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No Other Choice
2025 South Korean film by Park Chan-wook From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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No Other Choice (Korean: 어쩔수가없다; RR: Eojjeolsugaeopda) is a 2025 South Korean satirical black comedy thriller film co-written, produced, and directed by Park Chan-wook. Based on The Ax by Donald Westlake, the film stars Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min, Yeom Hye-ran, and Cha Seung-won. It is the second film adaptation of the novel, after the 2005 French-language feature The Axe directed by Costa-Gavras, to whom No Other Choice is dedicated in the closing credits.[4][5][6][7][8] The film follows a desperate paper industry expert who decides to kill off his competition to be assured of the job he seeks to maintain his way of life.
The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on 29 August 2025, where it garnered critical acclaim. At the 83rd Golden Globe Awards, it was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (Lee Byung-hun). It was also selected as the South Korean entry for the Best International Feature Film category for the 98th Academy Awards, making the December shortlist.[9]
No Other Choice had its domestic premiere as the opening film of the 30th Busan International Film Festival on 17 September, followed by its theatrical release in South Korea on 24 September by CJ Entertainment.
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Plot
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Man-su is an award-winning veteran employee of papermaking company Solar Paper. Well paid, he has purchased his childhood home, living happily in luxury with his homemaker wife Mi-ri, his teenage stepson Si-one, their young daughter Ri-one, an antisocial neurodivergent cello prodigy, and their two dogs. However, Americans buy out Solar Paper and fire many employees, including a devastated Man-su. After informing his family, he vows to resume papermaking within three months.
Thirteen months later, Man-su does low-paying retail work due to unsuccessful papermaking job applications. His family has minimised spending, including giving their dogs to Mi-ri's parents, to Ri-one's distress. Ri-one's teacher recommends Ri-one for expensive advanced cello classes. Unable to pay the mortgage, the family risks losing Man-su's beloved home to buyers such as the parents of Si-one's best friend Geon-ho. Mi-ri starts working as a dental assistant to suave male dentist Jin-ho. Man-su suffers a toothache that he ignores.
When trying to join the company Moon Paper, Man-su is humiliated by manager Seon-chul. Wanting Seon-chul's job, Man-su nearly kills Seon-chul using a potted plant, but abandons the attempt when spotted by the company's owner. Man-su buys the plant, using it to release a fake advertisement to identify his papermaking job competitors. Receiving job applications, Man-su identifies two men whose credentials exceed his own: Beom-mo and Si-jo. Man-su retrieves his father's Vietnam War gun, deciding to kill Seon-chul, Beom-mo and Si-jo.
Man-su begins spying on unemployed drunkard Beom-mo and begins the murder attempts, but suffers a snakebite and is saved by Beom-mo's dissatisfied wife A-ra. Man-su and Beom-mo separately discover A-ra's infidelity. Man-su confronts Beom-mo at gunpoint, with Beom-mo mistaking Man-su as A-ra's lover. Man-su, Beom-mo and A-ra struggle over Man-su's gun. A-ra shoots Beom-mo dead, and Man-su barely escapes her. Man-su rushes to a costumed dance party, where he watches Mi-ri dance with Jin-ho as Man-su was late. Angered, Man-su returns to Beom-mo's residence, where A-ra and her lover have buried Beom-mo and the gun. Man-su retrieves the gun. Man-su and Mi-ri accuse each other of infidelity before reconciling.
Man-su visits Si-jo, who sells shoes and speaks of his young daughter. Man-su meets Si-jo on a highway and reluctantly shoots him dead, hiding his corpse in Man-su's car. Meanwhile, Si-one and Geon-ho steal iPhones to resell from Geon-ho's father's store, but police arrest them. Man-su and Mi-ri blackmail Geon-ho's father, who had used the store for his own infidelity, to having Geon-ho take responsibility and letting Si-one go. Detectives visit Man-su to warn him of Beom-mo and Si-jo's disappearances, which police linked to their common circumstances. Si-one witnesses Man-su trying to dismember Si-jo's corpse. Failing to do so, Man-su buries the corpse in his garden, alongside Si-one's stolen iPhones.
Man-su visits Seon-chul's home to befriend him. While plying Seon-chul with alcohol, Man-su is forced to break his own sobriety, leading Man-su to forcefully extract his cavity-filled tooth. Si-one tells Mi-ri about what he saw. She digs up Si-jo's corpse but lies about it to Si-one to protect him. Mi-ri calls Man-su and shares her concerns, but Man-su refuses to change his path. Man-su suffocates Seon-chul and makes it seem that a drunk Seon-chul choked to death on his own vomit.
Moon Paper then decides to hire Man-su to replace Seon-chul. Man-su's employment secures his home, and the family reunites with their dogs, reducing Ri-one's antisocial behaviour. The detectives visit Man-su, revealing that A-ra has implicated Beom-mo as a gunowner and potentially Si-jo's murderer, thus lifting suspicion off Man-su. At work, Man-su celebrates alone in the modern paper mill run by machines instead of workers.
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Cast
- Lee Byung-hun as Yoo Man-su, Mi-ri's husband and Si-one and Ri-one's father, who is a paper industry expert who is struggling to find employment[10]
- Son Ye-jin as Lee Mi-ri, Man-su's wife and Si-one and Ri-one's mother, who works as a dental assistant
- Park Hee-soon as Choi Seon-chul, Man-su's third target and the divorced line manager of Papyrus Paper who also is an influencer in social media
- Lee Sung-min as Goo Beom-mo, Man-su's first target and another paper expert who is also struggling to find a job
- Yeom Hye-ran as Lee A-ra, Beom-mo's frustrated and unfaithful wife and a struggling veteran actress
- Cha Seung-won as Ko Si-jo, Man-su's second target who works at a shoe store to provide for his family
- Yoo Yeon-seok as Oh Jin-ho, a dentist and employer of Mi-ri
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Production
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Development
During the Busan International Film Festival in 2009, it was announced that Park would remake Costa-Gavras' 2005 film The Axe.[11] Park would later clarify that he had read Donald Westlake's 1997 novel The Ax upon which the film was based and decided to adapt it prior to knowing about Costa-Gavras' film.[12] However, the project was delayed when Park received the screenplay for his 2012 film Stoker.[13] In 2012, Park said he planned to make the film his next project but it still needed "more work on the casting and attracting investors".[13][14]
During a live discussion with Costa-Gavras at the 2019 Busan International Film Festival, Park told audiences that he was still working on his adaptation of Westlake's novel.[12] The film was described by Park as a "lifetime project" and that while he hadn't begun filming it yet, he wished "to make this film as my masterpiece."[15] Gavras, who still held the rights to the book, had helped Park to develop the project. The film was set to be an English-language picture, with Don McKellar co-writing the script alongside Park.[12]
Park's team told The Hollywood Reporter that he was approaching the project with the intent to "strengthen the moral dilemma in this story as much as possible, and he will increase the role of protagonist's wife".[12]
At the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, Park stated that the project was still in development and followed "a heartbreaking story about a middle-aged man who lost a job, and now he needs to bring the bread to the table to feed his family. So, he struggles in the process of looking for a job in a specialized field, and he becomes a serial killer."[16]
In March 2024, Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin were announced as the film's leads.[17] Park and Son previously worked together in the 2016 movie The Truth Beneath, while Park collaborated with Lee on Joint Security Area (2000). Park revealed that the film would now be set in Korea.[18]
In August 2024, Park's frequent collaborators Lee Kyoung-mi and Lee Ja-hye were also announced as writers on the project.
Filming
Principal photography began in August 2024.[19][10] Filming wrapped in January 2025, lasting a total of five months.[20]
Soundtrack
The opening credits and the first few minutes of the opening scene feature the music of Mozart in the soundtrack as previously also used in the film Amadeus (film).[21]
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Release
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In June 2025, Neon acquired North American distribution rights to No Other Choice, with Mubi taking rights to the film in the U.K., Ireland, Latin America, Spain, Turkey, the SAARC, Australia, New Zealand and the Benelux, the latter in association with its subsidiary Cinéart.[22] According to CJ ENM and Moho Film, the film was pre-sold to over 200 countries around the world, including North America, the UK, France, Germany, and Japan. It surpasses the pre-sale record of 192 countries held by Park Chan-wook's 2022 film Decision to Leave.[23]
The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on 29 August 2025.[24][25] It had its North American premiere on 5 September 2025 at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival,[26] where Lee Byung-hun received a Special Tribute Award at the TIFF Tribute Awards event.[27] It was also screened in the Special Presentations section at the 2025 Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, Sudbury, Ontario, on 17 September 2025.[28][29]
It opened the 30th Busan International Film Festival on 17 September 2025, where both Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin were honoured with the "Actors' house", a special career retrospective.[30] Theatrical release in South Korea followed on 24 September, by CJ Entertainment.[31][32] The film was screened in IMAX theaters in South Korea,[33] while in the United States, a one-night screening was held on 8 December.[34]
On 4 October 2025, No Other Choice was presented in Galas and special presentations section and Spotlight on Korea at the 2025 Vancouver International Film Festival.[35] It had its US premiere at the Main Slate of 2025 New York Film Festival on 12 October 2025.[36] On 14 October,[37] the film competed in the 58th Sitges Film Festival in the Oficial Fantàstic Competició section, vying for the various awards given in the section.[38][39] It is presented in the Galas section of the 2025 BFI London Film Festival on 15 October 2025,[40][41] and will also be screened as a late addition to the Adelaide Film Festival on 24 October,[42] and in the Special Presentations of the 61st Chicago International Film Festival on 25 October 2025.[43]
It was screened in Masters section of the 2025 Stockholm International Film Festival on November 12, 2025,[44] and in 'From The Festivals - 2025' section of the 56th International Film Festival of India in November 2025.[45]
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Reception
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Box office
No Other Choice recouped its 17 billion won production budget before its release through overseas presales, making its financial success unaffected by its domestic performance.[2][46]
The film was released on 24 September 2025 on 2,114 screens.[47] It opened at the top recording 331,518 viewers on its opening day at the Korean box office. The film achieved the highest opening of all time for a film directed by Chan-wook, surpassing Decision to Leave and his highest-grossing film The Handmaiden.[48] On 28 September, it surpassed 1 million cumulative viewers in five days of its release by registering 1,042,800 cumulative audience.[49]
As of 9 November 2025[update], it has grossed $22 million worldwide.[3] Including US$19.7 million from 2,938,283 domestic admissions only in South Korea.[47][50]
Critical response
After earning a nine-minute standing ovation and applause at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival,[51][52] The Dong-A Ilbo stated that the film left a significant mark on the Korean film industry, receiving rave reviews from international critics and media and helping to revitalize Korean cinema.[53]
The film continued to attract critical acclaim;[a] Variety reported that critics "have hailed No Other Choice as one of Park's most humane and mordantly funny works to date."[58] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 99% of 106 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Directed with pristine precision by Park Chan-wook, No Other Choice is a wickedly clever takedown of the corporate rat race that finds a perfect avatar in Lee Byung-Hun's skillfully hapless performance."[59] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 86 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[60]
Time Out rated the film 5 out of 5 stars, describing it as "a masterful work of cinema which might well be Chan-wook's masterpiece. And given this is the man who directed The Handmaiden that's saying a lot."[61] According to Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian, who rated the film 4 stars out of 5, "it may not be Park's masterpiece but it is the best film in the Venice competition so far".[62]
Accolades
No Other Choice was selected as the South Korean entry for the Best International Feature Film category for the 98th Academy Awards.[63]
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See also
Notes
References
External links
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