Squid Game star Lee Byung-hun reveals what his role in No Other Choice has in common with Netflix hit

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Lee Byung-hun, a popular actor from South Korea, gained international recognition for playing Hwang In-ho in seasons two and three of the Netflix series Squid Game. He recently shared that his new film, No Other Choice, shares some surprising connections with the show.

The movie wasn’t included on the list of nominees for Best International Film at yesterday’s Oscars, which was a surprise. It brings together Lee and celebrated filmmaker Park Chan-wook for the first time in 25 years, following their collaboration on Park’s first film, Joint Security Area.

Lee stars as Yoo Man-su, a man who loses his job and takes drastic, even murderous, steps to find new employment – eliminating anyone he sees as a rival for available positions.

Man-su isn’t a professional killer, which creates some darkly funny scenes as he constantly hesitates to commit the murders. The film uses this to critique how people are driven to extreme measures by the pressures of modern capitalism.

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Your question made me think back to when I was promoting Squid Game. That show actually explored a very similar idea – a central theme we have here as well. I hadn’t explicitly made the connection before, but I can definitely see how the two relate.

As a big fan of Park Chan-wook – I absolutely loved Oldboy and The Handmaiden, and Decision to Leave was stunning – I found it interesting he pointed out some connections between this film and Squid Game. Apparently, those themes originally caught his eye when he first read the source material, a novel called The Ax by Donald Westlake, and that’s what initially drew him to the story.

He argued that the character’s anger should be directed at the company that let him go, or even at the economic system itself. However, instead, the character focuses his rage on other unemployed workers in the same field – people who are just as upset and as much victims of the system as he is.

His actions are both unwise and self-centered, and I believe that accurately represents the current situation.

No Other Choice is now showing in UK cinemas.

Authors

Patrick CremonaSenior Film Writer

Patrick Cremona writes about movies for TopMob, covering new releases in theaters and on streaming platforms. He’s been with the site since October 2019, and during that time has interviewed many famous actors and reviewed a wide variety of films.

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2026-01-23 17:05