Synopsis

From director Park Chan-wook and based on Donald E. Westlake’s novel THE AX, the story follows Man-su on his desperate hunt for a new job after his abrupt layoff from the paper company he served for 25 years.

No Other Choice is 2 hours 19 minutes long and is in Korean and English with English subtitles. This film is rated R for violence, language and some sexual content.

Note: Photos and synopsis courtesy of Neon, North America distributor of No Other Choice.

Trailer

Reviews

“The latest masterpiece from Park Chan-wook…[is] another deliriously entertaining and continually surprising South Korean film which rails against today’s economic realities, and which boasts an imaginatively staged death or two.” No Other Choice review: ‘Deliriously entertaining’ South Korean masterpiece is this year’s Parasite — BBC, Nicholas Barber

“Park mines poignancy and mordant humor from a support group for recently unemployed men, where they work on their emasculation issues and tell themselves in motivational exercises that their loving families will stand behind them while they seek new opportunities.” ‘No Other Choice’ Review: Park Chan-wook’s Satirical Thriller Is a Visual Delight That Sacrifices Its Edge to Slapstick — Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney

“Consistently surprising and engrossing, the drama unfolds with elegant pace and flow, finding sparkling moments of true ingenuity along the way. It is, in myriad ways, a great work of pulp fiction.” No Other Choice Review — Empire Magazine, Jake Cunningham

Awards & Festivals

2025 Florida Film Critics Circle Awards

• Winner — Best International Film (Tied with Grand Tour)
• Nominee — Best Editing (Kim Ho-bin, Kim Sang-beom)
• Nominee — Best Visual Effects (Lee Seung-je, Park Chan-wook)
• Nominee — Best Adapted Screenplay (Park Chan-wook, Jahye Lee,Don McKellar, Lee Kyoung-mi) 2nd place
• Nominee — Best Director (Park Chan-wook)

2025 Stockholm Film Festival

• Winner — Best Film, FIPRESCI Prize (Park Chan-wook)

2025 Toronto International Film Festival

• Winner — Best Film, International People’s Choice Award — (Park Chan-wook)