Directed By Park Chan-wook

Starring – Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon

The Plot – When family man Man-su (Byung-hun) is abruptly laid off by the paper company where he has worked tirelessly for many years, he grows increasingly desperate in his hunt for familial stability, opting to eliminate the competition, in order to earn a better life for he and his struggling family.

Rated R for violence, adult language and some sexual content.

NO OTHER CHOICE – Official Trailer – In Select Theaters Christmas

POSITIVES

Despite its premature labeling of many critics calling the film this year’s “Parasite”, mostly on account of being a Korean set story about the desperations of financial inequality, “No Other Choice” instead takes some refreshing deviations in both the bountiful depth of its storytelling, with moral and tonal elasticity in the actions of its characters, but also in the meticulously masterful direction of Park Chan-wook once again solidifying himself as one of the greats, for the abundance of personality that he energetically elicits in such a stunning presentation that feels like a virtual feast for the senses. On the former, the film centers around a man losing his job, which in turn sets his family on a collision course of desperation for maintaining their particular brand of lifestyle, and while that would initially feel uncomfortably discouraging for an audience asked to invest firmly in these characters, it’s actually helmed quite comedically charming in the same ways that Park has made a career of imbedding such humbling humility to so an overwhelming majority of his stories, only this time with a much firmer grasp on the underlining silliness of so many unpredictable situations that in turn fleshes out an abundance of humanity for characters, who would otherwise feel like they’re lost in the fray of their bleakly unforgiving actions. As expected in a Park Chan-wook film, the movie is filled with gruesome and at-times unsettling violence, but the command and balance that he has over the control of the tone never feels like it’s clashing or compromising to the integrity of the experience, with evolving emotionality that truly takes these internalized conflicts miles without sacrificing the urgency and sentimentality of the stakes that constantly persists throughout over two hours of spontaneous storytelling, with just the right amount of bitterly biting commentary throughout complex and socially relevant themes that makes it feel effortlessly immersive for the audience to impose themselves in the situations and choices of its characters. From the cruelty of capitalism, to the helplessness of unemployment, to even the urgent inevitability of employer autonomy, the film has such an intricately layered method of illustrating the dehumanizing nature of the modern corporate world, refusing to ever lose sights of the lives and struggles that hang so vulnerably in the process, and while Man-su’s journey for redemption takes him down so many dark and binding corridors that motivate his dire actions without fully justifying them, it proves the limitless avenues that people take to protect what’s most valuable to them, leaving little in the way of unmistakable subtleties for the kind of deep-seeded messaging that Park supplants to a story with such unforeseen bittersweetness. As for Park’s visual flare, it’s clear that we’re witnessing one of the generation’s best at work, not only with spellbindingly entrancing visuals that inscribe limitless depth to the textures of the imagery, as well as meaning to the particulars of object placement to the set designs, but also in the endlessly beautiful framing, staging and lighting, that flesh out a perfectionist sense of planning, leading to some of the best scene-to-scene transitions that I have experienced in this entire year. When you really explore these cleverly creative and cohesive edits, you garner a greater sense of appreciation with how Park allows so many of these scenes to play out so captivatingly with one another, with compellingly ambitious camera placements, meaningful symbolism and contextual connectivity between separated characters that uniquely makes them feel like they’re in the exact same place and time with one another, despite their obviously distant placements, and though most comedically-dominating films don’t contain this level of technique to its visual storytelling, Park is always someone who finds such meaningfully challenging ways of delving into the psychologies of his characters, leading to an even grander experience that flourishes without the need to feel overbearingly obvious intentionally. Aside from the limitless talents that Park exudes on such a thankful canvas, the film is also acted exceptionally be an extensive ensemble that each appraise so much vulnerability and earnestness to the air of their characters, but none as prominent as Lee Byung-hun’s spontaneously speculative turn as Man-su, who revels in the ambiguities and desperation of a man with nothing left to lose. Part of what I find so appealing about Lee’s portrayal here are the odd choices that never betray the realities of the stakes that he’s forced to grapple with, leaving him fully aware of the realistic risks that outline his objective, but also the confident grasp that he maintains in the emotionality of the character, with very few moments of unbridled outbursts to echo such a heartbreaking humility persisting in and around his family. Such a scene presents itself in Man-su forced to confront his sobriety for the need to maintain appearances of deception with one of his competitive cohorts, and Lee not only brings such a trembling tenderness to the weight of the glass, but the next second a maniacal unhinge that feels like the full circle breakdown for the character, summarizing an endearingly enigmatic performance that tragically will be overlooked come awards season, but one that undeniably earns the kind of showcasing acclaim built for the biggest stage conceivable. On top of all of this, the pacing of the storytelling is consistently persistent throughout an overwhelming majority of the engagement, with an ambitiously deserving 135-minute runtime transpiring with the kind of effortless ease that fleshes out the chemistry of the characters, and naturalized exposition quite impressively. This is where Park and fellow co-writers Lee Kyoung-mi and Jahye Lee show their irreplaceable value to the proceedings, as not only do they conjure backstory and tidbits to the integrity of the characters in the most believable of moments, but also illustrate environments with an air of unpredictability that never relents, and as much as this movie is a visual experience, it’s just as much an entertainingly engaging one, approached with the kind of authenticity and realism that occasionally transcends its cinematic enveloping, even in a film that can be described as a chain of remarkable risks and devious actions.

NEGATIVES

Very little to scoff at here, but I did find the opening act to be the overall weakness of the film, particularly in the opening half hour taking a bit longer than expected to fully attach myself to these characters and the establishing of their conflict. Considering the film wastes little to no time setting up the initial bombshell of Man-su losing his job, it made me wish that we got to comprehend and experience more of the family’s lavish lifestyle, in order to truly understand the magnitude of what was lost in the proverbial fire, and while I feel empathetic towards anyone who loses the comfortability of what they’ve worked so tirelessly to ensure, I wouldn’t say that I was firmly invested to Man-su’s cause until he decided to go postal to those standing in his way of an optimistic lifestyle, leaving the opening half hour the only time in the movie where my investment even felt remotely challenging, especially considering the movie’s second and third acts are both so remarkably endearing with aforementioned stimulating style and cynical substance that continuously enhance your expectations with one of the most completely put together productions of the entire cinematic year. In addition to this, my only other problem with the script pertained to the imbalance of usage with some of the supporting characters, particularly the main family’s two children, who are so void of impact or notoriety that I sometimes forgot just how many children were a part of them, especially during some scenes mixing the kids with some other neighboring children. While I wholeheartedly understand that the kids weren’t a pivotal point of the story’s focus, I would’ve preferred some furthering of some initial aspects of the establishing characterization that feel too unique to not serve a bigger point in the storytelling, particularly the young daughter’s antisocial neurodivergent disorder, which is frequently brought up in the highs and lows of this family’s outlook, but without anything relevant that even makes its inclusion necessary in the first place.

OVERALL
“No Other Choice” is a cheekily twisted and scathingly seething social commentary on contemporary capitalism, as seen through pessimistic outlook of one dismantled family’s lifestyle, and the remorselessly resilient father who seeks to get it all back. With Park Chan-wook diabolically mastering another maniacal triumph, featuring breathtaking filmmaking involving A meaningfully layered and intoxicatingly colored pallet, as well as A heart-stealing performance from Lee Byung-hun, the film supplants a bittersweet outlook to a world enriched by unforeseen hilarity, reminding us of the limitless avenues we take as guardiands to protect those worth fighting for.

My Grade: 9.1 or A