NO OTHER CHOICE

After 25 years of loyal service at Solar Paper, Yoo Man-soo (Lee Byung-hun) is distraught by his sudden layoff. Unable to find work, his financial situation becomes dire and he risks losing the family home. Desperation sets in and Man-soo decides that his best course of action is to ensure employment at a rival firm, Moon Paper, by systematically eliminating his competition. He drafts a hit-list of three rival candidates, but as an amateur executioner his attempts at clean assassinations quickly turn into farcical disasters. This film excels visually – the cinematography and quirky camera angles are highlights. While the performances are also strong, other aspects didn’t meet my expectations. The pacing drags in the middle and a tighter edit would’ve helped to maintain the momentum. Despite being a dark comedy, most of the humour failed to land for me – though I seemed to be in the minority, as the rest of the cinema frequently laughed out loud. While it’s not in the same league as its South Korean counterpart (and Oscar winner) ‘Parasite’, it has a fresh concept that is executed with reasonable skill.