One Win

Introduced to IFFR through splendid low-budget arthouse films A Great Actor (IFFR 2006) and The Russian Novel (IFFR 2013), filmmaker Shin Yeon-Shick shows off his creative range with One Win.

Let the enthralling match sequences toss you onto the court and into the heat of the volleyball game. Meet the two league outcasts: Kim Woo-jin (Parasite's Song Kang-ho, as fantastic as ever) who now can’t even coach kids nor the whole women’s volleyball team, Pink Storm. They’ve been brought together by an eccentric super-young entrepreneur, who needs a super-underdog story to play his super-PR game. Little does he know that this might be the best smash pass of his life.

With some nods to, and the emotional drive of the Rocky series (1976-2006), One Win builds up a sports drama that serves up some well-played comments on coaching and management. Coach Kim inspires the Pink Storm players to know and believe in their own strengths and capacities. But will that be enough for them to win? Or will they enter history the same way as Rocky Balboa? Marrying the heartfelt emotion of a sports drama and comedy in an old-school way, One Win serves a story that will get you up and cheering.

– Felicia Maroni