In Park’s No Other Choice, a paper factory worker loses his job and discovers that recruitment has been hiding its most practical advice in the small print: if the shortlist will not get shorter, take responsibility for it.
The father, played by Lee, has a family, a house and the sort of employment history that once made lenders nod thoughtfully. After losing his job, he tries counselling, warehouse work and an interview before deciding that the labour market’s central problem is not a shortage of jobs but an excess of applicants.
This is the film’s exact nightmare, adapted from Donald Westlake’s novel The Ax. A system that describes mass layoffs as unavoidable meets a man who hears “no other choice” as a project brief. Recruitment language has always encouraged initiative, but rarely clarified whether initiative should remain within the boundaries of civil society.
Fenella, Head of Candidate Experience at the Office of Ethical Recruitment, has issued a reassuring update. “We welcome proactive applicants, but not ones who reduce the talent pool by hand.” The office has since added a screening question: “Are you legally permitted to attend the interview?”
The father creates a bogus company to attract rival candidates, turning the application process into a reverse careers fair. Applicants arrive expecting a salary discussion and discover that the benefits package includes uncertainty, weak safeguarding and a compelling reason to update their emergency contact.
His genius is not that he mistakes cruelty for opportunity. It is that he understands the workplace perfectly. Companies remove livelihoods, call the result transformation and send everyone a wellness email. He simply removes the applicants and calls it workforce planning.
Park’s black comedy makes the contradiction painfully neat. The father wants stability for his family, so he adopts the same ruthless logic that has already made stability impossible. His notes, plans and anxious professionalism suggest a man trying to meet every competency requirement while quietly failing the one about not turning the interview process into a criminal enterprise.
The recruitment industry has responded by revising its terminology. “Competitive environment” now means applicants may be physically present. “Fast paced” means the shortlist is changing rapidly. “The successful candidate will be contacted” means everyone else should consider moving abroad.
By the final round, nobody wants the position, the employer or the reference. The vacancy remains open because recruitment has finally found the perfect candidate: someone qualified, available and already removed from consideration. Human resources has achieved total efficiency. There is nobody left to disappoint, which is how the department finally meets its happiness target.
Real story: BFI Sight and Sound.
