Myeong-wang-song (2012)

Myeong-wang-song: Directed by Su-won Shin. With Lee Da-wit, Sung Jun, Jo Sung-ha, Kkobbi Kim. Pluto is a story of the extremes elite high school seniors are prepared to go to guarantee entry into prestigious universities, and asks what could possibly turn an innocent boy into a monster. June, a transfer student into an elite school, is driven to despair by the year’s first examination results. One day he discovers that a mysterious clique of fellow students are sharing secret notebooks, which contain important exam information. In order to get his hands on the notebooks he begs the members of the secret circle to include him. They task him with a series of missions to earn them, turning June into a monster in the process.

“This should be considered a serious topic. Korean education system, which is similar with ones seen in other countries, is pushing students to their limits. Mental problems, even suicide, and unfair competition are mentioned in many films and TV series. The issue is more significant in Korea, where the gap between the rich and the poor is being extended.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe theme of the movie revolves around u0026quot;Plutou0026quot;, a small planet is not considered a planet owing to its small size and too far distance from the Sun. People will find June resembling the planet so much since heu0026#39;s poor and always sitting at the corner of the class. June is excellent, heu0026#39;s just not lucky enough to have a rich family.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;m not the type enjoying too dark movies. Too much blood, too much tears, too much pain – thatu0026#39;s not what I expect from a psychological thriller. Pluto is in a slow pace, capturing alternatively the present scenes and past scenes, and gradually reveals the dark curtain in education behind a famous high school. June, the central character, has been pushed to an extreme that he captures and threatens all the classmates who have killed Yujin.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe actors act very well, especially Da-wit Lee (Kim June). He must play both mental sides – weak and innocent, and dark and fearless. June possesses an abundant set of psychological features, and itu0026#39;s hard for a juvenile actor to play this role well; but Lee has successfully made it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe crazy things in the movie will not make the audiences vomit. They donu0026#39;t haunt them, either. But as many Korean thrillers, they do leave a trace on peopleu0026#39;s mind.”