LOS ANGELES, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Though based on Donald Westlake's 1997 book The Ax, director Park Chan-wook's No Other Choice, in theaters Thursday, finds relevant themes of the moment in his adaptation. Of course, nothing from the director of Oldboy and Thirst is straightforward and expected.
Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) is laid off from a paper factory. Pounding the pavement doesn't pay off in over a year in the 2025 job market so he gets desperate.
Setting his sights on an opening at the Moon Paper company, Man-su won't let any other candidate get the job, even if he has to eliminate them permanently.
When Westlake wrote the novel, downsizing was still hitting American companies. When Costa-Gavras adapted the book in 2005, outsourcing was the culprit.
Park, who co-wrote the screenplay with Lee Kyoung-mi, Jahye Lee and Don McKellar, expresses both fears and realities with manufacturing industries using AI to automate production and reduce the workforce.
