No Other Choice centres around Man-su (Lee Byung-hun – Squid Game), a man in a middle-aged crisis, where he has a big house and a great job, but now his company, Solar Paper, has been bought by new owners, leading to 20% being fired. He’s up for the chop, but at the age of 55, it won’t be so easy to find a new job.
Still, it does result in those losing their jobs all getting pep talks on how a new start is good for them, and to find new opportunities, etc. Great, huh? Erm…
He’s a man at the end of his tether, later looking to get hired by Moon Paper (so much thought given to the names of these companies!), but then figures that if he can set up his own, amusingly called Red Pepper Paper – such how it comes about, and plans to attract what he believes are his competition for a new career, and then kill them off, thus making things easier for him. Sorted! Maybe…
At a handful of times in this film, the characters all feel they have “no other choice”, hence the title, but while Park Chan-wook‘s (Snowpiercer, The Handmaiden) latest movie includes a hilarious but awkward assassination attempt set to blaring music, No Other Choice is good, but it really goes on at 139 minutes.
And if his hot wife, Miri, played by Son Yejin, leaves him, then I’m free! 😀
NOTE: There is no mid- nor post-credit scenes.
No Other Choice is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 139 minutes
Release date: January 30th 2026
Studio: MUBI
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Anamorphic /i Scope, ARRIRAW (4.6K))
Rating: 7/10
Director: Park Chan-wook
Producers: Jisun Back, Park Chan-wook, Alexandre Gavras, Michèle Ray-Gavras
Screenplay: Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar, Jahye Lee
Novel: Donald E Westlake (“The Ax”)
Music: Cho Young-wuk
Cast:
Man-su: Lee Byung-hun
Miri: Son Yejin
Si-one: Kim Woo Seung
Ri-one: Choi So Yul
Sun-chul: Park Hee-soon
Bummo: Lee Sung-min
Ara: Yeom Hye-ran
Sijo: Cha Seung-won
Dongho: Lim Tae Poong
Dongho’s father: Kim Hyung-mook
Dongho’s Mother: Woo Jeong Won
Miri’s Father: Oh Gwang Rok
Miri’s Mother: Lee Yong-Nyu
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.