Introduction
After his business goes bankrupt, 30-something Kyung-Min (Oh Jung-Se) kills his wife impulsively. Hiding his anger, he seeks out his former middle school classmate Jong-Suk (Yang Ik-June). Jong-Suk now works as a ghostwriter for an autobiography, but he dreams of writing his own novel. For the first time in 15 years, they meet. Kyung-Min and Jong-Suk both hide their own current situations and begin to talk about their middle school days.
At their middle school, they were classified by their wealth and grades. Kyung-Min and Jong-Suk were at the bottom. They were called pigs. They were bullied by a ruling class called dogs. When they were called pigs, they got angry but couldn't do anything against the dogs. Then a king of pigs appears—Chul (Kim Hye-Na). Kyung-Min and Jong-Suk became to rely on Chul-Yi.
Now, leading Jong-Suk to their middle school grounds, Kyung-Min discloses the shocking truth to Jong-Suk of what happened 15 years ago.
(Source: Asian Media Wiki)
Audience reviews
10 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
PiraHxCx
The directing is not bad when you think about scene composition and pace. Voice acting is mediocre, but the main problem is that they either lacked proper equipment, or a sound technician, because when the actors are laughing or screaming the voice starts clipping (distortion due to loudness). The art, now, the art sucks! And the animation is pretty bad too... why did a I give it a 9/10?
The King of the Pigs has a pretty good and well written story, a great narrative and well crafted characters. It's honestly the best animated story I've seen in a long time. There is a whole grim tone to it, so probably is not for everybody, but if you are up for a true psychological drama you should check it out (and I say "true" because the tag seems to be used very wildly around here).
Too bad it had…
Read at the sourceKamuiX1999
I've been interested in Yeon Sang-ho's early animated films since watching Train to Busan a few years back, and having finally tracked them down, I started off with his first full-length, The King of Pigs. There's been countless live-action and animated films about kids in school that are bullied and don't have great live outside of the classroom either, but I can't think of many that are as depressing and bleak as this is. While not in the same upper-echelon as films such as Requiem for a Dream or Dancer in the Dark, this had the same sort of complex emotional effect on me as they did, where as much as I thought it was a great film, I can't see myself revisiting it very often, if at all, due to how distressing it is.
From a technical standpoint, the animation is above average and has a…
Read at the sourceusernamesarehard
So first things first, The King of Pigs is not a happy or uplifting movie. At all. It's relentlessly violent, has almost no morally good characters, and offers no salvation or reprieve from the suffering that takes place. With that said, is The King of Pigs still worthwhile? Well... it's not that easy.
Overall, The King of Pigs is a story about class struggle, and how dehumanising and inescapable class discrimination is.The story is largely told through violent altercations in a middle school between the rich kids, the "Dogs," and the poor ones, the "Pigs." The most similar example I can think of to this film would be 2019's Joker, which engages with a similar message of "The world is fucked and the only thing you can do is get violent and show people that you're not someone to be messed…
Read at the sourceMatthewSweatshir
I never would’ve thought that some random, terribly rated film, that I watched on whim because I heard it was supposed to be dark would impact me in such a way. I had a very hard time deciding on a rating for this one—and still do. However, I can tell you that this is one I will not be forgetting any time soon.
First off, the animation. This film is completely done in 3d. That is probably an instant turn off for plenty people. And, as things often turn out with 3d, some parts look quite awkward and are a bit painful to watch. But don’t lose hope yet. As a hater of 3d animation myself, you can trust me when I say some parts of this film actually look really really good. Some parts of it turned out seamless. So, I desperately urge you to at least try and get past the animation if you don’t…
Read at the sourceDr_Kon
This is perhaps one of the darkest and most disturbing anime out there that will certainly leave you with a bitter taste at the end due to its theme. A tragic story about hopelessness, cruelty, pain, bullying, stigma and wasted youth. What it means to be a pig (in other words, the lower classification in the hierarchy of society and school) and what happens when the king of pigs emerges. This movie will leave a very strong impression to you and very possibly it will haunt your thoughts for a few days. Strictly recommended only to mature audience with a strong stomach!
Read at the sourceKrunchyman
Life, often times, is a disconsolate, oppressive journey with enough melancholic moments to make one want to kill their wife (or a creepy cat, who torments you ad nauseam).
“The King of the Pigs” is a gripping allegorical tale about class/wealth inequality and the dehumanizing aspect of school aged bullying; not only for those who are bullied, but for the instigators themselves (because of their internal hierarchical structure). Chan Young, a bright new student, exemplifies this dehumanization when his enthusiasm for school related excellence wanes, due to the callous nature of the imperious “dogs.” The obedience of the other “pigs” is quite evident, as their resolve to combat their oppressors is noticeably absent; except for one rebellious soul — Chul “The King of the Pigs” Kim — who ai…
Read at the sourceMySweetLucifer
This movie must be the most boring movie, who ever
touched the "it's violent, so it's deep" genre.
But first of all I have to say, that I don't see this movie as a bulliying film,
but for what it wants to be at the end of the day:
A Film that wants to be vile, in the edgiest way possible,
by saying things, a hundred other movies said before,
in higher Quality.
So, for anyone who wants to see "Dwaejiui Wang", I recommend
to watch "The 120 Days of Sodom" and the 134 other movies
doing that stuff better, in which this movie gloriously failed.
Read at the sourceLove-Pon
A movie made by a studio no one really heard of, avg. score of 7.04. I really didn't have much expectation coming into this movie. Was I ever so surprised, I had the most thrilling 90 minutes of my life.
Story: 10/10
Story covers over things everyone is familiar with, bullying and social hierarchy. These themes are executed very well, while also very trilling to watch. Some people might think it is too brutal and unrealistic. Different culture and life experiences we have will makes us look at this film differently. The film felt real for me, but might not for people who had happy childhood. My friends in China were spanked a lot, they did things to me just like what bullies did to them (People who watched the movie will know what I am talking about, yes it is to my penis). To be honest,…
Read at the sourcedracos9000
What can I say? This was a very interesting anime, but many people may not be able to stomach the reality of what this anime represents. Too many people are put off by this because of its brutality but this is what human nature can and sometimes becomes. The anime is vile because humans can be vile we all have the potential to become monsters if the right circumstances are met. If you can understand that is what makes us human then you should be able to enjoy this anime.
Read at the sourcegeroshabu
I kind of know that there's a problem when I catch myself sitting through a film and feeling worn out and put off by its rampant misanthropy. "The King of Pigs" is likely one of the worst and most tiresome offenders I have ever encountered along these lines. It's all pretty damned vile no matter which way you approach it. I feel hesitant to even write about this, as I'd rather not provide some sort of morbid and unintentional recommendation for the dishearteningly large number of people out there who will seek out anything which is decidedly "EXTREME" in content. I can't stand the prevalent attitude that this alone somehow denotes worth or is reason enough to spark an interest. Perhaps you can identify yourself among this crowd as you are reading this, at which point I would encourage you…
Read at the source