{"id":165306,"date":"2025-09-18T11:30:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T11:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/165306\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T11:30:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T11:30:09","slug":"biff-opener-no-other-choice-is-a-murderously-funny-look-at-downsizing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/165306\/","title":{"rendered":"BIFF opener \u2018No Other Choice\u2019 is a murderously funny look at downsizing"},"content":{"rendered":"

BUSAN, South Korea, Sept. 18 (UPI) — Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, which opened the Busan International Film Festival on Wednesday, introduces viewers to You Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) and his family — wife, two kids, two dogs — as he barbecues in his backyard and reflects on a sense of fulfillment after 25 years of hard work at a paper company.<\/p>\n

With the first falling blossoms of autumn sprinkling down on him, he pauses to marvel: “I’ve got it all.”<\/p>\n

Spoiler alert: Man-su does not, in fact, have it all.<\/p>\n

Soon enough, the onetime “Pulp Man of the Year” is swept up in a wave of downsizing layoffs at Solar Paper, which has been acquired by an American firm.<\/p>\n

“You Americans call it getting axed,” he calls to the new bosses as they drive away from a factory visit (neglecting to return their safety helmets). “Know what we say in Korea? ‘Off with your head!'”<\/p>\n

\""No<\/p>\n

“No Other Choice” star Lee Byung-hun speaks at a press conference at the Busan International Film Festival on Wednesday. Photo by Thomas Maresca\/UPI<\/p>\n

From there, Park (Oldboy, The Handmaiden, Decision to Leave), stirs up a kaleidoscopic blend of black humor, biting social satire and dizzying moments of violence. The film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival last month, has garnered well-deserved raves and comparisons to Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning Parasite — while also giving a jolt of optimism to a struggling Korean film industry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After his layoff, Man-su and his fellow unemployed comrades sit in workshops repeating self-help affirmations. But the mantra of finding a replacement job within three months fails to materialize: the closest Man-su gets to his beloved industry is hauling reams of printer paper at a big-box retailer.<\/p>\n

\""No<\/p>\n

“No Other Choice” features Son Ye-jin’s (L) return to the big screen after seven years on television. Photo courtesy of CJ ENM<\/p>\n

His wife, Miri (Crash Landing on You’s Son Ye-jin), is the pragmatic one in the family. She announces that they need to slash the household budget — no more tennis and dance lessons, less meat with dinner, even Netflix gets canceled. Their beloved dogs are rehomed and Miri goes back to work as a hygienist for a younger dentist, who soon sparks Man-su’s jealousy.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most gallingly, the house — Man-su’s childhood home, for which he worked years to buy and lovingly restore — will have to be sold to an obnoxious neighbor.<\/p>\n

\""No<\/p>\n

“No Other Choice” star Son Ye-jin speaks at a press conference at the Busan International Film Festival on Wednesday. Photo by Thomas Maresca\/UPI<\/p>\n

Man-su, however, has been working on a different idea. Amid the shakeups in the industry, he realizes that the other laid-off veterans are competing for a shrinking number of jobs and decides if you can’t beat ’em, kill ’em off one by one.<\/p>\n

\""No<\/p>\n

“No Other Choice” is a darkly comic look at the desperate lengths You Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) goes to find work after being downsized. Photo courtesy of CJ ENM<\/p>\n

While mordant humor is laced throughout Park Chan-wook’s films, No Other Choice is perhaps his most overtly comedic, with chisel-jawed superstar Lee Byung-hun (Squid Game’s Front Man) playing for deadpan laughs no matter how absurd the situations.<\/p>\n

And absurd they are, as slapstick attempts at murder go hilariously awry and Man-su becomes entwined in the lives of his targets, who are ultimately all part of the same doomed tribe.<\/p>\n

\""No<\/p>\n

“No Other Choice” director Park Chan-wook speaks at a press conference at the Busan International Film Festival on Wednesday. Photo by Thomas Maresca\/UPI<\/p>\n

Based on Donald Westlake’s 1997 novel The Ax, the film is one Park said he’s wanted to make for years.<\/p>\n

“When I read The Ax, it was very easy for me to relate to the story,” Park said at a press conference in Busan Wednesday. “I immediately knew that I had to bring this story to the big screen.”<\/p>\n

\"Director<\/p>\n

Director Park Chan-wook, stars Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin and the cast (L to R) of BIFF opening film pose at a press conference Wednesday. Photo by Thomas Maresca\/UPI<\/p>\n

In No Other Choice, paper — an analog product being overtaken by automation, digital screens and AI — is a clear parallel for the film industry. South Korean cinema in particular is struggling, with box office numbers free-falling this year as viewers are choosing to stream at home.<\/p>\n

“Right now the film industry is having a very rough time in Korea,” Park said. “It seems to be recovering more slowly than other countries since the pandemic. I hope my film will play a little role in the recovery.”<\/p>\n

Star Lee Byung-hun said the connection between cinema and the disappearing paper industry in No Other Choice was unmistakable.<\/p>\n

Everyone in the movie business “feels the same crisis as characters in the film” he said at Wednesday’s press conference.<\/p>\n

“Cinema is having a very hard time,” Lee said. “Every filmmaker is thinking about how they can find a breakthrough to make cinemas once again become places that audiences love.”<\/p>\n

Shot with Park’s characteristic verve and artistry, No Other Choice is precisely the type of film best seen in the theater. Close-ups, surprising camera angles, and complex scene constructions, along with nuanced performances, are all crucial parts of his storytelling.<\/p>\n

“The film changes every time I watch,” Lee said. “The details of the mise-en-sc\u00e8ne and the performances only come alive on a big screen. There’s a reason cinema exists — you have to watch this on a big screen.”<\/p>\n

Son Ye-jin, who is making her return to film after seven years of starring on television, added that fans should plan on multiple viewings.<\/p>\n

“The first time [you watch], you notice Park Chan-wook’s direction and Lee Byung-hun’s acting,” she joked. “The second and third time you’ll be able to notice me and the other actors. You have to watch it at least twice.”<\/p>\n

Park added that global audiences will find their own lives reflected in the story, as AI-driven economic anxiety and displacement is clear-cutting across countless industries.<\/p>\n

“When the audience watches the film, I don’t think they will think of filmmakers,” Park said. “It will relate to their own story.”<\/p>\n

No Other Choice made its Asian premiere at the Busan International Film Festival. It will be released in South Korean theaters on Sept. 24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BUSAN, South Korea, Sept. 18 (UPI) — Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, which opened the Busan International Film…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,12427,88,50241,99870,26455,43399,99871,4933,99869,24350],"class_list":["post-165306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-choice","tag-entertainment","tag-film-industry","tag-international-film-festival","tag-lee-byung-hun","tag-park-chan-wook","tag-photo-courtesy","tag-press-conference","tag-son-ye-jin","tag-venice-film-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}