The Korean satire ‘No Other Choice’ is a masterful thriller from Park

Lee Byung-hun in a scene from “No Other Choice” (Neon) [AP Photo]

Leaves and bodies fall in “No Other Choice”, Park Chan-wook’s masterfully devilish satire, with a chilling autumnal wind blowing through it. “Come on, fall,” urges You Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) as he grills an eel for dinner in the opening moments. He’s eager for the season to start but unprepared for the cyclical collapse – familial, economic, even existential – that Park has in store.

Man-su commits the cardinal sin of movie protagonists: “I’ve got it all.” He lives with his wife, Miri (Son Ye-jin), and two children in a handsome modernist house in the woods, complete with greenhouse, bonsai trees and two golden retrievers. Almost immediately, his fortunes turn. After 25 years at a paper mill, Man-su is laid off with little fanfare or apology. Desperation sets in. The house must go. Even Netflix is cancelled.

Another film might sink into bankruptcy drama or midlife soul-searching. This is not that movie. Assessing his prospects, Man-su decides to improve his odds of re-employment. He posts a fake job listing, compares incoming résumés, and concludes he’s only the fifth-best candidate for any new managerial position. His solution: eliminate the competition.

The premise – a Grade-A barnburner – isn’t new. South Korea’s Oscar submission is based on Donald Westlake’s 1997 crime novel The Ax, previously adapted by Costa-Gavras in 2005. But Park, the filmmaker behind Oldboy, The Handmaiden and Decision to Leave, is exquisitely suited to the material. Few directors can conjure menace with such elegance, or suggest brutality with such restraint.

At the peak of his powers, Park archly spins a yarn about a murderous rampage whose consequences ripple outward. “Hitchcockian” is an overused comparison, but apt: like Hitchcock, Park is outwardly refined, inwardly perverse. Over two decades, he has carved a meticulous, blood-flecked path through cinema that is rarely predictable, often very funny and quietly revelatory.

Much of the delight in “No Other Choice” lies not just in what happens, but in how Park frames it. He has an unmatched gift for staging outrageous acts within formal, stylish compositions. As Man-su bumbles from target to target, each potential murder opens a window onto another household reckoning with unemployment. The way Man-su observes them – through reflections, windows and trees – adds sharp layers of satire.

Capitalism sits squarely in the crosshairs, with the handsome house at its center. Comparisons to Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” are inevitable; together, the films would make a destabilizing double feature.

If “Parasite” was an ensemble triumph, “No Other Choice” belongs to Lee. His Man-su is no natural killer, and his attempts to become one are as comical as they are Dostoyevskian. “Our family is in a war,” he says, convinced whatever it takes is justified.

What makes the film brilliant is how it exposes that belief as a pervasive modern error. Without spoiling the final minutes, Park expands the idea of “necessary termination” – of jobs, of lives – into automation, AI and beyond. The leaves falling here aren’t coming back in spring. JAKE COYLE, MDT/AP Film Writer

“No Other Choice,” a Neon release is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for violence, language and some sexual content. In Korean with English subtitles. Running time: 139 minutes. ★★★★