Visionary filmmaker Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden, Decision to Leave) returns with a darkly humorous adaptation of Donald Westlake’s 1997 novel, ‘The Ax’. After being laid off and humiliated by a ruthless job market, a veteran paper mill manager descends into violence in a desperate bid to reclaim his dignity. Previously adapted into a 2005 film by Costa-Gavras, this has been Park’s dream project for over 20 years, and is South Korea’s submission for Best International Film at the 2026 Academy Awards.

“So this American novel has been twice adapted outside the US, and this time, with Park at height of his powers, it finds new textures of dread and hilarity in the codified professional hierarchies of Korea, a society where men are still largely expected to be the family breadwinners, and in the year of our lord 2025, when we cannot help but sympathize with the victims of corporate savagery, no matter how misguided.” ~ Jessica Kiang, Variety

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