No Other Choice: Movie Review

Cast: Lee Byung-hun
Director: Park Chan-wook

Talk about eliminating the competition.

Oldboy director Park Chan-wook’s adaptation of novel The Axe delivers a somewhat satirical look at the world of unemployment, emasculation and the continuing rise of the machines in a tale that has a dark heart and a taut execution.

Squid Game’s Lee Byung-hun plays Man-soo, a wealthy patriarch who’s spent 25 years working in a paper company and who’s casually tossed to the side when an American company comes in. (The first use of the No Other Choice motif that runs through this.)

Believing he will be a part of the workforce again pretty quickly, Man-soo gradually loses his way and his sense of self as he futilely plays his way through auditions and applications, before happening on a way to eliminate the competition and ensure he will be the first choice for any future roles.

There’s a comedic edge to the beginning of proceedings which will either suck you in or repel you. Perhaps it’s not dark enough, or the satire is a little too close to home for some, but Chan-Wook and Byung-hun manage to turn a potential killer into a deeply sympathetic character whose motivations are universally relatable. As he struggles to be the family provider, he fails to see what’s falling apart around him, pushing him into more extreme ideas and blackly comedic situations.

But halfway through, Chan-wook tonally shifts proceedings into thriller territory, ensuring that the movie maintains an edge as it hurtles to its conclusion.

Depressingly, this feels like a globally relatable tale – one that takes old age or time served within a business as something that’s to be cast aside and put out to pasture. So in terms of the satire, it’s not as strong as it could be, given the worldwide shift into AI and the reality that abounds.

Ultimately, this is a watchable enough piece of cinema – perhaps a little more darkness would have ensured it hit a level much like Parasite did – but Chan-wook leaves you with No Other Choice but to saddle up for the journey and its conclusion.