Korean film critic turned director’s new film is billed ‘masterpiece’ | Films | Entertainment
Mubi has just announced the release date for an exciting, upcoming Korean film that has already been receiving high praise. BAFTA Award-winner Park Chan-wook’s sharp, dark comedy thriller No Other Choice, will open in cinemas across the UK and Ireland in late January next year.
No Other Choice is directed by Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden, Oldboy), and stars Lee Byung-hun (I Saw the Devil) and Son Ye-jin (The Last Princess) alongside an ensemble cast including Park Hee-soon (My Name), Lee Sung-min (The Spy Gone North), Yeom Hye-ran (The Glory), Cha Seung-won (Believer) and Yoo Yeon-seok (Mr. Sunshine). The film is written by Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar and Jahye Lee.
Receiving its world premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival and its UK premiere at the London Film Festival, No Other Choice is based on Donald E. Westlake’s novel The Ax, the story follows a middle-aged man named Man-su who embarks on a determined job hunt after being unexpectedly fired from the paper company that he worked for 25 years.
The film’s synopsis reads: “When a man is abruptly laid off by the paper company where he has worked tirelessly for many years, he grows increasingly desperate in his hunt.”
Based on 71 reviews so far, No Other Choice has already garnered a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The critics’ consensus states: “Directed with pristine precision by Park Chan-wook, No Other Choice is a wickedly clever takedown of the corporate rat race that finds a perfect avatar in Lee Byung-Hun’s skillfully hapless performance.”
Zachary Barnes of the Wall Street Journal said: “The film is a zany, all-out crowd-pleaser from Mr. Park, who exhibits a rare genius with the camera throughout, devising breathtaking shots, zooms and transitions, his cockeyed visual wizardry perfectly matched to the outlandishness of the plot.”
Time Out and BBC Culture have both already awarded No Other Choice with five stars.
“A masterful work of cinema. Might well be Park Chan-wook’s masterpiece,” hailed Time Out.
BBC Culture described the film as “a deliriously entertaining masterpiece.”
No Other Choice is in UK and Irish cinemas on January 23, 2026.
