The year 2020 isn’t fondly remembered for a few reasons, but before the extra judicial murder of an unarmed man in South Minneapolis, before the novel Coronavirus shut down the world, and just after the Kansas City Chiefs won their first Super Bowl in half a century, a small budget indie South Korean thriller by the name of Parasite went on the most unlikely of runs at the Academy Awards. It was the first foriegn language film to win Best Picture, and is regularly brought up as a rare time when the Academy actually selected the best picture of the year for the Best Picture Award. Five years later now and we have another South Korean auteur taking a bite at the apple of capitalistic hellscape farce with Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice.

The film is an adaptation of the novel The Axe, centered on a middle manager at a paper mill as his company is bought by American private equity and summarily liquidized into nothing. It starts obviously with our protagonist, Man-su (portrayed by longtime Director Park collaborator Lee Byung-hun) having to lay off his employees, letting them know that he has “no other choice”. The axe invariably falls on his own neck as an American businessman tells him that HE has “no other choice” and Man-su is left unemployed. His wife Mi-ri (Son Ye-jin) takes it in stride and sets forth a plan while Man-su mopes hopelessly, begging any paper company to take him aboard. His ego cannot cope with where life has landed him, his mascuilinity toxic in the specifc way that makes failure impossible. He can’t comprehend that his wife is just as (more) capable of navigating this emergency than he is. She’s the one who leads the plan to ensure shelter for their two children, even if it comes and a massive amount of sacrifice for the family.

Meanwhile, Man-su’s best plan, after bombing his interview for his best chance he’s had in months, is of course to kill the person whose job he wants. Also while he’s at it, he realizes that he should take out any competition that might be waiting in the wings. Other men, much like himself that have been laid off and will be strong candidates, potentially stronger than him, should they catch wind of a job opening. Rather than sticking together with his comrades, he must take matters into his own hands and assassinate any form of competition. He has No Other Choice.

There’s as much comedy in the concept as one might expect, and there’s so much more raw emotion than one could ever guess. Particularly from the performance of Son Ye-jin as Mi-ri. Her level headedness and devotion to her husband, while also being at her wits end by his poor decision making is a truly believable blend of bafflement and bravery that centers No Other Choice as something more than a thriller/comedy. The rest of the cast is capable but the one two punch of Son Ye-jin and Lee Byung-hun is undeniable anytime the two share the screen.

As the murderous rampage of Man-su continues his killings become even more unjustified and more and more brutal. The tone shifts from a humorous farce to a dark tale of tragedy. It’s something that could be lost in a less skilled director’s hand, but Director Park keeps the whole tragic epic thrumming evenly as we descend from the bright eyed mustachioed paper crafter, to a depressed and relentless man pursuing something that he may not even want anymore. After all what is the finish line of The Market if not a massive empty building that you wander around aimlessly, telling yourself that you’ve finally made it. The final scene punches like the meme of Miranda Priestley from The Devil Wears Prada. “Don’t be ridiculous Andrea, everyone wants this!”

4/5