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Park Chan-wook returns with No Other Choice, a disturbing yet darkly comedic portrait of a near-future society dominated by artificial intelligence. Adapted from Donald E. Westlake’s novel The Ax and starring Lee Byung-hun, the film premieres at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival before a December 25 release in South Korea.
A descent into violence, with AI in the background
At the heart of No Other Choice is Yoo Man-soo, a once-successful paper-industry specialist who finds himself laid off in a saturated job market. Faced with a world increasingly reshaped by automation and artificial intelligence, Yoo spirals into despair. His solution? Eliminate the competition—literally. A twisted logic drives him to begin killing off his professional rivals to secure the last remaining job in his field.
There’s something terrifyingly plausible about this premise. And yet, Park Chan-wook doesn’t play it entirely straight. He acidly injects humor into the tragedy, creating moments that make you laugh, then wince just as quickly. As Park himself puts it: “Just because the story is inherently tragic doesn’t mean it can’t coexist with comedy.”
It’s this balance between unease and absurdity that makes Park’s cinema so unsettling—and so brilliant. To read Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton face off in 2026’s Apex trailer
A long-gestating passion project
Park began working on the screenplay over a decade ago. From the start, he wanted to confront pressing contemporary issues, and over time, artificial intelligence became central to his story. As recent drafts evolved, AI’s presence grew, reflecting its increasing role in replacing human labor.
- AI isn’t just a backdrop in the film:
- It symbolizes a society where humanity is expendable.
- It drives the character’s desperation and moral collapse.
- It mirrors our own uncertain relationship with technological progress.
This theme offers more than just a speculative scenario—it acts like a mirror held up to our present. And what we see isn’t reassuring.
An international project turned local
Originally imagined as an American production, the film struggled to secure backing from both U.S. and French studios due to budget disagreements. Eventually, Park decided to bring the film home, turning it into a Korean-language project. This not only gave him more creative freedom, but also allowed him to cast Lee Byung-hun, an actor he’d been eyeing for the role for years.
Lee’s presence alone raises the project’s profile. With his ability to oscillate between vulnerability and icy coldness, he seems like the perfect fit for Park’s morally ambiguous protagonist. I’ve always admired how Park gets the most out of his actors, and given their past collaborations, expectations are high for this one.
In Park’s hands, familiar stories become new beasts. If you’ve read The Ax, you might think you know what to expect. But with his signature blend of stylized visuals, moral decay, and faintly surreal touches, Park promises something darker—and perhaps more relevant—than any faithful adaptation could offer. To read Ranking Shyamalan’s Hits: Which Film Defines His Legacy?
Between conviction and controversy
As always, Park isn’t content to stay out of controversy. During the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, he was expelled from the WGA for what the organization claimed was postproduction writing work on The Sympathizer, his HBO series. Park disputes this, saying his work wasn’t of a writing nature and maintaining his support for the writers’ cause.
It’s a tricky situation, but one that also highlights the tensions around authorship, labor, and the changing roles in an industry upended by new technology—including AI.
On that subject, Park is both apprehensive and intrigued. He fears AI could endanger artistic authenticity and job security but also sees potential for emerging filmmakers to exploit new tools in powerful ways. That ambivalence runs through No Other Choice like a thread: fascination with progress, fear of what it might strip away.
Another bold turn in a career built on daring choices
Park Chan-wook’s work has never shied away from extremes, and No Other Choice seems fully aligned with his filmography—morally complex, visually bold, emotionally jarring. What might seem like a brutal plot becomes, in his hands, a reflection on loneliness, professional despair, and the silent violence of modern society.
The more I hear about this project, the more I sense it could hit uncomfortably close to home. We’ve all worried about being replaced. No Other Choice could make that fear feel real—maybe too real.
