No Other Choice
4ms
No Other Choice. A chillingly dark comedy thriller from the visionary Park Chan-wook. When a decorated paper industry expert, Yoo Man-su, finds his life unravelling after a brutal layoff, the comfortable existence he's built for his family crumbles. Thirteen months later, stripped of his luxuries and facing foreclosure, desperation gnaws. His stellar resume is met with humiliation, and the path to regaining his status becomes a treacherous one. Driven to the edge, Man-su concocts a desperate, twisted plan: eliminate the competition. But as he descends into a world of deception and murder, the lines between ambition and madness blur, and the consequences of his choices threaten to consume him, and everyone he loves. This is a story where survival demands… No Other Choice.
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. 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, and 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. It was also selected as the South Korean entry for the Best International Feature Film category for the 98th Academy Awards.
== Plot ==
Yoo Man-su is an award-winning paper industry expert with 25 years of experience working at Solar Paper. Due to his employment, he lives happily and comfortably in his lavish refurbished childhood home with his wife Mi-ri, his teenage stepson Si-one from Mi-ri's previous relationship, their young daughter Ri-one, an antisocial neurodivergent cello prodigy, and their two dogs Si-Two and Ri-Two whom Ri-one is particularly close to. Man-su and Mi-ri enjoy several luxuries including dance classes and Mi-ri's regular tennis games with friends. However, a buyout from an American company leads to Man-su being among thousands abruptly laid off. After informing his family, he promises to find another job within three months with his stellar resumé.
Thirteen months later, Man-su works at a lowly retail job while taking several job interviews. As a result, they have cut back on finances, sold several belongings, stopped tennis games and dance classes, let go of Si-Two and Ri-Two to the care of Mi-ri's parents to Ri-one's distress, sold their expensive cars in exchange for older and cheaper models, and cancelled their Netflix subscription. Ri-one's talent leads to her mentor recommending her to higher learning which would be more expensive. They are given a letter of foreclosure by their mortgage, with the parents of Si-one's best friend Geon-ho being prospective buyers. Mi-ri is hired as a part-time dental assistant to the much-younger Oh Jin-ho. Man-su begins having a toothache that he ignores despite his wife's pleas.
Man-su seeks out Moon Paper, a rival paper company, and submits his resumé, only to be humiliated by line manager Choi Seon-chul, who also dabbles as an influencer online. The desperate Man-su follows Seon-chul and ponders killing him by dropping a large pot holding a red pepper plant, but decides not to follow through with it. He decides he wants to eliminate his competition for the job he seeks. After buying the plant, he puts out a fake ad of a fictional "Red Pepper Paper" in need of a paper specialist like him. He receives several applications but targets two men whose credentials exceed his: Goo Beom-mo and Ko Si-jo. He retrieves the gun of his father, a Vietnam War veteran, which he will use to murder the two and Seon-chul.
Man-su begins spying on Beom-mo to find a window to kill him. Beom-mo lives as a drunkard after being unable to find a job for over a year to provide for himself and his wife Lee A-ra, his college sweetheart and a veteran stage actress struggling to find roles. Beom-mo seeks to rekindle his love with his wife, while A-ra is frustrated with her husband's drinking and his stubborn refusal to pursue another field. While observing the couple having a picnic, Man-su is accidentally bitten by a rattlesnake and is saved by A-ra. Mi-ri also proposes her husband to pursue another field and that they downsize their lifestyle, but Man-su adamantly refuses. Beom-mo spots Man-su's ad and resolves to quit drinking and apply for the job. In his next attempt to kill him, Man-su discovers A-ra having sex with a younger actor. When Beom-mo arrives home, Man-su is unable to prevent him from discovering his wife's affair. In his third effort, Man-su confronts a drunken Beom-mo at gunpoint, which devolves into a scuffle between the two men and A-ra. A-ra takes the gun and Man-su flees, but he is shocked when A-ra kills Beom-mo instead due to her frustrations towards her husband coming to a head. He narrowly escapes A-ra, but he realizes he is late to a costumed dance party where he watches Mi-ri dance with Jin-ho out of spite for him being late. Man-su leaves and returns to Beom-mo's residence, where he observes that A-ra and her lover have buried Geom-mo and the gun in their gardens, and Man-su digs out and retrieves the gun. At home, Man-su and Mi-ri accuse each other of being unfaithful before they reconcile.
Man-su next visits and bonds with Si-jo, who is working at a shoe store and also has a young daughter he loves and provides for. Despite this, Man-su reluctantly lures Si-jo to a highway and kills him, hiding his body in his car's trunk. Meanwhile, Si-one and Geon-ho steal iPhones from the storefront of Geon-ho's father in the hopes of reselling them, but they are caught by police instead. Man-su and Mi-ri blackmail Geon-ho's father, who has been secretly using the storefront for his own infidelity, to having Geon-ho take responsibility and letting Si-one go. Detectives later come to Man-su's home to warn him of Beom-mo's and Si-jo's disappearances which they linked to their common circumstances; overhearing them, Mi-ri becomes suspicious of her husband. Si-one witnesses Man-su trying to dispose of Si-jo's body in their greenhouse. Man-su struggles with disposing Si-jo's body before he decides to wrap the body into a ball and buries it in their garden alongside Si-one's stolen iPhones under an apple tree.
Man-su travels to Seon-chul's home in the country, where he reconnects with him and plies him with alcohol. However, Man-su is forced to break his sobriety and drink as well to not raise suspicions, and the drunk Man-su forcefully removes his cavity-filled tooth. Meanwhile, at home, Si-one begins having nightmares of his father. He confesses what he saw to his mother, who digs up the apple tree and finds Si-jo's body, but Mi-ri decides to lie to Si-one about her discovery to comfort her son. She contacts Man-su while he is suffocating Seon-chul to death, sharing vaguely her concerns to him. Man-su lays out Seon-chul's body to make it look like he drank himself to death before leaving. Man-su returns home in the morning where he is coldly greeted by his wife.
Some time later, Man-su is given the job of manager at Moon Paper following Geom-mo and Si-jo's disappearances. However, they inform him that their factory is being fully automated after letting go of their workers. He is in charge of overseeing the machines functioning well, but he is not assured of his job being kept if the trial run is successful. Despite this, he is afforded enough money to keep his house, and their dogs are returned home. The detectives visit Man-su again where he learns that Geom-mo and Si-jo were former colleagues in their previous jobs; A-ra has given him an alibi to cover up her own involvement in her husband's murder. She told them that Geom-mo had suicidal tendencies and owned the gun, and might be responsible for Si-jo's disappearance as well to ensure his job, thus lifting any suspicion off Man-su. As Man-su leaves for his first day, Si-one leaves to hang out with Geon-ho, and Mi-ri listens to Ri-one playing cello for their dogs, who previously didn't allow her family to listen to her play the cello before. At work, Man-su celebrates at his new job alone in the paper factory run by machines.
== 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
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
== Production ==
=== Development ===
During the Busan International Film Festival in 2009, it was announced that Park would remake Costa-Gavras' 2005 film The Axe. 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. However, the project was delayed when Park received the screenplay for his 2012 film Stoker. 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".
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. 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." 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.
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".
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."
In March 2024, Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin were announced as the film's leads. 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.
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. Filming wrapped in January 2025, lasting a total of five months.
== Release ==
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. 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.
The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on 29 August 2025. It had its North American premiere on 5 September 2025 at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, where Lee Byung-hun received a Special Tribute Award at the TIFF Tribute Awards event. It was also screened in the Special Presentations section at the 2025 Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, Sudbury, Ontario, on 17 September 2025.
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. Theatrical release in South Korea followed on 24 September, by CJ Entertainment.
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. It had its US premiere at the Main Slate of 2025 New York Film Festival on 12 October 2025. On 14 October, the film competed in the 58th Sitges Film Festival in the Oficial Fantàstic Competició section, vying for the various awards given in the section. It is presented in the Galas section of the 2025 BFI London Film Festival on 15 October 2025, and will also be screened as a late addition to the Adelaide Film Festival on 24 October, and in the Special Presentations of the 61st Chicago International Film Festival on 25 October 2025.
It was screened in Masters section of the 2025 Stockholm International Film Festival on November 12, 2025, and in 'From The Festivals - 2025' section of the 56th International Film Festival of India in November 2025.
== Reception ==
=== 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.
The film was released on 24 September 2025 on 2,114 screens. 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. On 28 September, it surpassed 1 million cumulative viewers in five days of its release by registering 1,042,800 cumulative audience.
As of 9 November 2025, it has grossed $22 million worldwide. Including US$19.7 million from 2,938,283 domestic admissions only in South Korea.
=== Critical response ===
After earning a nine-minute standing ovation and applause at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, 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.
The film continued to attract critical acclaim; Variety reported that critics "have hailed No Other Choice as one of Park's most humane and mordantly funny works to date." On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 86 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." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 86 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
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." 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".
=== Accolades ===
No Other Choice was selected as the South Korean entry for the Best International Feature Film category for the 98th Academy Awards.
== See also ==
List of submissions to the 98th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
List of South Korean submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
== Notes ==
== References ==
== External links ==
No Other Choice at IMDb
Home
Languages