SynopsisDreaming of becoming an astronomer, Jun ekes out a living with his mom who works at an insurance company. He transfers from a public high school to a more prestigious Yeil High School, but he experiences failure amid the intense competition of the students. Then one day, Jun finds out that there is a study group for a small number of top students, and a secret notebook that they share only among themselves. With the help of Yoo-jin, Jun begins to participate in the study group meetings, and his grades gradually improve. However, slowly conflicts begin to split the students participating in the study group meetings…

Program Note
Pluto is the second feature film by director SHIN Su-won, who has been continuously releasing noteworthy films in Korea. In the form of a murder mystery, this exciting film unravels criticisms of a public education that has merely become a preparatory system for the college entrance exam. With his dream of becoming an astronomer, June transfers to Yeil High School, a prestigious school for the elites, despite the fact that he is from a poor family and can barely afford to attend such a school. There, June suffers a humiliating failure amidst the cutthroat competition. In order to do better, he attempts to use whatever means possible to take part in a study group meeting where the elite students share a secret notebook.
Set against the backdrop of a school where students are evaluated by their grades, the plot of the film is woven together by relationships riddled with competition. Although it begins with a very realistic problem, the story proceeds to include more and more extreme settings. The change of genre that occurs in a film full of unreal aspects, including a rabbit hunt for the top students, extreme violence, and murder, shows the unique position that director SHIN’s film occupies. Pluto is significant in that the film explosively amplifies the grotesqueness of the strange reality and creates a rupture in the normal world through mystery and fantasy. Certain elements of the film–such as the unrealistic ending scene that still leaves a lasting impression and the female character Su-jin, who pursues an ethical living in a school full of competition–provide different possibilities for a feminist interpretation of the film. [HONG So-in]