By Aydan Cantu

Since its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Park Chan-Wook’s No Other Choice has kept garnering more and more critical acclaim. The film, an adaptation of Donald E. Westlake’s The Axe, follows Yoo Man-soo (Lee Byung-hun), a veteran paper mill manager who descends into violence in a desperate bid to reclaim his dignity after being laid off from his job. Wook’s previous works include Oldboy (2003), The Handmaiden (2016), and Decision to Leave (2022). No Other Choice is the first film of the director’s I’ve seen, and I can already say I’m a fan. 

By far what stuck out most with No Other Choice is its moral dilemma. Yoo’s descent into madness is never accepted by the character or Wook, for that matter. Instead, he constantly reassures himself that there’s “No other choice,” hence the film’s title. And that’s where the question stems: is Yoo a good person? Despite his sins, he’s an honest man, loves his family, and will literally do anything to provide for them. Yet, the means in how he provides is where the complexity arises. But is there really no other choice? Can’t he get another job that’s not in the paper industry? This is where Wook’s storytelling goes from great to masterful. Both he and actor Byung-hun make it clear early on that Yoo doesn’t want a job in another industry. If he doesn’t work in the paper industry, he doesn’t work at all, and because of that, he’s willing to take whatever means necessary to do so. 

I’ve made it clear how much I love No Other Choice’s moral dilemma, but the key element that makes it so thought-provoking is the exceptional performance from Lee Byung-hun. I can’t imagine anyone else but him in the role. He’s sad, he’s funny, and most of all, he’s human. I never once looked at him as a terrible person, and that’s largely due to Byung-hun’s performance. You see all the terrible things he does, and yet, you’re still rooting for him by the end. Byung-hun’s performance is easily one of my favorite performances of 2025. 

With the way I’ve written about No Other Choice, you’d expect it to be a serious drama, but what’s surprised me the most is how funny it is. And I don’t mean, ha ha funny, but laugh out loud hilarious. Some scenes are so funny, I almost felt like I shouldn’t be laughing due to the subject matter. Wook and Byung-hun use Yoo’s naïveté as the catalyst for everything going wrong, and when those moments inevitably spiral, you can’t help but laugh.

If No Other Choice doesn’t make my top ten favorite movies of 2025 list, I will be surprised. It’s a remarkable character study that becomes very reminiscent of 1970s New Hollywood films. Even with a 138-minute running time, the film breezes by and keeps you hooked until the final second. Park Chan-Wook’s No Other Choice is nothing short of a masterpiece and easily one of the best films of 2025, leaving me with a final rating of five out of five stars.