A number of years back, Korean cinema was heralded for its originality and non-conformism in a number of its films. Times have moved on but still it holds its own in trying to make original films. In many ways Pluto does and doesn't fall into this sphere.
What we have is one young bright kid finding that to make up his grades to reach the top he will have to sell his soul out to a clique at his new school who are populated by sociopaths with a bent to abuse to remain at the top of the class.
We have here a dark satire on the pressures of the education system in East Asia (and lets be honest increasingly everywhere now), and the angst & extremes that some feel they need to go to. This film takes the premise further, and combined with some fine cinematography, some good dialogue and a fine cast we have a good film.
Yet it also falls short. Starting well, it does seem to fall into cliché later on and you can seen parts taken from other highly regarded teen movies in the genre (such as 'Heathers'). It's a brutal movie at points and some may feel uncomfortable.
I liked it but not as much as I thought I was going. It loses its way and some of the early promises seem to be side stepped to give it a more orthodox feel into the final third.
A fine dark film, questioning much of what we already know about education, but just doesn't reach the tape at the end of the race. Still I'd say it is worth a shot.
What we have is one young bright kid finding that to make up his grades to reach the top he will have to sell his soul out to a clique at his new school who are populated by sociopaths with a bent to abuse to remain at the top of the class.
We have here a dark satire on the pressures of the education system in East Asia (and lets be honest increasingly everywhere now), and the angst & extremes that some feel they need to go to. This film takes the premise further, and combined with some fine cinematography, some good dialogue and a fine cast we have a good film.
Yet it also falls short. Starting well, it does seem to fall into cliché later on and you can seen parts taken from other highly regarded teen movies in the genre (such as 'Heathers'). It's a brutal movie at points and some may feel uncomfortable.
I liked it but not as much as I thought I was going. It loses its way and some of the early promises seem to be side stepped to give it a more orthodox feel into the final third.
A fine dark film, questioning much of what we already know about education, but just doesn't reach the tape at the end of the race. Still I'd say it is worth a shot.