The evils of capitalism have been a red-hot topic at this year’s Venice Film Festival. Both absurdist comedy Bugonia and retro thriller Dead Man’s Wire follow a wronged working-class misfits kidnapping a big-money executive. In the press conference for Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi singled out “the men in suits” as the real monsters of the world. Park Chan-wook’s contribution to the discourse has a sharp, simple premise: desperately seeking employment, a family man (Lee Byung-hun) goes on a killing spree to eliminate his fellow applicants. Bringing new meaning to the phrase “job hunt”, No Other Choice is a gleefully demented examination of self-worth, masculinity, and the inherent violence of capitalism. 

Man-su (Lee) has it all. In fact, he tells us as much verbatim in an idyllic autumnal scene that opens the film. Grilling some eel that his company gifted him, he caps off a perfect barbecue with a big family hug: embracing his wife, Miri (Son Ye-jin), their children Si-one and Ri-one, and their golden retrievers Si-two and Ri-two. The picturesque prologue falls to pieces when Man-su learns that the eel wasn’t a reward for good work, but a measly parting present. Just like that, the new American ownership fires him from his job at a paper mill after 25 years of service. His sympathetic wife assures him that he’ll find a job within three months, but over a year later, Man-su is faced with giving up his house, his dogs, and much more. The American owners told him they had “no other choice” but to fire him, and now he repeats the three-word mantra as he becomes a mass murderer.