DESPERATE MEASURES

THE only thing certain about life is uncertainty, more so nowadays, in the politically turbulent, financially unstable, and socially precarious times. Park Chan-wook's No Other Choice, based on American writer Donald E Westlake's crime novel, The Ax, is a darkly comic look at the weird ways in which insecurity and desperation can come to manifest themselves, and the extent to which people can go to reclaim what has been snatched away from them.

- NAMRATA JOSHI

Lee Byung-hun plays Yu Man-su, a paper expert. Having worked for 25 years at the leading firm Solar Paper, he leads a comfortable life with his wife Lee Mi-ri (Son Ye-jin), two children and two dogs in his newly refurbished childhood home surrounded by idyllic woods. But good days, like the bad ones, have a habit of not lasting forever. The rug gets pulled out from under his feet when Solar Paper gets taken over by an American firm, and Man-su is given the pink slip. Over the night, the lifestyle has to undergo a change. Mi-ri suggests putting the home up for sale, the fancy cars have to make way for the cheaper ones, and the dogs are sent away to her parents' so that there'd be fewer mouths to feed. The cello lessons for the prodigious daughter are set to face the axe, even though her teacher recommends a higher level of training given her brilliance. The couple's own dance and tennis outings stand cancelled, as does the Netflix subscription.