Few directors can make us laugh at desperate people gruesomely dispatched while making theater crowds roar as a family man’s professional and personal life disintegrates. But that’s exactly what Director Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden) has accomplished in this, his 10th feature film.
The South Korean master director finds the line between uproarious, often slapstick, satirical comedy and the cruel, hopeless, bleak future for powerless workers crushed by capitalism in this engaging and provocative film. The premise starts simply as a middle-class longtime employee of a paper company loses his job after number-crunching Americans take over the business. His desperate reaction is something many may have thought doing in his situation.
Man-su, the laid off long-time employee of a paper company, (Lee Byung-hun, Squid Games and K Pop Demon Hunters) has no luck finding a new position and takes ruthless measures to secure a job. The subject matter is dark and depressing, but instead of venturing into noir territory, Park Chan-wook puts a goofy, unhinged stylistic attitude to Man-su’s predicament.
Writers Park and co-writers Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar and Jahye Lee give Man-su an incredible range as he devolves into compulsion. The clever script was adapted from Donald E. Westlake’s 1997 novel “The Ax.”
Behind the satire, Park delivers a message about humanity and empathy for people who have no power against the forces of big business and big money. Lee gives us Man-su, a good man, husband and father of 2 kids who loves his job, his wife, and his life. He owns his childhood home along with 2 golden retrievers. But his favorite barbecues in the backyard and ballroom dancing with his wife are all going away.
Man-su wants his life back. He won’t accept menial labor, but after going through multiple humiliating interviews in front of former paper industry colleagues he hits on a scheme inspired by a guy on social media hosting a program about the paper business. Man-su will identify his competition for jobs he wants by placing fake ads, find out who these people are and then terminate them. What!
Through it all, Man-su finds his match in wife Miri (Son Ye-Jin) who sees through his deception yet still supports and aids in plotting his mission. She’s a beautiful, sweet and adept partner.
Park and Lee show us how Man-su goes on this dark journey with comedic situations. He’s a bumbling, fumbling hit man, but as he gains experience and acumen for the task, he becomes better and better at this job as the tone of the film moves toward total horror. In one scene in particular, Man-su confronts his victim in a suit, wearing oven mitts and hip waders. Anticipation of what comes next is funny but chilling.
The cinematography by Kim Woo-hyung is a joy to watch with every frame composed to show off natural beauty or take us into the the idyllic existence that is falling apart for the main character. The musical score by Cho Young-wuk is all over the board, from playful to gritty and even to classical pieces. Like the dense storytelling, the music also keeps us off balance.
Park is a transcendent cinema force who makes this compelling, comical-horror send-up of work in the age of AI a smart, subtitled experience. And Lee’s performance is astounding! Our take? You have No Other Choice, but to see this insightful film.
Neon 2 Hours 19 Minutes R
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