In Our Prime

Park Dong-hun's 2022 Korean film is about the relationship between an outcast student at a prestigious private school and the man who works nights in the building. Ji-woo, admitted on a scholarship, is holding on neither academically nor socially. Hak-sung, whom he meets inside the school, is in fact a mathematical genius who defected from North Korea and is concealing who he is. The man begins teaching the boy mathematics, but the film's real subject is not reaching the right answer, it is asking the right question. The story handles the competitive pressure of the Korean education system and the obligation of a defector to stay invisible at the same time. Choi Min-sik, known for hard roles, works here in an entirely different register. The emotional ending is openly aimed for. Who it's for: viewers who like Korean drama and films about a teacher and a student. Who it's not for: anyone wanting an approach free of emotional manipulation.