[Movie Review] Miracle: Letters to the President

K-Popped! recently had the opportunity to watch one of Korea’s latest big screen hits – Miracle: Letters to the President. Starring Girls’ Generations’s Lim Yoon-ah (Hush), Park Jeong-min (Hellbound),  Lee Sung-min (Money Game, Misaeng) and Lee Soo-kyung (Law School), Miracle is based on the true story of Korean mathematics genius Joon-kyeong.

Set in a remote village in Gyeongsang Province during the 80’s, the film centres around Joon-kyeong’s quest to get the President of Korea to let the villagers build a way-station for the trains that pass by their village, by sending the President letters.

So remote is the village, that the villagers risk certain death when following the train tracks to the nearest station (which is at least 3 tunnels away), with Joon-kyeong (Park Jeong-min) travelling almost five hours to reach his school. A near-death incident from when he was a child (played by popular child actor Kim Kang-hoon, Racket Boys, When the Camellia Blooms) kick starts Joon-kyeong’s mission to build a way station.

A maths prodigy since young, Joon-kyeong is supported by his loving and sassy older sister Bo-kyeong (Lee Soo-kyung), and his ‘muse’ and classmate Ra-hee (Yoon-ah), both of whom recognise his extraordinary talent for numbers, despite his oddball behaviour and awkward social skills.

While Joon-kyeong initially shows no interest in Ra-hee, she persists in getting to know him and supporting his dreams.

However, despite his talent, his train driver father Tae-yoon (Lee Sung-min) remains uninterested in his son’s life or his maths skills, which is not helped by the time spent away from home as he works long shifts. While Joon-kyeong works to improve the lives of the villagers, whether by building a makeshift ‘traffic sign’ or by writing to the President, Tae-yoon keeps himself at a distance.

Miracle: Letters to the President boasts a strong cast – once we heard veteran actor Lee Sung-min was in, we knew we had to watch – with supporting actors including Jung Moon-sung (Hospital Playlist), Yoo Seung-mok (Voice), and a cameo from Ko Chang-seok (Memorist).

The film is a mixture of romance, comedy and tear-jerking moments, especially towards the end of the film where the stoic, distant facade of Joon-kyeong’s ‘by the book’ father crumbles. It’s a feel-good story with a happy ending, and it was lovely to hear the Gyeongsang-do satoori spoken throughout the film.

Want to watch Miracle: Letters to the President? The movie will be made available on Astro, unifi TV and Media Prima per-per-view VOD section from 01 December onwards.