MEN’S CINEMA by GQ Poland
Men’s Cinema by GQ Poland is a signature summer film series presenting contemporary auteur cinema and filmmakers who tell stories about relationships, emotions, identity, ambitions, and the modern world in a uniquely compelling way.
“Men’s” as understood by GQ does not mean genre-based filmmaking or a stereotypical view of masculinity. This is cinema about people, choices, loneliness, intimacy, memory, and the tensions of contemporary life.
The program features films by directors with a distinctive visual language and an auteur perspective: Jim Jarmusch, Paolo Sorrentino, Mariusz Wilczyński, and Park Chan-wook.
NO OTHER CHOICE
Age rating: 16+
When the job market is merciless, you have to eliminate the competition. The protagonist of “No Other Choice” — the new film by Park Chan-wook, director of “Oldboy”, “The Handmaiden”, and “Decision to Leave” — takes matters into his own hands, quite literally. The Korean master of genre cinema delivers a disturbingly accurate diagnosis of contemporary anxieties — in his uncompromising, signature style.
Man-su (Lee Byung-Hun, the star of “Squid Game”) leads a perfect life: stable employment, a family, a house, two golden retrievers. But a single day is enough for the idyll to turn into a nightmare. Man-su loses his job at a paper factory, and with it his status, masculinity, identity, honor, and sense of purpose. To win them back, he will stop at nothing — especially since wet work turns out to be every bit as satisfying as paperwork.
While ruthlessly mocking the rat race, the corporate mentality, and the male ego, the director also weighs in on the contemporary job market in the age of AI. “No Other Choice”, much like the cult “Parasite”, conceals beneath its layers of black humor sharp observations about class tensions and turbulent social change. Half in jest, half in earnest, Park Chan-wook puts a provocative question to us as well: is there a job worth killing for?
Directed by: Park Chan-wook
Starring: Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min, Yeom Hye-ran
Country of production: South Korea
Year of production: 2025
Original language: Korean
Genre: thriller, black comedy
Running time: 139 min
Plac Konesera
17 July 2026
Free admission
