UPDATE: Three days ago, Neon jumped the gun and pulled the trailer for Park’s latest film, but now it’s been officially released. Enjoy.
EARLIER: The caliber of this year’s cinema is about to get a serious boost — we’re now just six weeks away from the official start of the fall movie season. Here’s one of our most anticipated.
The trailer for Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice” has officially been released by Neon. An inevitable Venice Film Festival premiere seems imminent — the official announcement will arrive tomorrow, placing the film in competition at the 82nd edition of the festival.
Park’s 12th feature is an adaptation of Donald E. Westlake’s 1997 novel “The Ax,” a bleak, satirical descent into corporate and personal breakdown. The story centers on a laid-off middle manager who, in a bid to secure a new job, devises a disturbingly pragmatic solution: eliminate the competition—literally.
The film stars Cha Seung-won, Park Hee-soon, Yoon Ga-yi, Son Ye-jin, and Lee Byung-hun, reuniting Park with Lee for the first time since 2000’s Joint Security Area and 2004’s Three… Extremes.
“No Other Choice” marks Park’s return to feature filmmaking following his 2022 Cannes Best Director-winning “Decision to Leave” and his recent creative detour into American television with HBO’s “The Sympathizer.” The new film has been described as a “lifelong passion project” for Park, who has reportedly been circling the material for over a decade.
Park, 61, remains one of world cinema’s great stylists and moral provocateurs. From “Oldboy” to “The Handmaiden,” his work has always blurred the lines between eroticism violence, and guilt. With “No Other Choice,” Park seems poised to once again push the boundaries of genre while diving deep into the moral corrosion of capitalism.
Expect fireworks when it premieres on the Lido in September. We wouldn’t expect anything else from Park.
