Park Chan-wook reasserts his cinematic mastery with the bleak, brutal, and hilarious tale of a corporate layoff resorting to eliminating his competition.

In South Korea, papermaking employee Man-su finds his prosperous life upended after a company buyout, with ravaging effects on his home, family, and marriage. Desperate to regain proper work, he still finds himself outqualified by others in the same field – and without any history of combat or violence, decides that eliminating them is the only way in. Working from late-90s American novel The Ax, writer-director Park (Oldboy, Decision to Leave) finds a resonant story of capitalism driving a man to murder, and upgrades it with his brilliant command of character, suspense, and surreal black-comedy spectacle.

South Korean star Lee Byung-hun also excels in the lead role, making Man-su’s journey at-once sympathetic, unpredictable, and riveting.