SUMMARY: A once-successful papermaker becomes increasingly desperate after losing his job and failing to re-enter the industry. His moral compass collapses, and he resorts to eliminating his competition. To survive in the corporate world, you have to be cutthroat.
In “No Other Choice” (2026), You Man-Su is an ordinary middle-aged man whose stable life revolves around his wife, her teenage son, and their daughter, an autistic cello prodigy. But one day it all begins to unravel after he’s pushed out of the industry that he devoted his entire career to. The company is bought out, and You Man-Su is abruptly laid off after defending his coworkers ~ an act of integrity that ironically costs him everything.
He promises his family he will return to paper-making within three months. But over a year later, he is still unemployed. His wife does what she can to hold the family together. She gets a job as a dental hygienist and tells the kids they have to cut back on luxuries like streaming subscriptions. Then she announces that they must sell their house to pay off their debts and rent an apartment. This suggestion is probably what provoked You Man-Su to come up with a chillingly diabolical and methodical plan to get a job.
He was humiliated and was becoming more and more desperate. Every job opening is fiercely competitive. Financial pressure mounts, and his sense of identity erodes. You Man-su decides that the only thing standing between him and stable employment is the competition. So what is his plan? Eliminate every rival candidate for the one job he believes he deserves. Eliminate? Uuhhh … unalive them. Unalive them? Is he thinking of MURDER???!! Yes. Yes, he is.
Well, it’s a perfect plan as long as his family remains ignorant and clueless about why he spends so much time in the greenhouse.
You Man-su’s crimes escalate, and his moral decay transforms him into a cold, ruthless, inhuman human. Get the job! He must get the job! He deserves the job! So, does he finally secure the coveted job?
Where to Watch: Hulu and Apple TV
My personal rating is the same as MDL.
“No Other Choice” is based on the 1997 novel “The Ax” by Donald Westlake. This Korean film was dark. Too dark for me.
No Other Choice Review: Hard Times Call for Harder Measures | Films Fatale
Review: Park Chan-Wook’s ‘No Other Choice’ Channels Tragic Absurdity. | Cinema Escapist
IGN. “No Other Choice – Official Trailer (2025) Lee Byung-Hun, Son Ye-Jin.” YouTube, 19 Dec. 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUeujeJo9Co.
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