‘No Other Choice’ balances comedy and social critique

Atop an apartment building, a man stands on the edge. Potted plant in hand, he prepares to drop it on the manager standing below him. In his eyes, the only thing standing between him and an open job that’ll save his family and home is that manager’s life. 

No words better capture the desperation within than the film’s title, “No Other Choice.” Directed by South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, the black-comedy thriller finally debuts to U.S audiences in January after its initial release in South Korea last year. 

Based on the horror thriller novel “The Ax” by Donald E. Westlake, the movie follows the struggle of Lee Byung-hun as Yoo Man-su, who, after 25 years at a paper company, is unceremoniously fired. Despite promising his family to quickly find work, over a year of rejections from the paper industry offers no luck to the former veteran employee.

With meat being too expensive and his childhood home at risk of foreclosure, Man-su is pushed to his breaking point after a humiliating rejection by the hands of paper company manager Choi Seon-chul. 

Desperate for Seon-chul’s managerial role, he’s about to kill him with a plant until he comes to a realization—the death will be meaningless if another candidate were to steal the open position. 

Postponing Seon-chul’s murder, he creates a fake paper company looking for employees in order to identify his potential competitors. Comparing their resumes against his, he concludes that in order to guarantee the job and survival of his family, two candidates must die alongside Seon-chul. 

 With the grim premise, it’s amazing how Chan-wook is able to combine the dark scenario with comedy without lowering the impact or stakes at hand. The trainwreck that was the first murder has such a hilarious build-up with absurd slapstick before leaving the audience silent with a hauntingly depressing climax.

Though there is much to love about this film, there are also a few minor kinks that hold the film back from perfection. 

While the first and third victims have incredible interactions with Man-su, the second lacks enough screen time to give their murder the same emotional impact as a result. Additionally, the detectives aren’t as threatening as one might expect for a murder film; their investigation being more tell than show. 

Nevertheless, “No Other Choice” is a phenomenal movie all around. So if you’re looking for something filled with laughs, deaths, and the cruel realities of South Korean work culture, well, there is no other choice is there?