Overview
- Critics describe the film as a meticulously staged black-comic thriller and a sharp new entry in Park Chan-wook’s body of work.
- The story follows a laid-off paper-company supervisor who targets rival job candidates, adapted from Donald E. Westlake’s 1997 novel The Ax.
- Reviews underscore its pointed critique of layoffs, corporate cost-cutting and AI-driven automation reshaping the workplace.
- Lee Byung-hun’s performance anchors the film, with Son Ye-jin singled out as the emotional core by multiple reviewers.
- Park and star Lee say the protagonist views his victims as versions of himself, with Park adding a scene to show his conflicted sympathy; the film opens Dec. 25 in select U.S. theaters via Neon and is South Korea’s Oscar submission.