CJ Entertainment

No Other Choice (2025): My First Park Chan-wook Film

Posted on by Jack Drees

“No Other Choice” is directed by Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Decision to Leave) and stars Lee Byung-hun (Joint Security Area, A Bittersweet Life), Son Ye-jin (A Moment to Remember, April Snow), Park Hee-soon (My Name, Seven Days), Lee Sung-min (Golden Time, The Spy Gone North), Yeom Hye-rann (The Glory, The Uncanny Counter), and Cha Seung-won (Uprising, Believer). This film is based on a novel called “The Ax” and is about a man who quite literally decides to eliminate his competition in order to secure a job.

Courtesy of Neon – © Neon

My experience with Korean cinema is very limited. In fact, to this day, I have never once reviewed a Park Chan-wook film on Scene Before. I have not even seen one of his films. Of course, I have heard of some of his work, but I have never had the chance to watch any of it. However, when I watched “Shelby Oaks” at AMC in October, one of the last trailers that played was for “No Other Choice,” which immediately caught my attention. This trailer boasted its positive reviews in addition to its 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. As of this publication, the score stands at 99%, but this is still mighty impressive. The trailer also made sure to emphasize that the film was from Park Chan-wook, whose last feature, “Decision to Leave,” was nominated for two BAFTAs. Not to mention, his feature prior to that one, “The Handmaiden” actually won him a BAFTA for “Best Film Not in the English Language.” While Chan-wook may not have as much recognition in the States as Bong Joon Ho, I would not be surprised if “No Other Choice” brings him some extra publicity that could make him somewhat of a household name. After all, I got to the see the film a little more than a week ago, and I have to say I found it to be quite good.

I have no idea how this film is going to do with general audiences, particularly those in the United States, but I really hope it succeeds. That sounds like a moot statement. In actuality, I want just about every film that exists to succeed. But I really hope “No Other Choice” in particular does, because the film has themes and ideas I think a lot of people living in the United States, as well as other parts of the world, can relate to.

The film starts off by introducing its lead character, Yoo Man-su, who basically has it all. A good life, a happy family, a couple dogs, a nice house, a good job, even some awards recognition. However, there comes a point where his collective success begins tumbling like a flimsy Jenga tower. He loses his job, keeps applying for other ones in his field but he cannot find success, so he ends up working in retail. With the pay not high enough, Man-su’s wife, Lee Mi-ri, gets to a point where she takes up some part-time work. The family starts sacrificing some of their hobbies and possessions. For Man-su, his extended struggle gets to a point where he feels he has, no pun intended, no other choice, but to kill off his competitors.

Seeing this plot play out is quite entertaining and results in some unpredictable moments. The screenplay weaves a lot of threads. Some some of those threads are more engaging than others. Admittedly, I felt the 2 hour and 19 minute runtime. If anything, that is probably the film’s biggest flaw. It is sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes, tediously paced. Yet it fails to change the fact that I was often intrigued by not just how much was going on, but the execution of all of it.

While “No Other Choice” will probably not end up amongst my top movies of the year, I do have to admit that it is absolutely one of the most technically beautiful movies I have seen in 2025. There are a lot of little quirks the film delivers that almost do not matter at all, but they nevertheless make the final product all the better. For example, there is a scene where we see one character holding a lighter, and there is a cartoony fire effect that comes up as said character flicks it. This is almost like something out of a graphic novel. The color grading in this film is extravagant. I got to see this film in IMAX laser, so I had a pretty bright projector in the auditorium, but I am sure even if it was not that bright, the film would still look incredibly poppy. The film is sometimes dark, but it takes a satirical route. It has a Tarantino vibe at times, so the color palette fits. Speaking of colors, sometimes the sun acts like a secondary character. There are a couple shots where the sun’s dropping or rising and it comes off as an Instagram influencer’s dream. The camerawork is also pretty solid. The film has maybe the sickest zooms I have seen since “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.” I dropped my jaw at some of these movements. The film is often grounded, but there are occasional moments where the vibe can feel animated, and yet those two moods mesh together perfectly to make something fulfilling.

Another standout in the technical department is the soundwork. I saw this film with a large crowd, about a five to ten minute drive outside of Boston. My screening was almost sold out. The film has plenty of laughs, including some moments that, again, arguably do not matter much, but the fact that they are there makes the project better. There is a moment in the film where Lee Mi-ri is going over the changes that the family has to make in order to save money. One idea she had was to cancel Netflix. Of course, one of the children excuses themselves from the dinner table with an electronic device and says they’re going to get one final stream in. Next thing we hear is Netflix’s well-known “Tudum” sound effect that plays either before one of their programs or when you log in. It got a much bigger laugh from the audience than it should have, but it was timed and mixed so perfectly that it was almost impossible not to laugh.

The other sound effect that could have gone sideways was a specific door chime. You know how when you walk into a store, you hear a chime when the door opens? There is one scene set at a shop where a chime almost plays on a loop. The more it played, the funnier it became. At least to me. The chime itself was rather funny-sounding to begin with, but the fact that it kept playing only added to the comedy. “No Other Choice” has a lot of little things to appreciate in what is ultimately an ambitious ride. It has laughs. It has drama. It has entertainment. It has everything one could want to make a solid flick and more.

Courtesy of Neon – © Neon

In the end, I have no other choice but to recommend this film. I would not be surprised if “No Other Choice” ends up speaking to a lot of people. These include people who lost their jobs, perhaps those close to someone they know who lost a job, or people simply trying to get by. The cost of living, depending on where you reside, is getting out of control, and that is if it has not done so already. This is my first Park Chan-wook movie, and I would not mind seeing more. At some point, I would like to check out some of his older projects, or if he has something new up his sleeve, that could be cool to see too. I am going to give “No Other Choice” a 7/10.

“No Other Choice” arrives in select theaters this Christmas and will have a wide release in January 2026.

Thanks for reading this review! My next review is going to be for “Fackham Hall!” Stay tuned! Also coming soon, I will be sharing my thoughts on “Scarlet,” “The Secret Agent,” “Hamnet,” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” If you want to see these reviews and more from Scene Before, follow the blog either with an email or WordPress account! Also, check out the official Facebook page! I want to know, did you see “No Other Choice?” What did you think about it? Or, do you have a favorite Park Chan-wook movie? Let me know your suggestions down below as I would love to get into more of his work. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

Parasite (2019): Poor Little Liars

Posted on by Jack Drees

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“Parasite” is directed by Bong Joon Ho (Memories of a Murder, Snowpiercer) and stars Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik, and Park So-dam in a film about a poor Korean family who lives underground in an unpleasant environment. They do what they can to get by and stick together, but they’re struggling nevertheless. Eventually, one member of the family, specifically Kim Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik) is hired by a rich family to be an English tutor for their daughter. As Ki-woo gets to work, he later gets to know the family’s son (and his lackluster ability to create art) and suggests hiring a “professional” to help him out. This leads to a chain of events where the entire family gets employed by this rich household.

I have a heard a few things about “Parasite” before going into it. And by a few things I mean a few positive, amazing, spectacular things. The biggest notion I came across however was that the film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, one of the more famous film festivals we have today. There is a good chance that if your film gets this award, you are a god with magical and mystical powers that has been brought from the Heavens to shower everyone with wondrous joy. I did not know when I was ultimately going to see “Parasite,” but when I did, to say I had any doubts of quality would be a dirty rotten lie.

As for the final product, I must say it here. I must say it now. “Parasite” is one of the best movies of the year. This is a sign that awards season is starting to get into full swing. I saw “Joker” earlier this month, and that may have been the official kickoff for awards season for me. It came out at the beginning of October, it’s gritty, and overall well produced. In fact, when I walked out of “Joker” alongside my dad who I invited to watch the movie, I said something to him along the lines of this:

“That was probably the most happy go lucky movie I have seen all year.”

Of course, if you have any knowledge about “Joker,” you’d know I was clearly, well, joking. Having seen “Parasite,” I have to say that this film makes “Joker” look like “Spongebob SquarePants.” I walked out of “Joker” feeling like I just got a shot to cure a rare illness. For those of you who don’t know me, needles are up there with fire alarms and other loud sounds as one of my all-time greatest fears. “Parasite” made me feel like I walked out of the theater getting an injection in my eye. I mean, HOLY S*IT. This! Movie! IIIIISSS! Something else!

I went into this movie fairly blind, and for those of you who have not checked this movie out yet, I recommend you do the same, but as for my experience, I went into this movie, discovered what it was about, and therefore I set my expectations of where this film was going to go. I HAD NO IDEA IT WOULD GO WHEREVER THE F*CK IT WENT! Where the f*ck did it go? I am not gonna say, you all need to find out on your own because this movie truly is worth your time and money. Don’t pirate it, don’t wait until it is out on Blu-ray, just go see it now. Why? Cause I said so! I knew this movie was going to be good, but as I watched the film, I was truly trying to see if it was worth the hype. Because it was seemingly simple, straightforward, and came off as if it was going to follow a pattern I formulated in my head. Nope! It brought a subversion to my expectations that kind of almost left me speechless! And you know what? Without going into detail about what exactly brought a subversion to my expectations, I want to give this movie credit for it, because it feels like it almost reaches a level of “what the f*ck?” to the point where it almost feels difficult to process or too beyond the imagination to buy into. But somehow, “Parasite” makes it work.

Although speaking of that, this does bring me to my one small complaint about the film, and it is a small one, I still want to bow down to Bong Joon Ho and everyone else who worked on this film because this is a product for the ages. But yeah, I gotta do what I gotta do. There is a point or two in this film where I am watching everything go down and think to myself that a lot of what is happening is incredibly convenient. Now I will point out, this blog is being written by someone from the United States, this is a Korean film, and I have not been exposed to all of what Korea has to offer. I do not know all of their traditions or customs, even though I have a knowledge about a few things related to Korea here and there. But one member of the rich family in the film mentions she likes having a chain of people helping her that comes from someone she knows personally. It just feels a little too convenient for the plot, but it DOES NOT take much of anything away from how truly spectacular of a job everyone has done while making this film.

I also think the film does a really good job at displaying the background differences between the the two families. It was ultimately fascinating to see the poor Kim family try to become a centerpiece of the rich Park family. I will admit, I did sort of question whether or not the Kims deserved to do everything they have tried to do, even though they are significantly unwealthy, but it still brought my personal attention to the screen.

One last thing before I get to the final verdict. Overall, I love the performances in “Parasite.” I do not think there is one bad performance of the bunch that are provided. Cho Yeo-jeong does an incredible job as Mrs. Park. Lee Jung-eun plays a housekeeper who delivers a top notch performance. And I’ll even give credit to a particular child actor, Jung Hyun-joon, who plays a young boy named Da-song. He’s hyperactive, uppity, and brings a life to this “Parasite” party. That statement almost makes no sense, but who cares? I’m leaving it in!

In the end, “Parasite” is f*cking god level material. If you are one of those people who actively skips out on foreign films or films that are not primarily in the English language, shame. You are missing out on one of the best films I have seen in recent memory. It has a minor flaw that is present throughout the film, but the unbelievable amount of positives that I can come up with almost combine to flush said flaw down the toilet. The technical aspects: Cinematography, lighting, and editing are all on point. The acting is superb! I am an aspiring filmmaker, but I am beginning to wonder if I’ll be able to make a film as excellent as this. With that being said, I’m going to give “Parasite” a 9/10. This film is almost perfect. Maybe on my second viewing I’ll be a little more open to the conveniences of the film, but regardless, everyone involved with “Parasite” should be proud of themselves for making something truly special.

Thanks for reading this review! Just want to let everyone know that I have a couple more reviews coming up including ones for “The Lighthouse” and “Last Christmas.” For those of you who follow my blog, you know that I have done reviews for comic cons in the past. I will be going to Rhode Island Comic Con this weekend, but I am not sure if I will be doing a recap on it because I haven’t done one for another con I went to yet. In fact, part of me wants to make a transition on my con-based material to YouTube. I did that for my most recent con, Terrificon 2019, so you may see a post for that, maybe when I am out of ideas. Or… probably never. We’ll see. But if you want to see more content from Scene Before, remember to follow with an email to get notifications in your inbox or with a WordPress account to get alerts while also being able to like and comment on posts! While we are at it, check out my Facebook page! I want to know, did you see “Parasite?” What did you think about it? Or, and this question is specifically for U.S. audiences, did you see a non-American made film that came out this year? Which one did you see? What are your thoughts? Let me know down below! Scene Before is your click to the flicks!