What do you do when, after 25 years of loyal service, your job suddenly disappears? In No Other Choice, one man’s desperate search for work spirals into something far darker. Park Chan-wook’s latest film turns the pressure of layoffs, status loss and corporate competition into a wickedly sharp thriller with a pitch-black sense of humor.
Genre: dark comedy, drama, crime
Language: Korean, subtitles: English
Length: 2 hrs 19 mins (2025)
Man-su has spent 25 years working his way up to supervisor at a paper mill, only to be laid off when the company falls into foreign hands. As finding a new job proves harder than expected, he and his family are forced to drastically adjust their lives. Desperate to secure his future, Man-su comes up with an extreme solution: eliminate the competition before the next job interview. How far will you go when there’s no other choice?
Directed with pristine precision by Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden), this South Korean box office hit blends dark comedy, social critique, and cinematic mastery into a sharp thriller. Lee Byung-hun (Squid Game) gives a brilliantly tragicomic performance as a man pushed to the edge by a ruthless corporate world.
Awards
Winner of the 2025 TIFF International People’s Choice Award. It also received three Golden Globe nominations, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Non-English Language Film, and Best Actor for Lee Byung-hun.
Reviews
“A deliriously entertaining satire on the derangement of being laid off.” Variety
“Supremely well crafted, endlessly inventive, it is a savage dark comedy that speaks to our present moment with unnerving clarity.” Script Magazine
“One of Park’s angriest films, a commentary on what happens when fragile masculinity is fractured by corporate greed.” RogerEbert
SG & ITEC registration for bachelor’s students
Please register for SG & ITEC by scanning your student ID card at the venue.
More information about SG & ITEC can be found here.
Ticket information
This film will be shown at Filmhuis De Zwarte Doos.
- Tickets must be purchased online in advance and can be bought by clicking the black “Order” button on this page.
- Cash or card payments are not accepted at the ticket counter.
For more information about tickets, refund policies, and other details, click here.
Please be on time
The screening of the film begin promptly at 19:30 (with no pre-film advertisements), and the cinema hall will open at 19:10. We kindly request that you arrive at the ticket counter at least 10 minutes before the start of the film to ensure a smooth and timely experience for all.
The Studium Generale film program is created in collaboration with the Student Film Committee and Natlab.