The National Museum of Asian Art is hosting three free screenings of Korean award winning director Park Chan-wook’s recent films throughout the month of June. Museum entry is free, so be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to watch these incredible films and celebrate Korean cinema while broadening your cinematic taste!
No Other Choice (2025) – Sunday, June 7th 2026
“You’ll find yourself alternating between laugh-out-loud slapstick to end-of-your-seat suspense in this ‘deliriously entertaining satire on the derangement of being downsized’ (Jessica Kiang, Variety). Superstar Lee Byung-hun (Squid Game, Mr. Sunshine) stars as Man-su, a content suburban family man who is laid off from his paper company job after 25 years. He endures humiliation and rejection at every turn until his desperation leads him to the most drastic measures. Director Park Chan-wook’s swooping camera movements and razor-sharp plotting propel No Other Choice with exceptional energy” (National Museum of Asian Art).
- Details:
- June 7th, 2026
- 2:00pm – 4:30pm
- Asian Art Museum West Building, Meyer Auditorium
- Free Admission, Registration Recommended
The Handmaiden (2016) – Sunday, June 14th 2026
“In this erotic thriller, filmmaker Park Chan-wook transposes Sarah Waters’s acclaimed novel Fingersmith from Victorian England to 1930s Japanese-occupied Korea. A conman calling himself Count Fujiwara (Ha Jung-woo) aims to seduce and marry wealthy heiress Lady Hideko (Kim Min-hee). To further his cause, he enlists pickpocket Sook-hee (Kim Tae-ri) to insinuate herself as Lady Hideko’s servant. But his plans are thrown into disarray when the women fall in love with each other and hatch their own scheme. Moving back and forth in time, The Handmaiden is full of twists, turns, alliances, and betrayals that keep you guessing to the very end” (National Museum of Asian Art).
- Details
- June 7th, 2026
- 2:00pm – 4:30pm
- Asian Art Museum West Building, Meyer Auditorium
- Free Admission, Registration Recommended
- Can’t make it? AU Library has it: Available on DVD
Decision to Leave (2022) – June 28th 2026
“This deliciously twisty thriller from master director Park Chan-wook (No Other Choice) garnered loads of awards, including the Best Director prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. A married detective (Park Hae-il) falls for an enigmatic femme fatale played with elegant panache by Tang Wei (Lust, Caution) in what The New York Times’ Manohla Dargis calls a “heady, baroque mystery infused with the kind of old-fashioned romantic fatalism that makes noir-darkened hearts flutter.” The encounter sets off a serpentine plot probing its characters’ dark impulses toward violence, treachery, and betrayal, all filmed in Park’s characteristically lush, ravishing style” (National Museum of Asian Art)
- Details
- June 7th, 2026
- 2:00pm – 4:30pm
- Asian Art Museum West Building, Meyer Auditorium
- Free Admission, Registration Recommended
- Can’t make it? AU Library has it: Available on DVD
If you find yourself craving more of Park Chan-wook’s filmography or are interested in exploring Korean cinema further, check out our blog post with recommendations, or our full collection available for borrowing in the AU Library!
Korean Cinema Recommendations by Maeve Quigley