''In Our Prime'' () is a 2022 South Korean

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Park Dong-hoon, starring

Choi Min-sik Choi Min-sik (; born May 30, 1962) is a South Korean actor. Known for his intense and transformative performances, he first gained recognition with the television series ''The Moon of Seoul'' (1994). His film breakthrough came with '' Shiri'' (1 ...

, Kim Dong-hwi,

Park Byung-eun Park Byung-eun (; born July 14, 1977) is a South Korean actor. Early life and education Park majored in drama at Chung-Ang University. Park was set to debut with 90s South Korean boy group Taesaja in 1997, but gave up due to him feeling that ...

Park Hae-joon Park Sang-woo (; born on June 14, 1976), better known by his stage name, Park Hae-joon (), is a South Korean actor. He gained widespread recognition for starring in dramas '' The World of the Married'' (2020), '' The 8 Show'' (2024), ''When Li ...

and Jo Yun-seo. It revolves around two people: a genius mathematician with a hidden past and a student who is failing math. The film was released theatrically on March 9, 2022.

Plot

A genius mathematician, Lee Hak-sung, defects from North Korea in pursuit of academic freedom. To conceal his identity and past, he takes on the role of a security guard at an elite private high school, where only the top 1% of gifted students are admitted. With his cold and stern demeanor, Hak-sung becomes the most avoided figure on campus. However, his life takes an unexpected turn when he meets Han Ji-woo, a struggling high school student who has given up on math. After discovering Hak-sung's true identity, Ji-woo persistently begs him to become his tutor. As Hak-sung teaches Ji-woo not just how to find the right answers, but how to navigate the process of problem-solving, both of them experience an unexpected transformation in their lives.

Cast

as Lee Hak-sung, a school security guard and defector from North Korea who is said to have proven the

Riemann hypothesis In mathematics, the Riemann hypothesis is the conjecture that the Riemann zeta function has its zeros only at the negative even integers and complex numbers with real part . Many consider it to be the most important unsolved problem in pure ...

. * Kim Dong-hwi as Han Ji-woo, a student who asks Lee Hak-sung to teach him math. *

as Kim Geun-ho, math teacher. *

as An Gi-cheol, agent of the National Intelligence Service who monitors Lee Hak-sung and the owner of a junk shop that is a front office. * Jo Yun-seo as Park Bo-ram, Ji-woo's classmate. * Tang Jun-sang as Lee Tae-yeon, Lee Hak-sung's son. *

Kang Mal-geum Kang Mal-geum (; born January 3, 1979) is a South Korean actress. She graduated in Arts from Pusan National University, Department of Korean Language and Literature. She made her acting debut in 2010 in the film ''Yong-Tae: The Ordinary Memori ...

as Han Ji-woo's mother * Kim Hee-jung as Park Bo-ram's mother *

Joo Jin-mo Joo Jin-mo may refer to: * Joo Jin-mo (actor, born 1958), South Korean actor * Joo Jin-mo (actor, born 1974) Joo Jin-mo (born Park Jin-tae on 26 September 1974), is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his leading roles in the films '' ...

as Oh Jeong-nam, a mathematician who participated in an international math competition with Lee Hak-sung when they were young. *

Kim Won-hae Kim Won-hae (; born April 6, 1969) is a South Korean actor. Since his debut in musical in 1991, Kim Won-hae worked on stage in plays and musicals before joining the non-verbal performance Nanta as an original member in 1997. He is best known a ...

as Park Pil-ju, a North Korean defector and Economics professor.

Reception

Box office

, the film has a gross of US$4,081,864, and 534,287 admissions.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:In Our Prime 2020s high school films 2022 drama films 2022 films 2020s South Korean films 2020s Korean-language films South Korean drama films South Korean high school films Films about mathematics Films about North Korean defectors Films about students Films set in Baden-Württemberg Films set in South Korea Films shot in Daejeon Films shot in Gyeonggi Province Films shot in North Jeolla Province Films shot in Seoul Showbox films Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Korean-language drama films