Squid Game star Lee Byung-hun reveals what his role in No Other Choice has in common with Netflix hit

Acclaimed South Korean actor Lee Byung-hun is best known to Western audiences for his role as Hwang In-ho in the second and third seasons of Squid Game – and the star has revealed that there are some interesting similarities between the hit Netflix show and his new feature No Other Choice.

The film – which was surprisingly left off the shortlist for Best International Film in yesterday's Oscar nominations – reunites Lee with iconic writer/director Park Chan-wook, a quarter of a century after they last worked together on the latter's directorial debut Joint Security Area.

Lee plays the role of Yoo Man-su, a man who is unceremoniously made redundant from his long-time job and goes to very extreme measures to get back into employment: by finding and killing every one he considers to be competition in the job market.

Man-su is far from a trained killer, leading to some darkly comedic moments as he repeatedly struggles to go through with the murders – with the film satirising the desperate measures so many have been reduced to by the forces of 21st century capitalism.

Speaking to RadioTimes.com about the film during an exclusive interview at last year's London Film Festival, Lee explained: "One of the messages that it wants to convey and perhaps the biggest theme of the film, is that we create these systems in order to improve many people's lives. But the question posed is, do they really make people happier and make them lead better lives?

"Listening to your question reminds me of the time when I was doing Squid Game promotion," he continued. "And that also had a very similar theme that was the major theme for Squid Game as well. That's similar to this. So even though I hadn't directly connected the two, I can see the case for the [similarities.]"

Meanwhile, Park – whose previous acclaimed works include Oldboy, The Handmaiden and Decision to Leave – also noticed a few thematic details the film had in common with Squid Game, which tied in to something that had first drawn him to the film's source novel, The Ax by Donald Westlake.

"The right target for our main character's rage is the company that fired him or the capitalist system," he explained. "But instead, he turns it towards fellow unemployed men who also work in the same industry, who are equally angry and equally pitiful victims of this capitalist system.

"So what he's doing is quite foolish and also very selfish as well. And I think that's an accurate reflection of the realities that we’re living in."

No Other Choice is now showing in UK cinemas.

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