The Match Review
Director: Kim Hyung-joo
Date Created: 2025-05-08 22:49
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The Match Review: Directed by Kim Hyung-joo, this South Korean film is inspired by the true story of the two Go master players Cho Hun-hyun and Lee Chang-ho. It features Lee Byung-hun and Yoo Ah-in in the lead roles. The film also features Kim Kang-hoon, Ko Chang-seok, Moon Jeong-hee, and Jo Woo-jin, who are worth mentioning. Initially a Netflix film, this movie was postponed due to controversy over Yoo Ah-in, and was released in cinemas before it was made available on Netflix.
The movie 승부 is set in South Korea’s Go scene of the 1990s, tracking the master-apprentice relationship that spirals into a dramatic adversary. It promises an emotional ride and rich character arcs, but does it live up to all its ambitions? you’ll know later on.
The Match Review
I should confess I have no idea about Go. And I mean nothing whatsoever. I wasn’t certain if I could watch a movie that would involve a game I would be unfamiliar with. And yet I was hoping that good storytelling and good acting could be able to carry the movie.
I had a lot of scepticism heading into the film. Given how Yoo Ah-in’s previous Netflix project, Goodbye Earth, handled his scenes by clearly removing him in a choppy, disjointed way, I was worried the same thing might happen here. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. The two leads, Lee Byung-hun and Yoo Ah-in, split the screen evenly, and they have a natural chemistry, even though their characters start on opposite sides of the board.
The best part about this film The Match, is that the acting is excellent. Lee Byung-hun transforms into his role as an experienced, respectful mentor who observes as his protégé ever so slowly evolves into someone that he might not be able to control. Yoo Ah-in shows his reserved and measured acting style, and how his character’s transition from a respectful pupil to a quiet rival is slowly crafted.
The biggest problem with the movie The Match for me was, I didn’t understand the game. I know it’s called Go, and I’ve heard it’s super duper difficult, but I just didn’t know what was going on in the games. The stones, the board, the long pauses, and I had no idea whether a move was good or bad. I didn’t get to experience the tension or excitement of the games, so I feel like that was a big part of the emotional buildup of the movie.
I felt like I was an outsider looking in for that reason. I was watching people take the game seriously, but I couldn’t connect with what made it so serious. It’s like hearing a deep conversation in a language you don’t know; you can make out the emotion, but you have no idea what’s being discussed. So that put a space between me and this story.
Even though the game didn’t pull me in, the emotional themes of Netflix’s The Match did. This isn’t just about the game Go, it is actually about how things change between people when ambition and power are brought into the mix. It’s about that moment when a student becomes an adult and starts questioning the person they once admired. It’s also about how difficult it is for a mentor to acknowledge that change.
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There are times when nothing big happens, but the feelings are there. They glance at each other for a moment and leave an awkward silence or an unspoken word to speak volumes about what the characters feel. I adored that moment of subtlety. You don’t have to have a big fight or a huge shock to convey tension. Sometimes you don’t have to let someone go, it’s just like being in a room with someone for the first time and feeling the dynamic has changed.
There’s one thing I’m going to be upfront about is that this is a long movie. It’s not boring, exactly, but it’s very slowly paced. There were times in the film when I’d look at the clock and think, “How much more of this?” Perhaps that’s because I wasn’t completely sold on the game sequences. Or perhaps it’s because the story doesn’t have one big climax like most sporting films.
In fact, this doesn’t feel like a typical sports movie at all. No cheering fans or dramatic wins. It’s introspective, navel-gazing, and all about internal struggles rather than external victories. That’s a nice change for some people. But I thought it was a bit too tranquil myself. I wanted to be jolted by one good emotional choice that would provide the film with one huge high point, but the film is emotionally flat-lined throughout.
Summing Up
Personally, I admire what the Korean Movie The Match tried to do. There are good performances, there are understandable emotional themes, and the chemistry between the two leads just feels genuine. But overall, I just thought the pacing was so slow, and the game was so impenetrably, forbiddingly complicated, it didn’t catch me. I wanted to like it more than I did, but I’d say it’s a pretty good movie that didn’t quite work for me.
So, do I think you should watch this movie? Well, if you have knowledge about the game Go, then it’s a must. And if you like the two leads, then you really must give it a go. Otherwise, it’s a slow film, and it will possibly be dull now and then.
The Match 2025 is now streaming on Netflix.
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