No Other Choice

Local title
Ainus valik
Original title
Eojjeolsugaeopda
Director
Park Chan-wook
Year
2025
Festival
29th Black Nights Film Festival
Programme
Genre

A wildly enjoyable picture that balances psychological tension against giddily hilarious comic set pieces.

Criminals in the films of Park Chan-wook tend to be brilliant, devious, Machiavellian creatures, adept at the long game and staying several moves ahead of those who would bring them to justice. Not so Man-su (“Squid Game’s” Lee Byung-hun), the endearingly klutzy protagonist of “No Other Choice”. A former paper mill middle manager whose job is abruptly terminated, Man-su turns to desperate and increasingly deadly measures to secure reemployment in a shrinking job market. He is, it becomes clear, supremely ill-suited to a rampage of violence.

But while the crime spree may be inept, Park’s filmmaking is as elegant as ever, in a wildly enjoyable picture that balances psychological tension against giddily hilarious comic set pieces.

Wendy Ide, Screen Daily

Director
Park Chan-wook
Screenwriter
Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar, Lee Ja-hye
Cast
Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min, Yeom Hye-ran, Cha Seung-won, Yoo Yeon-seok
Producer
Park Chan-wook
Cinematographer
Kim Woo-hyung
Production Design
Ryu Seong-hie
Editing
Kim Sang-bum
Music
Jo Yeong-wook
Production
CJ Entertainment, Moho Film
Distribution
Adastra Cinema OÜ
Runtime
Language
Subtitles
Other festivals
Busan, London
Director
Park Chan-wook

Park Chan-wook (1963)

Filmography:
Boksuneun naui geot (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, 2002), Oldeuboi (Oldboy, 2003), Stoker (2013), Ah-ga-ssi (The Handmaiden, 2016), Heojil kyolshim (Decision to Leave, 2022)

Screenings

Screening011520 / Ainus valik
SubtitlesEnglish, Estonian
Screening duration
Screening023019 / Ainus valik
SubtitlesEnglish, Estonian
Screening duration
Screening081221 / Ainus valik
SubtitlesEnglish, Estonian
Screening duration
Trailer