‘No Other Choice’ Review: Slay Them All!

I’ll say it again: you can’t bet against Park Chan-wook. Capping off the success of his last film, Decision to Leave, one of South Korea’s greatest artists is back. This has been a much-awaited reunion between actor Lee Byung-hun and the visionary director Park Chan-wook himself. You would think they might have worked together often, but no — there’s been nothing since 2000’s Joint Security Area, the film that put these two (and Song Kang-ho) on the map. Lee might recently have been a part of what has been the biggest film of the last year or so, K-Pop Demon Hunters, but No Other Choice is a different animal. No — a different beast. It’s scarier than an animal. Read our No Other Choice review.

What sets things in motion here is Yoo Man-su (played by Lee Byung-hun), a paper manufacturer, getting laid off from a job he has had for over 20 years. He takes getting cut from the company literally, as decapitation. The job is everything to him and his family. Without the job, he loses his house, one of his cars, and… a Netflix subscription. He must get a job, and he has no other choice but to eliminate the competition. He must slay them all… quite literally.

Unapologetically absurdist in its approach, the latest from Park Chan-wook is packed with surprises. The writing is unbelievable. The visuals are out of this world. The acting is tremendous. The sheer ridiculousness poured over this dark, inane, and utterly glum tale of a man losing himself to the need for a job is simply out of this world. It’s understandable why people would call it this year’s Parasite, though Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning film deeply emboldened the ridicule of capitalist culture even more so than this. The messaging in No Other Choice is very clear, quite like Parasite, but perhaps the stakes are not as high. Park totally nails hilarity — which most of his filmography will account for — but the absurdist satire here is unlike anything else I’ve seen from him. It all stems from his main character here, Yoo Man-su. To be so overcome with the idea of a well-paying job and having money to spend — that’s everyone else in the world. So what sets this guy apart? He will literally chop you up and bury you in his backyard because you’ve applied for the same job as him. As Man-su tries to “eliminate” the competition, the film gets funnier and funnier. Despite that, Park doesn’t let you forget the dire sensitivity of it all. Man-su has a failing relationship with his wife, and he can’t even be a father to his children. The “job interviews” have taken all his time.

No Other Choice is one of the best-looking films this year. I know it doesn’t come as a surprise at all. Every Park Chan-wook film has blown me away visually, but I’m still astonished. He’s a filmmaker with an established name and the power to do as he pleases. If he didn’t shoot No Other Choice like he did, it would still be as popular as it already is. But Park’s tendency to innovate never fades. For this film, he puts all his tricks on the table, and somehow they all work. The way he shoots a phone call between Man-su and his wife, Mi-ri. Or the way he uses a low-angle shot in a really, really tense scene. Or the way he slowly creeps the camera in on characters. I will probably be watching another Park Chan-wook film 10 years from now, and I will still be surprised at the quality of filmmaking on display. I believe that because No Other Choice makes me want to.

Son Ye-jin, who plays the wife, has been a big name in South Korea for over two decades — mostly known for her films A Moment to Remember (2004) and The Classic (2003), or her hit K-drama Crash Landing on You. It’s a delight to me personally to see someone who I’ve been a fan of for a while work with an auteur like Park Chan-wook — like how Lee Ji-eun (famously known as IU) worked in Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Broker, co-starring with another legend, Song Kang-ho. The award-winning actress Son Ye-jin’s performance here is commanding. She proves why she should be working with filmmakers like Park — and more. Yeom Hye-ran is another standout here. She has worked with Bong Joon-ho before (though in a very minuscule role), but this was her first with the Oldboy director. She starred alongside the aforementioned IU in the Netflix series When Life Gives You Tangerines. Time to move on to the guy who singlehandedly makes the movie: Lee Byung-hun. As I said before, Lee reunited with Park after over 20 years. Joint Security Area was his breakout role; now No Other Choice is his role where he says he’s done it all. Lee’s presence on screen in this film is essential to the whole experience. He acts with such ease and grace. No wonder he is the hottest catch for any popular media to come out of South Korea. Squid Game, one of the biggest TV series in the world. K-Pop Demon Hunters, one of the biggest movies in the world. No Other Choice, a movie with a living legend. Whatever Lee Byung-hun has in store for us next, it’ll probably be huge.

No Other Choice is not only what cinema needs; it’s what the world needs. It does falter near the end as it drags out a tad bit. However, that’s not at all a slight on the completely hilarious experience these 139 minutes were. Park Chan-wook is still at his very best. There was never a doubt.

No Other Choice stars Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min, and Yeom Hye-ran. It is co-written, produced, and directed by Park Chan-wook. The film was released in theatres on September 24th, 2025 in South Korea. 

Thank you for reading this review of No Other Choice. For more, stay tuned here at Feature First.