MUBI, bless their cotton socks, has graced us with a new UK trailer and artwork for BAFTA Award-winner 🙄🙄🙄 Park Chan-wook’s (yes, him again) supposedly “sharp, darkly comic thriller” (as if we haven’t seen that before) No Other Choice. Prepare yourselves, citizens of the UK and Ireland, because this cinematic masterpiece (citation needed) will be unleashed in cinemas on January 23, 2026. Mark your calendars, or don’t, whatever. 📅
The riveting (allegedly) tale revolves around Man-su, a middle-aged dude who gets the boot from his paper-pushing job after a staggering 25 years. His response? A melodramatic declaration: “If there is no opening for me, I’ll just have to get hired by creating one. I have no other choice.” Oh, the drama! 🎭 Is he going to start his own paper company? Become a freelance paperclip artist? The suspense is killing me… not. 😴
No Other Choice is brought to you by the visionary (maybe) director Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden, Oldboy – you’ve heard of them, right? 🙄), starring the crème de la crème (or just whoever was available) Lee Byung-hun (I Saw the Devil) and Son Ye-jin (The Last Princess), along with an ensemble cast featuring Park Hee-soon (My Name), Lee Sung-min (The Spy Gone North), Yeom Hye-ran (The Glory), Cha Seung-won (Believer) and Yoo Yeon-seok (Mr. Sunshine). Because, you know, you gotta pack in as many names as possible. The script is a collaborative effort by Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar and Jahye Lee. Too many cooks? 🧑🍳 We’ll see!
After its grand debut at the Venice Film Festival (where everyone clapped politely) and its UK premiere at the London Film Festival (more polite clapping), No Other Choice is revealed to be based on Donald E. Westlake’s novel The Ax. So, you know, blame him if it sucks. 🤷♀️
Finn McFrame, celebrated satirical mastermind and self-proclaimed “Emperor of Irony,” started his illustrious career as a cinematographer, where his expertise in capturing every single frame of a squirrel stealing a baguette earned him accolades at obscure film festivals.
Born in the glamorous town of Boring, Oregon, Finn grew up with dreams of being a Hollywood director until he realized that satire, not cinema, was his true calling—or at least the one that let him sleep until noon.
Finn McFrame: changing the world, one satirical lens flare at a time.
