Fantasia Film Festival 2024 ‘Brave Citizen’ Review – A Black and Blue Curriculum

Chris Sawin   |  

Jul 26, 2024

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Mooyoung High boasts about being an established anti-bullying school for the past two years, but bullying is at an all-time high. Han Su-kang (Lee Joon-young, Badland Hunters) terrorizes the school. Su-kang comes from a rich family who essentially owns the school, so the teachers turn a blind eye and do nothing despite knowing who’s behind the violent acts.

Substitute teacher So Si-min (Shin Hye-sun) dreams of becoming a full-time teacher. She just landed a three-month contract with Mooyoung High and acts like a different person as a teacher with a bubbly, always smiling, hair-flip-to-perfection personality who abides by all of the rules and is eager to help everyone.

But So Si-min is a former athlete, having nearly made the Olympic boxing team, and has three black belts. It’s recommended to her that it’s best to ignore Su-kang since she doesn’t have him in any of her classes. But when Su-kang pushes another student to the brink of suicide, Si-min takes it personally. She disguises herself in a cat mask and baggy clothing and beats the crap out of Su-kang all while developing the reputation of being the next big hero.

Brave Citizen digs deep into the bullying aspect of the storyline. Su-kang terrorizes the other students, especially Go Jin-hyung (Park Jeong-woo). Su-kang targets Jin-hyung and his grandmother specifically for no particular reason other than because it’s fun. Su-kang has an entourage of students that aren’t necessarily friends, but accomplices to his everyday bullying sprees. They mostly tag along to film everything as a way of blackmailing students and teachers later. They also talk trash when the victims are at their lowest.

The substitute that was at Mooyoung High before Si-min committed suicide because of what Su-kang did to her. Si-min wants to stand up to Su-kang immediately but is held back by her desire to be promoted. She is also battling the demons that remain from why she is no longer a boxer.

Written by Yeo Ji-na and directed by Park Jin-pyo, Brave Citizen is interesting because while it revolves around a female protagonist, an intimate relationship is nowhere to be found. Si-min has a male best friend who is also a cop, but they’re just friends. Her relationship with her father is strained, but Si-min is essentially the definition of an independent individual with her eye solely on her career.

The concept will likely draw comparisons to films like Kick-Ass, but the action is secondary and Si-min doesn’t put on the mask until 45 minutes in. After that, she only has three major action sequences, with the film’s finale being the longest.

The humor in the film is mostly found in how Si-min presents herself as a teacher. Her teacher persona is the exact opposite of how she is outside of school. As a teacher, she’s helpless and clueless outside of her lesson plans. The film first showcases her in this dream-like scenario as she spins around in slow motion and seems to be walking on clouds because she’s doing what she loves.

Brave Citizen is a South Korean drama with some solid action sequences and brief detours into comedy. You are subjected to Su-kang being nasty for nearly two hours because the audience needs to feel as helpless as his victims. Feeling dread and hopelessness makes Si-min’s gradual transition into a masked hero all the more satisfying.

The big fight that Brave Citizen leads up to is a bit farfetched. The season 12 episode of South Park‘s “Breast Cancer Show Ever” sees Cartman mocking and bullying Wendy for her mom having breast cancer and eventually Wendy beats the snot out of him in front of the whole school. It’s a similar concept with Brave Citizen and it’s entertaining, but the final scene sees Si-min going in unrealistic directions.

This film is a hard watch, but it’s also a rewarding one. Every teacher can probably say that they’ve wanted to punch, slap, or dropkick their most obnoxious student. Brave Citizen allows every teacher to live vicariously through every flesh-pounding punch So Si-min lands on Han Su-Kang’s smug face.