Victory

Park Sum-boo’s feel-good dance film is the sort of peppy cheer we could all use right now.

“I’m cheering for me, and for you all.”

Korea isn’t known for its history of cheerleading. In fact, according to director Park Bum-soo in his Q&A of this film, it has even less of a cheerleading culture than the UK. Funny, though, as watching this film you’d think it was a pretty big part of the school system, the way the characters go on. But hey, this could be the film to introduce it to the country – because it makes a pretty good argument for cheering to be mandatory in all schools.

Pil-sun (Lee Hye-ri) and Mi-na (Park Se-wan) are two small-town highschoolers who love little other than hip hop dance, and with dreams to become background dancers for the biggest k-pop bands. Desperate for a place at school in which to practice, they run into Se-hyeon (Jo Ah-ram), a cheerleader forced to transfer with her brother, ace football star Dong-hyun (Lee Chan-hyeong), to help the school’s struggling football. Using the principal’s love of football to their advantage, Pil-sun and Mi-na convince him to let them open a cheerleading club, with every intention to use the space for their own purposes.

So, naturally of course the girls are going to fall in love with cheering, and the ragtag group of misfits they bring in to make their club official are going to help them along the way. Of course.  As an underdog tale, Victory follows just about every possible story beat you can expect it to, from the team’s plucky, disparate origins to its third act break up and huge success in its climax. If you’ve seen any light-hearted, feel good sports-esque film, then you can accurately predict 80% of Victory’s story.

Where it differs, however, is in its b-plot and its handling of side characters. There’s a romance, of course, but it’s barely given any focus and in many ways is heavily subverted. Neither of the main characters end the story with a love interest, being interested as they are only in dance and in their friendship. Victory’s b-plot isn’t romantic, for a change, and is instead focused entirely on Pil-sun’s father. His story, standing up to the cold , cruel management of the shipyard company he works for, is a timeless story of beaten down workers looking for a ray of hope and a boost in morale.

This extra story does mean that the movie drags on a little more than you’d ideally want. Relegating the romance to comic relief status is a smart move to keep things moving, but the shipyard is, regardless, a bunch of new characters and stakes in which you have to get invested. It ties very neatly into the main story, and even more so with the movie’s central theme of giving power to the powerless, and uplifting those who are beneath you.

Everything Victory does is designed to make you feel nice. It’s a happy story from start to finish, textured with only a few bits of darkness to give it realism. Led by a cast that’s almost too charming and likeable, the film’s cred is heavily bolstered by the fact that its two leads have some k-pop experience. Ignore the feeling that some of it is a bit samey, and you’ll be cheering for this movie all the way through to its cheesy end credits.

Verdict: Eschewing a couple of the genre’s tropes, Victory manages to break out of its limiting format and becomes more than a simple background dancer.

Overall entertainment: 8.5/10
Violence: 2/10
Sex: 0/10
Storming off: Plnty
CGI: Some zany CGI football
Cheerleading: improves athleticism by 50%, dontchaknow

Victory (2024)
Also known as: 빅토리
Korean

Director: Park Bum-soo
Writers: Park Bum-soo, Park Sung-hoon, Kang Min-seon

CAST

Lee Hye-ri as Chu Pil-sun
Park Se-wan as Jang Mi-na
Lee Jung-ha as Yoon Chi-hyung
Jo Ah-ram as Kim Se-hyeon
Choi Ji-su as Bae So-hee
Baek Ha-i as Jeong Sun-jeong
Kwon Yu-na as Kwon Yong-soon
Yeom Ji-young as Yeom Sang-mi
Lee Han-joo as Go Yu-ri
Park Hyo-eun as Bang Ji-hye
Lee Chan-hyeong as Kim Dong-hyun
Son Byung Wook – Hak Ju
Joo Jin Mo – Yun Jeong Jin
Lee Si Hoon – Coach
Hyun Bong-sik – father