Invited In Competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, "No Other Choice" screened its world premiere on Friday, Aug. 29 at 9:45 p.m. local time in the festival’s main venue, the 1,032-seat Sala Grande.
Park Chan-wook, Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min and Yum Hye-ran were on hand as the packed house greeted the film with cheers and a standing ovation, turning opening weekend buzz into a full-on festival moment.
Dropped just ahead of the festival’s first big weekend, the film drew the kind of attention reserved for must-sees. Two morning press screenings sold out, and the avalanche of positive trade reviews that followed pushed anticipation even higher before the official bow.
On the red carpet, Park and his stars smiled through a crush of international media before heading inside, where the crowd’s energy turned the Sala Grande into a pressure cooker of anticipation.
As the lights dimmed and the score kicked in, applause broke out, then the room settled into rapt silence. Park’s white-knuckle survival tale toggles between tension and release, puncturing the dread with well-timed, ironic laughs. Standout turns from the leads add dimension, and the ensemble’s tight chemistry keeps the narrative gliding. Park’s signature mise-en-scene and precision-tooled music cues deepen the film’s grip, ushering viewers fully into his world.
When the credits rolled, the standing ovation and cheers stretched to roughly nine minutes. Park hugged his cast and crew, visibly moved. “It was the first time showing the film to an audience, and everyone who came up to me said they had a great time,” he said afterward. “I hope they meant it.”
Following two press screenings and the world premiere, the critical response was emphatic. The Guardian praised the film’s “assured propulsion” and Park’s “silky yet steely confidence,” noting it “starts as a farcical caper before shapeshifting into something else entirely―a portrait of familial collapse, a patriarch in crisis, and the state of a nation.”
Screen International highlighted the deft blend of “psychological tension and laugh-out-loud releases.” Variety called it “decisive proof that Park Chan-wook remains one of the classiest filmmakers working today―a mesmerizing black comedy,” while IndieWire dubbed it “a sharp, brutal and bitingly funny satire of capitalism,” adding that Lee Byung-hun’s supple performance is “the backbone of Park’s tragicomic tone.”
Next Best Picture added that Park “again proves he’s one of the most inventive directors working today,” calling his camera work and editing “as innovative as they are forceful.”
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film is currently sitting at a perfect 100% Fresh, based on 17 reviews as of Aug. 31. As more critiques roll in, that score could shift.
Premiering early in the lineup means more competition titles are still to screen, but among the six films unveiled so far, "No Other Choice" holds the top average (3.17) on the festival’s critics’ grid―a composite of scores from critics on the ground.
Like Cannes, Venice decides its winners by jury―typically around ten members―whose tastes and preferences can be decisive. This year’s jury president is Alexander Payne, the American filmmaker behind "The Holdovers" and "The Descendants."
The 82nd Venice International Film Festival runs through Sept. 6 in Venice, Italy, with winners to be announced on closing night.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)