One wouldn’t normally place the origin story of a serial murderer among the funniest films of the year, but Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice has a way of making us laugh — and even, at times, root for its anti-hero — in spite of ourselves. For Park’s part, comedy was his way into such a bleak and painfully timely tale; less the spoonful of sugar than an ironic wake-up call.
“I believe the most accurate way to portray the reality that mankind is in is to portray both the tragedy and the ridiculousness of the situation that we’re in,” Park tells Inverse. That’s why he adapts Donald Westlake’s late ’90s horror novel, The Ax, with such acid-sharp humor. It’s also the reason he cast Lee Byung-hun as Yoo Man-su, the desperate man who claws his way out of unemployment by murdering his competition.
