No Other Choice review: Park Chan-wook's killer comedy is more than paper thin

In this case, there’s plenty of moments that’ll make you squirm, especially if you’re squeamish when it comes to oral hygiene. There’s even a very grim way of disposing a body, one that seemingly comes inspired by techniques for tying up plants in the garden.

The ‘killer’ in question is Man-su (Lee Byung-hun), a father-of-two who has worked for Solar Paper as a speciality paper manager for the past quarter-century. “Paper has fed me for 25 years,” he says, sounding rather like The Office’s Michael Scott.

When he gets let go, he’s left to find a new job in his middle years, with economic pressures meaning he might need to sell the family home. His wife (Son Ye-jin) is already trying to economise – no more Netflix, kids! – as all non-essentials are cut back on.

Only their youngest daughter’s cello lessons will continue, as Man-su desperately keeps searching for a gig in this increasingly tough economy. But with paper his life (he was 2019’s ‘Pulp Man of the Year’, after all), all he wants to do is find work in the same industry.

Adapted from Donald Westlake’s 1997 novel The Ax, Man-su takes a novel approach to finding work, and it doesn’t involve updating your LinkedIn profile. Rather than take his chances in an interview, he decides to kill off all those who might stand a chance.

Of course, he’s no murderer; his hand shakes every time he picks up a gun, taken from the wall of his family home. His first target is Lee Sung-min’s engineer, a married man who has succumbed to drink while his actress wife tries (and fails) to audition for roles.

As Man-su spies on his home, it’s all rather farcical. Some of it’s funny, some of it isn’t. Humour doesn’t always travel well across cultures, and Park’s earlier forays into comedy, such as 2006’s I’m a Cyborg But It’s OK, were a little wayward.

But even if No Other Choice will leave you stone-faced, you can’t help but admire the invention on display, especially in later scenes, where Park dips into the surreal.

What does hit home in No Other Choice is the employment crisis we are all facing, with workplace environments becoming increasingly automated.

Soon, it’ll just be a handful of callous executives and empty warehouses, with huge machines creating products, and only one employee needed to oversee everything. It’s a soul-destroying notion, especially with the execs simply shrugging that they have “no other choice” but to dump the bulk of their workforce.

No question, No Other Choice is broader than many Park films, and certainly less subtle than his last film, 2019’s masterful procedural Decision To Leave.

But led by the highly watchable Lee Byung-hun, whose working relationship with Park goes all the way back to the director’s 2000 debut Joint Security Area, it’s still a rambunctious ride (if slightly overlong, at 139 minutes).

With some lovely lines, like “slay them all”, innocently spoken by Man-su’s wife when he’s off for an interview, it’s more than paper-thin.

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