One of the biggest Special Presentation titles this year was NO OTHER CHOICE, the latest feature from acclaimed filmmaker Park Chan-Wook who needs no introduction to film fans across the globe!
About: Park Chan-wook, last at the Festival with the acclaimed Decision To Leave (’22), is a master of incisive, darkly comic tales. Featuring megastar Lee Byung Hun, Park Chan-wook’s latest film transplants a crime novel by the great Donald E. Westlake — whose work supplied source material for such films as Point Blank and Payback — to present-day South Korea, where seniority counts for little and looking for employment proves to be a cutthroat business.
Man-soo (Lee) had it all: a loving wife, two talented children, two happy dogs. He even bought the beautiful forest-enclosed house where he grew up. Then, after 25 years of dedicated work for Solar Paper — where he was awarded Pulp Man of the Year in 2019 — Man-soo is suddenly given the axe.
Soon he is falling behind on his mortgage payments and his wife Mi-ri (Son Yejin) insists they put the house up for sale. Man-soo is desperate to scoop a coveted position with Moon Paper, but he knows there are other job seekers who match his pedigree. So he hatches a plan: invent a phony paper company, reach out to each of his rivals, lure them into a meeting… and, one by one, dispatch the competition.
Brilliantly scripted by Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Jahye Lee, and Toronto’s own Don McKellar, No Other Choice is a chilling satire on workplace politics and ruthless status-seeking. In Park Chan-wook’s world, given the right set of circumstances, anyone can be driven to murder. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.
(The above notes are provided from the official festival program.)
Reaction: I have greatly admired the work of Park Chan-Wook like any other festival die-hard. His movies are absolutely made for the big screen and this one, which won the International Audience Award at the festival this year, is absolutely no exception. NO OTHER CHOICE is more of a farce than his DECISION TO LEAVE or even OLDBOY. It is led by the extraordinary Lee Byung Hun who is legend in South Korea and I have seen many of his movies over the years (one in particular he is great in is 2022’s EMERGENCY DECLARATION, one of the best thrillers of the decade) and it’s a great showcase performance in this visually powerful and timely story.
Some of the themes here, of sudden unemployment and having to find new ways of work in a changing society, are VERY timely right now and I loved how Mr. Park is able to show this in such a comedic fashion as our hero Man-soo has to navigate the situation here.
I also greatly admired how this is a “fusion” movie of sorts, with a screenplay assist by Canada’s own Don McKellar, a few American music “needle drops” in surprising fashion, and an overall widescreen visual look that demands a big screen presentation. I just can’t see this movie being viewed on a TV for the first time.
I overheard a few critics at TIFF thinking this is his best movie, but I would say it’s AS good as DECISION TO LEAVE but in a far more lighter tone than that dark procedural. It certainly had a LOT of buzz at TIFF this year with a few screenings sold out and even a few shows having to be added for demand, which is always great to see. I am trying not to reveal some of the strange twists and turns here, but I can’t wait to see NO OTHER CHOICE again, preferably in a VERY big cinema. It’s that demanding to see it on the big screen where it belongs.
Release Notes: Neon and Elevation Pictures will likely be releasing NO OTHER CHOICE later in the year or early in 2026 in a limited-to-wide release. A HUGE thanks to Taro PR and Elevation Pictures for inviting me to an advance press screening in Toronto!