The Match (2025)

Hyeong-ju Kim's sophomore feature is not reinventing the game on sports dramas based on actual events but has an underlying message about the importance of personal philosophy and growth that grips you by the end.

Cho Hu-hyun becomes an international champion of the Asian strategy game Go, bringing the game to the limelight in Korea. Enter prodigy Lee Chang-ho who has captured Cho's attention eventually leading to a mentorship that will test both their limits and gamesmanship.

The teacher student relationship is the driving device of the film as we watch Lee struggling under Cho's approach to Go that is slowly strangling the confidence and ability to play out of Lee. Until Lee reaches the point of having to find his own way to play the game or give up entirely.

Lee Byung-hun, of Squid Games fame, does an excellent job playing teacher Cho especially communicating his pride being on the line and cockiness in his playing that is slyly put on display through subtle body language and moments of introspection. While Burning (2018) Yoo Ah-in displays prodigy Lee's frustration with a cold calculating approach that will leave you wondering if he's even acting at moments or doing his best impression of a deer in headlights.

The big turning point of the film is when student overcomes teacher in a local tournament final that completely shatters Cho's world to the point that he stops showing up to matches as Lee's star is on a meteoric rise. As Cho reflects on what is going on he realizes that Lee has pushed him down the path that Cho forced upon his student during his tutoring, a complete shattering of how and why you play Go in the first place.

Cho must go back to the lessons he learned from his mentor which he is reminded by a message from his teacher on the back of a game board, "Go is about trying to find an answer when there are none.". However inscribed on the corner is a message from Cho himself, "Go is a fight against yourself.", this is the catalyst for Cho to find his footing to fight back to have another match against his student Lee at a tournament.

The journey of finding your way back to who you are and that being your play style makes The Match an inspiring watch but the films major flaw is doing a poor job in a building any emotional weight between the characters. It leaves one wanting more history and personal moments between Cho and Lee as well as possible flashbacks of Cho's relationship with his own mentor.

You don't have to go into this film with an understanding of Go as it does a reasonable job explaining the game while still keeping it engrossing enough which is a pleasant surprise for a movie thats about playing a board game. While the objective of the game may not change and one's approach can be almost identical to another but just the slightest difference can define what's one and another.

"Mushim: to empty one's heart.

Seongeui: to give all one's heart."

★★★