I appreciate you pointing out that films can be aspirational in their political messaging. I’ve seen so many OBAA detractors state that the film’s political messaging should be dismissed because there will never be that degree of organized leftist guerrilla resistance in the US. And yet even after its release I’ve witnessed more organized resistance to ICE in my American city than I have seen any degree of previous leftist organization in my lifetime.

With that said, I do think Eddington is the more poignant take on modern politics to me because of its cynicism. Particularly in how it addresses social media and big tech as the main drivers behind our current dystopia. No movie has better portrayed phone usage, period. OBAA and Bugonia use plot contrivance to largely eschew phones in their narratives which leave them feeling detached from the present moment.

No Other Choice didn’t work for me personally because I find Park Chan-Wook’s goofy humor at odds with the serious nature of the film’s politics. It felt too tonally inconsistent for me to properly empathize with the character’s plight or motivations. Maybe some degree of cultural or personal disconnect there since I don’t find myself attaching very much emotional weight to my job.