Brave Citizen

Violence, Vengeance & Victory – Action and Acting at Its Best

I’ve watched this movie countless times between 2023 and now (2025), and it never disappoints. I had high expectations from the start—how could I not, with Shin Hye Sun and Lee Jun Young, two incredible actors who’ve risen like phoenixes in their career. That alone should convince you to give this film a shot. If not, read on.

Trigger Warning :
This film contains brutal violence, which may be distressing for some viewers. If that’s a concern, it’s best to skip it.

PROS:
➥ Masterfully directed action scenes
➥ Outstanding performances—especially from Shin Hye Sun and Lee Jun Young, as expected
➥ Social Message through the film: Don't Turn a Blind Eye, Stand up to your Bullies, Ask for Help
➥ [MILD SPOILER] Satisfying ending: The film explores bullying, a harsh reality. Watching justice unfold in the end as a gripping action scene is incredibly rewarding.!

CONS:
➥ The story isn’t groundbreaking—just another “good vs. evil” tale in a fresh setting.
➥The FL’s introduction felt over-the-top. The dark tone of the film clashed with her theatrics, creating a stark contrast that didn’t blend well (just a personal take, though).

FINAL VERDICT — BINGE!
Highly recommended—if you’re okay with violent themes. Watch it for the stellar acting and action sequences rather than any new storyline.

♥️ SPECIAL MENTION — LEE JUN YOUNG ♥️
If you haven’t already, take note: this man is talented AF. As the antagonist, he’s despicable to the core—no tragic backstory, just pure evil. His performance is so intense, you’ll find yourself seething every time he’s on screen. That’s top-tier acting right there—so convincing it blurs the line between actor and character. Honestly, every time I watch one of his projects, I feel compelled to write a special mention. He’s just that good. I could go on and on, but I’ll stop myself now!

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Not good not bad

A nice movie to watch when you want to watch something simple.
Pros: the actors are really good in their performances and he is very nice to look at even if he seems a bit psychotic.
I really liked the fight scenes, very real and interesting to see.
even the bullying scenes were very realistic and well done
Cons: The plot was a bit strange as far as I'm concerned with an absurd school environment and without the slightest control from the teachers.
and also it has nothing to do with the film but I got bored of always seeing films/TV series about bullying, change the plot, invent something new

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Reading between the lines

First off I really enjoyed this movie because it genuinely had some really great fight scenes and honestly always love justice for the underdog/bullied stories.
If it was up to me, I would love for this to become a series.

This is a movie about a teacher standing up for her students and giving them a safe space when NO ONE else would. That is what we should get from the storyline .Yes we may have to allow creative intervention (beating him up) take place first, instead of removing students like him from school and jailing him. Which is what happens at the end, when the everyone finally feels safe enough to band together and report all their evidence to the police.

Now do I believe we need a teacher who should kick the snot out of kids who are bullies, of course not. And I don't believe this movies is even really encouraging that either. If you honestly watch it, you notice she is on a journey of realigning her values in life and making "IF you do nothing, nothing will happen" her new mantra. So she is making the choice to not just getting by or giving in, like when she threw the Olympic qualifying match and makes the choice to not to continue ignoring a student who is on the edge of being killed for a promised promotion.

Now I want to address all the negative posts and low ratings for this because " we shouldn't encourage violence against bullying" or "this movie is bad because how can a teacher beat up a student? we shouldn't encourage that!" or " bullying isn't as bad as this movie makes it seem"

Yes bullying, terrorizing is and has always been as bad as it is shown in this movie. It happens all around the world and society condones it by ignoring it and passing it off to someone else to solve. Children and Teenagers are pushed to the brink every day where they consider leaving this world vs going to school so lies about this extent of bullying being fictional is just sad and honestly makes those who say that just as bad as the one who is hurting others.

Allowing social pressures and money to silence you from stepping in and helping someone is something we should feel shame over instead of justifying it by saying "oh the bullying isn't that bad. This movie wasn't encouraging people to beat up students but to stand up for those who are being bullied.

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ONE TRACK NARRATIVE

This drama just proves that no matter how skilled and professional a woman is, an amateur man can still somehow be positioned as a worthy opponent.

A teacher clashing with a student? Sure, he’s a bad guy, but that kind of dynamic feels forced especially when the teacher in question is a professor *and* a boxer??

The story itself lacks any real depth, just a predictable, one-track narrative. Good actors, but nothing particularly memorable!

She should have beaten his side guys too or maybe someone else!! Don’t know why kdrama are fond of wasting good casts!

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A movie that will annoy you

A movie that would want you to jump and intervene through the screen. The bullying scenes made me squint my eyes I was fighting the urge to skip in some scenes.

Now regarding the story I wouldn't say it is far fetch from reality in a way. Social status, wealth, and reputation are something that is known to us. After hearing about teachers quitting and committing suicide due to student-teacher bullying, this drama made me think how bad it is in real life (hopefully not to this extent). This drama is a friction but I also felt it represents a desire and 'IF ONLY'.

I have read someone write that the villain was straight from hell and I couldn't agree more. His acting is next level, it wouldn't be too far-fetched if I say he is a psychopath cause that wasn't normal. One thing I'm not a big fan of is when high school bullies don't look like high schoolers. in this case, the villain looked way older. the fighting scenes were top-notch (coming from someone who knows nothing about it).

Now about the ending I don't know, it was somewhat of an open ending but not really, we know she will expose and turn the school into a safe place. we also get that her former colleague might have told her to join this new school.

Overall, I wish this was a drama instead, I think I might have enjoyed it more. Maybe cause I love backstories and also love to know if the villains are facing the consequences of their actions. but as a movie, I will say it is okay not the best and not the worst too.

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honest review

movie was shit, what is it with freaking korean movies and bullying and why does it feel like bullies in school is far more threatening to korean society than terrorism like wtf and if you are gonna punish a bully beat the shit out of him and send a message to bullies out there that you are fucked if you bully, why go soft on a bully when a bully is literally killing someone and what was with that cop saying teachers can't beat students but a student can touch his teacher inappropriately, teachers are literally for education and putting some senses into spoiled rich asshole kids 🤨🤨🤨🤨

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Lost potential

A movie without any depth. While watching new movie, you expect to see something "different", something that you don't see in every single show- here you can't find this. Every aspect of this is predictable; before you even start, you already know the whole story and what would happen next, so it's boring.

Story about teacher fighting against kids who don't face consequences for their actions? Yeah, we have all seen this before. Of course, you can make something enjoyable from this, but I think the director didn't know how.

I really like the idea of a teacher fighting against bad actions, but in this movie I couldn't understand it. If you want to help kids, you should do it by reporting it to the police or by finding the evidence, not by beating people. The biggest absurd here was that the teacher fought against Sugang in front of the whole school. Seriously? How is it even possible that the person who should educate had a battle in front of everyone? Teachers should represent responsibility and teach good behavior, rather than promoting violence as a solution.

When it comes to Sugang, I want to say that Lee Junyoung is a really good actor. I think he played his role very well, but at the same time, he didn't quite fit for this role. Like why a person from high school looked like a grown man? Rather than looking like a student, he looked more like a boss from a gang, who control kids. It didn't make any sense.

The movie tried to show a story about justice, but it didn't work out. It's illogical why only one person got the penalty, even though he wasn't the only person who bullied other people. Also, why didn't the teacher face any consequences? She was beating students, and despite her "good" intentions, she did bad things for which she should go to jail.

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A Wholesome Satisfaction throughout 1 Hour

I know U guyss already know through the Synopsis that it'll be a School-Bullying Theme.Yes,There Are bullying. Everytime you watch them Your Blood will Boil to the Highest Peak.But Trust Me it was needed for the satisfaction you'll feel in the later Episode.If you can't feel the Pain of Victim or can't Hate the Villain enough the satisfaction will be dull for you.

Both The actors Did really well in their part.Shin hae sun is always my favourite actress, on the other hand Hating a handsome man like Lee Jun young is really hard.But they Both really nailed their character. Other side characters r good too.How i wish it would be a Drama rather than a Movie.why?? because i feel chemistry.. hihihi 🤩😍

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Shin Hye Sun is the Reason to Watch

Overall, a good movie to watch and enjoy, especially if you like the bully getting it in the end. Shin Hye Sun was great here and I loved that she was taking hits and wasn't just beating the bully up.

It's a hard watch though but a lot of the bully movies and TV shows are. I mean the level of vitriol that bullies seem to have against people they consider less than is just wild. The fact that schools and administrators and the police often don't do anything either not to mention Korea's lack of discipline when it comes to minors who do horrible shit. It's a lot to unpack. Just a terrible situation that Korean society seems to be ok with.

5/4/25

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Bullies are just over the top

I would suggest to watch this movie atleast once. The story was not that phenomenal, the regular school bullies taking it to the next level and school authorities are just letting them be, until finally someone steps forward. The same old rich power trip continues, but the characters acting w as on point.
I fell in love with the FL, the movie made me realise how pretty one looks when fighting for the right thing.

Hats off to Shin Hye -sun, l was aww struck by her acting and that of Lee Jun young.

Some thing that felt lacking would be Han Soo Kang having a backstory. He has a step mother and some rumours about his family and that was all. It was up to our imagination, to make up as to why he is the way he is.!!

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