One Of 2025’s Best Films Gets Some Renewed Oscars Hope Thanks To The Golden Globes

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“No Other Choice” is a standout film this year, and recent Golden Globe nominations suggest it’s a strong contender for Oscars. The movie is a hilariously dark comedy about a family man who goes to desperate lengths to land a new job.

The film has received fantastic reviews and a great response at the Venice Film Festival. Despite this, it’s currently lagging behind other contenders in the awards season. Thankfully, the Golden Globes have recognized it with several nominations, potentially giving it a continued chance at an Oscar.

No Other Choice Gets Three Very Important Golden Globe Nominations

The film No Other Choice received three Golden Globe nominations: Best Musical or Comedy, Best Non-English Language Film, and Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. This indicates the film is a strong contender as awards season progresses and is likely to be considered for Oscars as well.

The film was expected to be a strong contender for the Non-English Language Film award, thanks to director Park Chan-wook’s impressive track record and the excellent initial reviews. However, succeeding in other categories would be difficult this year, as the competition is particularly fierce, especially among international films.

Although Park Chan-wook didn’t receive a Best Director nomination, it’s not entirely unexpected. This year’s competition for that award is particularly strong, with Jafar Panahi, the director of It Was Just an Accident, receiving a lot of international recognition. Fortunately, Lee Byung-hun’s nomination for Best Actor is a pleasant surprise.

Lee Byung-hun, who American viewers might recognize from Squid Game and KPop Demon Hunters, gives a remarkable performance in No Other Choice. He plays Yoo Man-soo, a desperate character, and manages to find surprising amounts of humanity, humor, and even horror within the role. It would have been easy to portray Man-soo as unlikeable, but Byung-hun makes him strangely sympathetic, even when he’s doing awful things.

The film receiving a Best Picture nomination (for Musical or Comedy) suggests the Golden Globes voters liked it, which is a good sign for its chances during the rest of awards season. This is particularly encouraging because No Other Choice hadn’t been gaining much attention at other award shows.

What Are No Other Choice’s Oscar Chances?

No Other Choice is in a strong position as the Oscar nominations approach. The film has received overwhelmingly positive reviews – a perfect 100% rating from 93 critics. Although it hasn’t won every award so far, its critical success and Golden Globe nominations keep it firmly in contention for an Oscar nomination.

It’s highly probable that No Other Choice will be nominated for Best International Feature Film. In fact, this category is largely expected to be filled by the four international films that received Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture – No Other Choice, It Was Just an Accident, Sentimental Value, and The Secret Agent – all of which have been gaining recognition throughout the year.

Like with the Golden Globes, the biggest hurdle for No Other Choice is the strong competition from other well-regarded films and directors. Even though there are ten possible nominations, films like One Battle After Another, Sinners, Hamnet, and Sentimental Value are already widely expected to be nominated, leaving limited space for others.

While a Best Picture nomination remains within reach, it will be challenging to achieve. Park Chan-wook could still be nominated for Best Director, but even if he is, current predictions suggest the award is likely to go to one of three filmmakers: Paul Thomas Anderson, Chloé Zhao, or Ryan Coogler.

The race for Best Actor seems fairly predictable, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, Michael B. Jordan, and Wagner Moura widely expected to receive nominations. While Byung-hun Lee still has a chance, he’d need to outperform a strong group of contenders including Ethan Hawke, Joel Edgerton, Jesse Plemons, Jeremy Allen White, and Dwayne Johnson.

Although it might be difficult for Park Chan-wook to receive a Best Director nomination, the film’s script – written by Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar, and Lee Ja-hye – could be strong enough to earn a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. However, it will face competition from films like Hamnet, Bugonia, and One Battle After Another.

One of the biggest strengths of the film No Other Choice is that it hasn’t been widely seen yet. Along with Marty Supreme, it won’t be released in American cinemas until Christmas. This timing could work in its favor, keeping it top-of-mind for Oscar voters when they begin considering nominations – a phenomenon known as recency bias.

Beyond its critical acclaim, No Other Choice is a genuinely enjoyable film – it’s sharply satirical but still manages to be funny, heartwarming, and relatable. While it’s among the highest-rated movies of the year and could definitely earn some nominations, it might face tough competition from other films already generating a lot of Oscar buzz, making an actual win a challenge.

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2025-12-10 02:21