A substitute teacher takes on a high school bully in the crowd pleaser Brave Citizen. Playing at the Fantasia Film Festival 2024.
There are few films you’ll see this year that are as tense and rousing as the action-comedy drama Brave Citizen. Director Park Jin-pyo film is expertly modulated for maximum impact. Star Shin Hye-sun shines as the substitute teacher and former boxing champion who takes on the bully and network of enablers.
So Si-min (Shin) is told to keep her head down and make herself invisible if she wants to go from Substitute to full-time Teacher. It’s an impossible task for the former Boxing Champ to stand idly by as rich and powerful bully Han Su-gang (Lee Jun-young) has the entire high school in a chokehold of violence. Si-min takes an almost superhero-esque disguise to take on Su-gang and his network of enablers. What starts as a form of release quickly turns into more as the entire school held hostage by Su-gang begin to find hope that change is around the corner…
There’s a directness that plays through the entire film that makes this a universal story that anyone can relate to. The way that director Park manages to juggle the tone and style of the film goes from lightly comedic to darkly violent. It helps that the face-off between teacher and bully is acted by two amazing performers in Shin and Lee. The balance between their performances is an exquisite dance between the two that never falters into the histrionic. Adding more to the audacity is the fact they are as good physical performers as they are emotional ones.
The work here is so smart and considerate to the topic that Brave Citizen elevates itself from a genre exercise to something more. A crowd pleaser that is sure to have people cheering by its final moments.
A substitute teacher takes on a high school bully in the crowd pleaser Brave Citizen. Playing at the Fantasia Film Festival 2024.
There are few films you’ll see this year that are as tense and rousing as the action-comedy drama Brave Citizen. Director Park Jin-pyo film is expertly modulated for maximum impact. Star Shin Hye-sun shines as the substitute teacher and former boxing champion who takes on the bully and network of enablers.
So Si-min (Shin) is told to keep her head down and make herself invisible if she wants to go from Substitute to full-time Teacher. It’s an impossible task for the former Boxing Champ to stand idly by as rich and powerful bully Han Su-gang (Lee Jun-young) has the entire high school in a chokehold of violence. Si-min takes an almost superhero-esque disguise to take on Su-gang and his network of enablers. What starts as a form of release quickly turns into more as the entire school held hostage by Su-gang begin to find hope that change is around the corner…
There’s a directness that plays through the entire film that makes this a universal story that anyone can relate to. The way that director Park manages to juggle the tone and style of the film goes from lightly comedic to darkly violent. It helps that the face-off between teacher and bully is acted by two amazing performers in Shin and Lee. The balance between their performances is an exquisite dance between the two that never falters into the histrionic. Adding more to the audacity is the fact they are as good physical performers as they are emotional ones.
The work here is so smart and considerate to the topic that Brave Citizen elevates itself from a genre exercise to something more. A crowd pleaser that is sure to have people cheering by its final moments.
Brave Citizen played Fantasia Fest 2024 on July 20th
Share this:
Like this:
Discover more from The Movie Isle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.