-satire-is-a-darkly-comic-treat/5208361.article)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (4/5): The film is a continually surprising black comedy about an unemployed paper worker who hatches a plan to murder his way back into the job market. It morphs from caper into a portrait of family dysfunction, fragile masculinity and the state of the nation, though it may not be Park’s masterpiece. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/aug/29/no-other-choice-review-park-chan-wook)
- **The Telegraph** (80/100, inferred): In this deviously fun farce the job market in modern-day South Korea is literally murder, as a laid-off executive pursues deadly schemes to regain employment. The tangled bloody plot is vintage Park terrain adapted from an American novel but fitting perfectly into Korean cinema satire. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2026/01/22/no-other-choice-review/)
- **The Observer**, Wendy Ide (75/100, inferred): Park Chan-wook orchestrates chaos stylishly in this supremely slick film about a hapless everyman who turns to murder after being fired. The tone is comic but the message is a serious, scathing satire of business culture and AI threats that feels uncomfortably relevant. [Read](https://observer.co.uk/culture/film/article/wendy-ides-pick-of-other-films-no-other-choice-the-history-of-sound-saipan-mercy)
- **Radio Times**, James Mottram (3/5): The critic describes a broader, less subtle black comedy than Park’s earlier films, still rambunctious and inventive with strong moments of dark humour and surrealism around job loss and automation. They single out the highly watchable Lee Byung-hun performance while noting the film feels slightly overlong. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/no-other-choice-review/)
- **Empire**, Jake Cunningham: The critic deems it a superb, gripping and ink-black funny effort that is formally ambitious and a sharp critique of the modern workplace. They highlight the inventive violence and visual storytelling as standout elements. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/no-other-choice/)
- **Evening Standard**, Hannah Pettit: The critic calls it a delirious and elegant black comedy that offers a bitingly relevant satire on corporate life and fragile masculinity. They single out the absurd, amateurish murders and the production design for particular praise. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/no-other-choice-review-park-chanwook-b1253113.html)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Tim Grierson: Park stages the protagonist’s homicide attempts as slapstick set pieces while highlighting foibles and insecurities in a satiric take on the brutal job market. The film blends Park’s early bloody genre flair with recent prestige ambitions but is most cutting in its examination of alienated labor and capitalism’s toll. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2026-01-06/no-other-choice-review-thriller-combines-jolts-with-economic-anxiety)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney: The film is a visual delight with gorgeous crispness, crazy camera angles, appealing leads, amusing jabs at capitalism, and an inventive ending, but it stumbles with jarring tonal shifts where slapstick humor short-changes the pathos and thriller stakes. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/no-other-choice-review-park-chan-wook-lee-byung-hun-1236357175/)
- **The New Yorker**, Justin Chang: Park’s blackly comic adaptation transplants Westlake’s tale to Korea and emphasizes dark comedy and farce over extreme gore. Lee Byung-hun delivers a sad-sack slapstick performance that enhances the psychological acuity of a man driven to murder by unemployment and masculine crisis. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-current-cinema/no-other-choice-eliminates-the-competition-with-style)
- **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis: Park Chan-wook brings comedic flair to the cruel tale of an employee pushed to the brink after being laid off. The film is a brutal story for brutal times, steeped in corrosive humor and delivered with Park’s customary flair. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/movies/no-other-choice-review-park-chan-wook.html)
- **The Times**, Kevin Maher (★★★★☆): This deviously entertaining Korean dramedy explores the moral impact on a family when the father is fired due to AI restructuring and resorts to murdering corporate competition. It is often wickedly good fun with pleasing echoes of Parasite. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/no-other-choice-review-park-chan-wook-korean-cqrcxk790)
- **Collider**, Ross Bonaime (9/10): The critic calls it a brilliant dark comedy and one of the year's best films. They single out Park's expert mix of personal tragedy with wild dark comedy and Lee Byung-hun's performance as the desperate lead. [Read](https://collider.com/no-other-choice-review-park-chan-wook/)
- **/Film**, Jeremy Mathai (8/10): The critic highlights the film's expert grasp of tone in blending heartfelt drama, social thriller, and pitch-black satire, along with Lee Byung-hun's incisive lead performance and inventive visuals and editing. It captures the indignities of unemployment and capitalism's absurdities in a darkly humorous, relevant tragicomedy that flies by despite its length. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1976485/no-other-choice-park-chan-wook-movie-review/)
- **The Skinny**, Stefania Sarrubba (★★★★): The critic finds Park Chan-wook's adaptation an accessible, relatable Machiavellian dramedy that sharply takes down capitalism and gender roles. It singles out the elegant framing of the protagonist's moral spiral and the way the resolution is ultimately left to its women. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/no-other-choice)
- **The Playlist**, Marshall Shaffer (B): The critic praises Park Chan-wook's fusion of broad satire, taut thriller elements, and gallows humor grounded in characters' humanity, along with dazzling technical filmmaking in kill sequences and visuals. However, the screenplay struggles with juggling too many characters and plot strands, preventing it from feeling fully cohesive despite strong individual scenes. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/no-other-choice-review-park-chan-wook-draws-blood-and-belly-laughs-in-black-comedy-about-layoffs-venice-20250829/)
- **Paste**, Casey Epstein-Gross (7.5): The critic finds it a viciously funny and beautifully made pulpy corporate satire. They praise the director's virtuoso handling of tone and visual wit but single out the repetitive structure as limiting deeper impact. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/park-chan-wook/no-other-choice)

## Details

- **Director:** Park Chan-wook
- **Director:** Park Chan-wook
- **Screenplay:** Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar, Lee Ja-hye
- **Novel:** Donald E. Westlake
- **Cinematography:** Kim Woo-hyung
- **Editor:** Kim Sang-bum, Kim Ho-bin
- **Music:** Cho Young-wuk
- **Production design:** Ryu Seong-hie
- **Costume design:** Jo Sang-gyeong
- **Producer:** Park Chan-wook, Back Ji-sun, Michèle Ray-Gavras
- **Cast:** Lee Byung-hun as Man-su; Son Ye-jin as Mi-ri; Park Hee-soon as Choi Seon-chul; Lee Sung-min as Gu Bum-mo; Yeom Hye-ran as Lee A-ra; Cha Seung-won as Ko Si-jo; Oh Dal-su as Detective #1; Kim Woo-seung as Si-won
- **Runtime:** 2h 19m
- **Certificate (MPA):** R
- **Release (the US):** 9 January 2026
- **Genres:** Comedy, Crime, Thriller
- **Also in:** [Golden Globe Best Musical or Comedy winners](https://film.one/collections/golden-globe-comedy.md) (Nominee, 2025)
- **Budget:** $12 million
- **Box office:** $40 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK_DEabMNVg

## Where to watch in the US

- Hulu: streaming, uhd
- Disney+: add-on, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $5.99, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $19.99, uhd

*Checked 2026-09-10.*

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, ES, FR, GB, HR, HU, IE, IN, IT, KR, MX, NL, NZ, PA, PL, RO, RS, SE, SI, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Le Couperet* (2005): Costa-Gavras films the same Westlake novel, drier and angrier, in France.
- *Kind Hearts and Coronets* (1949), Fi1m 91: Murdering your way up a list, done with impeccable manners and Alec Guinness eight times. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/kind-hearts-and-coronets.md)
- *Fargo* (1996), Fi1m 91: An ordinary man’s crime goes wrong in the snow, and the wrongness is the comedy. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/fargo.md)
- *Two Days, One Night* (2014), Fi1m 88: The Dardennes on a woman fighting for her job over a weekend, without a single body. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/two-days-one-night.md)
- *Decision to Leave* (2022), Fi1m 82: Park’s previous film, quieter and sadder, and the one we would still choose first. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/decision-to-leave.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/no-other-choice