No Other Choice follows Yoo Man-soo as he tries to keep his life together after being fired from his long term job at a paper factory. With a wife and kids to support and with expensive bills to pay to keep up their lifestyle, Man-soo feels he has no other choice but to do anything possible to secure his next job.
Park Chan-wook once again spectacularly delivers on creating a cinematic experience unlike any other. His camera angles, movement and framing is truly innovative and a wonder to watch. Chan-wook thinks like no other director in the best way, delivering a story full of lively detail. What makes this film’s scenes so effective is that there are clear stakes communicated through the filmmaking. We see how Man-soo’s stressful situation puts him at odds in many situations. The way the room is decorated, how the camera is placed or how the light hits his eyes or the natural conditions around him all matter and contribute to a tension filled atmosphere. The film is full of comedy from the absurd situations and characters that Man-soo encounters in his effort to secure a new job. The music choices are brilliant, adding atmosphere and fitting each scene well.
Lee Byung Hun is amazing as a true lead. We spend every scene with him and get a strong character study of a man who is simply willing to not change and, in the midst of that, may lose all that should be valuable to him as a human being. The film leaves us with an emptiness, even after all the high emotions of the story, forcing us to ask if there was truly no other choice. (This is a pun that is frequently used in the movie, it is just so clearly the right title for the film.
No Other Choice is playing at TIFF ’25. For more information, click here.
