In a movie that tackles bullying and classism, there’s bound to be a lot of sad moments. But this might be one of the bleakest films in the history of animation.
- 15 years later, Kyung-min and Jong-suk are still very clearly affected by what happened in middle school.
- When we’re introduced to Jong-suk, we see his girlfriend be extremely caring towards him, clearly concerned for his health, and what does she get in return? Physical and verbal abuse.
- The bullying Kyung-min and Jong-suk face, including but not limited to sexual harassment and public humiliation.
- When the older students point out Kyung-min focusing on his homework instead of their speech, Gang-min slaps him and rips his notebook in half, causing the former to burst into tears.
- In an attempt to earn respect from his classmates, Jong-suk wears his sister’s new Guess jeans, unaware that the red triangle means that they’re for girls. You can imagine his classmates reactions when they find out.
- While his sister’s reaction isn’t shown, it isn’t hard to imagine how devastated she was upon learning her brand new, expensive pair of jeans that she begged for were stolen and destroyed.
- In order to become monsters, Chul orders Kyung-min and Jong-suk to brutally stab a cat. Understandably, both are horrified, but end up doing it anyway.
- We learn that aside from the bullying, one of the reasons why Chul is the way he is is the fact that his father left his family to fend for themselves when his son was in elementary school, and his mom works as a prostitute to provide for him. While his actions are inexcusable, it’s easy to understand why Chul’s so bitter at such a young age.
- After having urine thrown on him by the bullies, Chan-young (who we’ve established is a smart and well-behaved student) pulls out a knife, but is quickly beaten into submission by the older students, and withdraws from participating in the essay contest.
- When Chul (albeit violently), defends Kyung-min from Gang-min, he’s blamed for the attack and forced to endure beatings from a teacher.
- When it’s revealed that Chul’s father committed suicide, his mother breaks down, while Chul can only snap at her and run away, unable to process what he’s just learned.
- All the while, Kyung-min and Jong-suk are brutally beaten by a gang of bullies, defenseless without Chul.
- After getting expelled, Chul decides to kill himself to shock the bullies and make sure they’re haunted by the memories of that year.
- When Chul goes to murder his mother because she’s miserable, we see her sobbing on the phone to her sister, expressing concern for her son’s well-being. The camera then pans to Chul, with tears running down his face as he realizes killing himself to spite the bullies would just cause more harm than good.
- We then see Chul’s mother get verbally and physically abused by her boss
- On the day which Chul initially planned to commit suicide, he explains to Jong-suk that he changed the plan and won’t kill himself so he can get back into school and try to provide for his mother. Just when you think things are looking up,Jong-suk snaps and pushes Chul off, killing him anyways.
