What the other reviewers should have said is not that it is s movie about bullying; but more about a Western educational system that pits students against student, and the resulting bullying is the result of such a system!

This was a very good movie for students who find themselves alienated by other students who will do anything to make it in our cut-throat educational system. Unfortunately. MONEY has made most educational systems in this world all the same, throughout the 'civilized' world!

The story is about a new transferring male student, Lee Hae Joon (Kwak Dong Yeon) being bullied in his new school by the top test scorer Jo Eun Seo (Lee Yeol Eum) in order for her to KEEP her number 1 position; however, he realizes that she is actually lonely and isolated due to something that is not revealed until later in the movie.

However, after the movie runs for awhile, we see WHY Eun Seo is so worried about being the top scorer, and it isn't her wanting this outcome! I believe that her untied shoe string is her crying out about being the top scorer in her class; this is professed by her as well later in the movie, I believe, in what she says during her last scene with her (movie) parents.

Her untied shoe lace is a sign that her life is not perfect; something is indeed lacking! Her mind is sharp, but her soul is empty!

His befriending of her made her quit working on her scheme, but she doesn't realize, until it is too late, that the number 2 student in her class, who she thought was her supposed friend Jung Na Yeon (Lee Han Na), continued the harassment of Lee Hae Joon, without Jo Eun Seo's knowledge!

(The same way that the second seat of mathematics at his university was the one who turned Galileo Galilei into the Inquisition, and he moved up to the head seat at the university then!)

Lee Hae Joon was the culprit that hurt Lee Hae Joon and allowed Jo Eun Seo to regain the top score; but Hae Joon didn't stop there...she started further harassment so that Eun Seo too, would become discouraged...allowing others to "move up" again!

I liked this movie, but I wished they had made a drama out of it and developed the main and support characters more thoroughly.

The music and atmosphere, cinematography and all made you feel that you were actually in a Korean classroom; the main characters were realistic in their portrayal of students and the main leads were excellent in their individuals roles and on-camera magnetism....I especially love what Hae Joon did when he finally found Eun Seo in the end (I was worried whether he would find her or not!).

Personally, I liked Cry Me a Sad River (2018) better than this movie. Nothing personal, but Cry Me a Sad River placed more of a emotional feeling and pulled at your heart strings more.

The support characters (especially Jung Jae Eun and Kim Gyu Chul, whose acting showed the real problem at hand) gave excellent performances supporting the main cast members and mkaing the movie seem more real.

RE-WATCH VALUE: Definitely!