“Usury Academy” (aka “Loan Boy” and previously known as “Well Done!” or “Good Job!”) is a 2023 Korean film, and categorized as Action, High School, Youth, and Crime.
♦ Why Do Teens Live in a Material World? It’s a Trap!
In “Usury Academy”, Kang-Jin is bullied by day and bullied by night. His classmate, Nam-Young, is a rich kid who revels in tormenting him every chance he gets when he is at school during the day. Then when he leaves school, Rang, a loan shark bullies him about searching his house to find money that his parents owe him for a private loan. Kang-Jin is truthful when he says he doesn’t know where or even if they hid the money. Rang tells him what to look for. When he was searching his house Kang-Jin did find the money.
He probably intended to hand it over to Rang but … two things happened.
- Number 1: He was passing by a store and saw a girl he liked getting scolded for trying to steal cosmetics. Since he had money on him, he paid for her purchases. The next day she came to school and her friends wanted to know if Nam-Young bought her the make-up. She is supposed to be his girlfriend. Nam-Young became jealous because he realized Kang-Jin bought the make-up for her.
- Number 2: Nam-Young was snooping and overheard the conversation between Kang-Jin and Rang. If Kang-Jin bought the cosmetics, then perhaps he found the money. Kang-Jin had left his school belongings unattended and Nam-Young rummaged through, found the money, and stole it. Nam-Young would not admit he had taken the money because he knew the loan shark would be hounding Kang-Jin again and again.
Kang-Jin explained what happened and Rang decided to teach him the loan sharking business. WHY? Because Rang wanted to expand his business by providing private loans to high school students. He couldn’t go into the school and approach the students, but Kang-Jin could because he was a student too.
To teach, train, and test him, Nam-Young was going to be the first student to take out a loan. He taught Kang-Jin and told him how to not only get the money back but to get Nam-Young tied up with debt. Rang said he wasn’t worried about getting paid because he’s a rich kid and his parents would pay. Kang-Jin successfully turned the tables on Nam-Young. But that was just the beginning. He saw that students were desiring all sorts of things … motorcycles, designer clothing, etc. But they did not have the money. Kang-Jin gave them private loans and they, in turn, got their parents to pay it off. It was a lucrative business.
But the question is … Is this really how Kang-Jin is going to live his life? He won’t be in high school forever. What are his plans as an adult member of Korean society? Will he be able to simply leave the criminal world and start living the life of a law-abiding citizen?
Main Characters:
- Kang-Jin (played by Yoo Seon-Ho, “Under The Queen’s Umbrella”)
- Nam-Young (played by Yoo In-Soo, “Alchemy of Souls”, “The Midnight Studio”, “The Uncanny Counter 2”)
- Da-Young (played by Kang Mi-Na, “Welcome to Samdal-ri”, “Cafe Minamdang”, “Moonshine”)
- Rang (the loan shark) (played by Yoon Byung-Hee, “Heartbeat”, “Unlock My Boss”, “Glitch”)
Viewership and Rating:
- IMDb: 4.7 out of 10 stars
- My Drama List: 7.1 out of 10 stars
- Viki viewers rated this film 7.7 out of 10 stars
My personal rating is 6 out of 10 stars.
The reviewer on IMDb did not like this movie. I was not very pleased either but stars were given for the male lead, Yoo Seon-Ho, who did a pretty good acting job. Also, the plot was realistic (see Side Notes below) and I learned about the loan shark business and the dynamics of Korean culture and society; how they don’t like to be embarrassed. At least … according to the movie, they don’t like to be embarrassed. But it’s not that different from Western parents and children. The material world is a trap! A lot of kids create debt and their parents pay it off for them. Although? I don’t know how many kids get loans from a loan shark. That’s dangerous!
SIDE NOTES:
- Investopedia is my GO-TO site for all questions about business, the economy, etc. To my surprise, they published an article about loan sharks in their personal finance ~ loans section: “Loan Shark: Definition, Example, Vs. Payday Lender”. It’s an excellent article.
- I found another interesting article published by Radio Free Asia: “North Korea cracks down on ‘vicious capitalist’ loan sharks: Usury is on the rise as the economy falters and people grow more desperate”.
- That’s North Korea. In South Korea, this article was published by The Korea Times in the Finance section: “Young borrowers in need of small sums targeted by loan sharks”.
LINKS OF INTEREST:
Usury Academy (2023) | The A.V. Club
Yoo Seon Ho, Kang Mina, And Yoo In Soo To Star In Upcoming School Action Film | Soompi
TRAILERS/TEASERS:
EonTalk. “Usury Academy (2023) 사채소년 Movie Trailer | EONTALK.” YouTube Video. YouTube, November 19, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv9qeVZWegQ.
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