Reasons to Anticipate Park Chan-wook's 'There Is No Other Choice'

 Reasons to Anticipate Park Chan-wook's 'There Is No Other Choice'

The prestige of director Park Chan-wook

The name Park Chan-wook is recognized as a proper noun representing Korean cinema. With films like 'Oldboy,' 'Sympathy for Lady Vengeance,' 'The Handmaiden,' and 'Decision to Leave,' he has traversed genres while continuously exploring his unique mise-en-scène and human nature. His newly released work is titled 'Nothing Can Be Done.' This title sounds like a kind of declaration. At the same time, it can also be read as a sentence of resignation, signifying the act of giving up or accepting something. Through this sentence, the audience senses the questions that the film will pose. And these questions will reach the audience through Park Chan-wook's latest film, which has been completed after 17 years of preparation.

Korean reinterpretation of the original novel

The film 'Decision to Leave' is based on the 1997 novel 'The Ax' by American author Donald Westlake. The story follows a middle-aged office worker who loses his job due to restructuring and executes a series of plans to eliminate his competitors with similar job roles in order to secure a new position. Director Park Chan-wook adapted and directed this original work to fit the Korean reality. He began working on the screenplay with this project in mind in 2008 and started filming in the summer of 2024, finishing in early 2025. The 17 years is not merely a development period but a testament to the dedication that Park Chan-wook had for this story.

Experimentation and Expansion of the Black Comedy Genre

Director Park Chan-wook has set this work in the black comedy genre. This is a choice that somewhat distinguishes it from his previous works. Having explored brutality and the darkness of human nature in films like "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" and "Lady Vengeance," this time he has chosen the framework of black comedy that draws out oddities within humor, cynicism, and the discomfort of daily life. Black comedy can sometimes be a genre that is more realistic than reality itself. Through his previously showcased sensory direction and refined visual language, it seems that Park Chan-wook will interpret this genre in his own way. It provokes laughter, but underneath that laughter lies discomfort, and this discomfort forces a confrontation with reality.

The casting combination of Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin

The casting also raises expectations for this work. Lee Byung-hun has been cast as the protagonist, Mansoo. He has been recognized for his performances in recent years, including 'Concrete Utopia', 'Emergency Declaration', and 'The Man Standing Next', where he precisely conveys layers of emotion. Mansoo is a complex character who needs to elicit both sympathy and rejection from the audience, and Lee Byung-hun is regarded as an actor capable of convincingly expressing this duality. Son Ye-jin will play his wife, Miri. This is the first time the two actors will portray a couple in a film directed by Park Chan-wook. Son Ye-jin's delicate handling of emotional expressions will add strong persuasiveness to a character that struggles between reality and ideals.

Venice Film Festival Competition Entry

The film 'There is No Way' has been invited to compete in the competition section of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival. This is the first time in 13 years since director Kim Ki-duk's 'Pietà' in 2012 that a Korean film has entered the competition section. Director Park Chan-wook has already received the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival for 'Decision to Leave', and now he has made his mark on another European film festival stage. The Venice Film Festival has invited major works such as 'No Country for Old Men', 'Roma', and 'Joker', and is known for evaluating films that strike a balance between artistry and commercial appeal. Being invited to such a stage shows that this work holds significance not only for domestic audiences. In North America, NEON is in charge of distribution, a company that has proven its international distribution power through films like 'Parasite' and 'Titane'.

Obsessiveness of the production team with perfection

The personnel involved in the production also includes many individuals who have previously collaborated with director Park Chan-wook in his earlier works. Director of photography Kim Woo-hyung, editor Kim Sang-beom, and music director Cho Young-wook have already worked with Park on "The Handmaiden" and "Decision to Leave." They are collaborators who best understand Park Chan-wook's directing style and can visually and audibly realize his intentions. Filming started in August 2024 and concluded in January 2025, with the director stating, "This has been a project I've held onto for 17 years, and I will focus my utmost attention on all processes, including post-production." He is known not just as a director who writes scripts and directs, but also as a creator who is deeply involved in all areas, including editing, music, and color correction.

Teaser Release and Initial Reactions

The teaser video was released in mid-July 2025 and contains scenes that give a glimpse of the film's atmosphere and thematic consciousness. In the video, Lee Byung-hun is staring at someone with a blank expression, and the screen is composed of restrained colors and a static frame. The poster also features a back view of Man-soo positioned right in the center along with the phrase "There is no choice." This combination visually hints at the themes of "choice and responsibility" and "action and consequence." Following the release of the video, there has been significant interest in domestic and international film communities. In overseas film-focused communities such as Reddit, World of Reel, and FirstShowing, reactions included comments like "This will be Park Chan-wook's sharpest return since Oldboy," and "It's a realistic story encapsulated with mise-en-scène and emotion." There are also high expectations due to it being distributed by NEON, with discussions about simultaneous releases in Europe, Asia, and North America.

Conclusion: A Film That Leaves Questions

"Decision to Leave" is not simply a film for the thriller genre or social satire. It is a film that tracks how a human approaches a boundary to survive within a system. This boundary exists somewhere between blood and violence, guilt and self-justification, family and survival. Director Park Chan-wook will visually and precisely implement this boundary through the film's composition, character emotions, and actor performances. This film heralds another phase of Korean cinema. Beyond increasing industrial scale, it shows how a director's personal vision and long-term planning materialize into a work. "Decision to Leave" is the culmination of elements that have constructed the world of director Park Chan-wook and could also serve as a creative turning point for him. The biggest reason for audiences to anticipate this film is the intuition that there will not be a single answer or conclusion within it. Park Chan-wook has always left questions, and this time too, he poses a question. The question of whether it was truly unavoidable will confront audiences in their own ways through the film. The most significant reason to await this film is not what answer it will provide, but rather how we will accept that question.