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Park Chan-wook’s ‘Aucun autre choix’ Opens to Strong French Reviews for a Darkly Comic Thriller of Work and Worth

Park Chan-wook reframes Donald Westlake’s story as a baroque, darkly comic thriller about unemployment under automation.

Overview

  • French outlets including Le Journal du Dimanche, Le Nouvel Obs and Le Canard enchaîné praise the film’s virtuoso direction and audacious blend of thriller and black comedy.
  • The plot follows Yoo Man-su (Lee Byung-hun), an unemployed paper mill worker who sets out to eliminate rivals for a coveted job, with social satire foregrounded over shocks.
  • Park describes the film as an exploration of moral dilemmas within capitalism and heightened professional competition in South Korea, with AI-era obsolescence looming over workers.
  • Lee Byung-hun leads the cast after past collaborations and a long friendship with Park; Son Ye-jin is billed, and the film runs 2 hours 19 minutes with a Wednesday release in France.
  • Park secured adaptation rights in 2009 following Costa-Gavras’s earlier version; the new film is dedicated to Costa-Gavras, with Michèle Ray-Gavras and Alexandre Ray-Gavras credited as co-producers.