No Other Choice (2025)
- Original title
- 어쩔수가없다
- Directed by
- Park Chan-wook
- Genre
- drama film, black comedy film, thriller film
- Country
- South Korea
- Runtime
- 2h 19m
- Rated
- R
- Rating
- 7.5 of 10 from 1,149 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
A paper industry expert, desperate to keep his job and maintain his lifestyle, decides to eliminate his rivals. The film follows his increasingly extreme actions as competition for a single position grows fierce.
tensedarkly comicbleakdesperatesuspensefulsatiricalunsettlinghigh-stakes
What happens
No Other Choice (Korean: 어쩔수가없다) is a 2025 South Korean black comedy thriller film co-written, produced, and directed by Park Chan-wook. Based on The Ax by Donald Westlake, the film stars Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min, Yeom Hye-ran, and Cha Seung-won. It is the second film adaptation of the novel, after the 2005 French-language feature The Axe directed by Costa-Gavras, to whom No Other Choice is dedicated in the closing credits. The film follows a desperate paper industry expert who decides to kill off his competition to be assured of the job he seeks to maintain his way of life. The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on August 29, 2025, where it garnered critical acclaim. At the 83rd Golden Globe Awards, it was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (Lee Byung-hun). It was also selected as the South Korean entry for the Best International Feature Film category for the 98th Academy Awards, making the December shortlist, but was not nominated. No Other Choice had its domestic premiere as the opening film of the 30th Busan International Film Festival on September 17, followed by its theatrical release in South Korea on September 24 by CJ Entertainment. It grossed a total of $19,881,918 in South Korea becoming the third highest-grossing film in the country in 2025. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
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Parasite (2019)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.