One of the biggest commitments an adult has is their job. The position they hold often dictates their place in the social ladder; they can have an affluent lifestyle if their salary allows, and if it doesn’t, then they have to survive on whatever it permits.

It’s a bond with an umbilical cord affect, that keeps you alive, but if that connection is cut, your life can been thrown into turmoil.

Park Chan-wook takes this premise as the basis for his latest film, which examines the volatility that unemployment can bring to a family.

25 Years. That’s how much time that Ma-su (Lee Byung-hun) has devoted to his job, working for a paper-making company. He’s so good at it he’s even won an award for it.

The company is about to go through a number of changes however, with an American company buying them. They want to reduce the number of staff, of which Ma-su is a victim of, when he is fired.

Having given the company 25 of his years, he finds himself lost, especially as none of the other paper companies seem to be hiring.

After his redundancy money runs out, Ma-su, his wife Miri (Son Ye-jin) and two children, Si-one (Woo Seung Kim) and Ri-one (So Yul Choi), have to make some difficult choices, which includes putting their family home on the market.

And then Man-su sees a ray of hope on the horizon, when a senior position is advertised at a paper company. On paper, ironically enough, he is a star candidate, but he soon realises he’s not alone, with a few other candidates in the running.

His desperation for the job doesn’t allow him to think straight, as he can only think of one way to secure he gets the position – by eliminating the competition.

This is another perfect entry into the acclaimed director Park Chan-wook’s film canon.

The film is based on Donald Westlake’s 1997 horror novel The Ax, as it follows a man’s need for a job in his favoured industry going to extraordinary macabre lengths, which is certainly in Park’s wheelhouse.

It’s also laced with dark humour, which he’s also comfortable with, as he takes his audience on the journey of his jobless protagonist, who, up until this point, has been a decent husband and father, but then is harshly pushed out of his comfort zone, where he finds himself resorting to despicable acts in order to save his family.

There was an opportunity to really embrace the black humour, and drive into the very depths of absurdity. And the South Korean director does just that, to a point, but is keen to make sure that Ma-su keeps one foot grounded in reality at all times, making the film pleasingly unsettling whilst making Ma-su’s plight surprisingly relatable.

Not only does the story keep you on your toes, Park’s cinematography does the same in a sublime fashion, within the world that the director has created. Some of the visual tricks may be subtle, but still manage to make an impact.

It has the kind of premise that most audiences could second guess the outcome, but with Park’s deft touch, don’t be surprised if you join Ma-su out of your comfort zone.

If you’re a fan of Park’s, this is a logical addition to his beautifully crafted oeuvre, so when it comes to viewing it, its title says it all.